doron's blaahg

Serious question, Doron: Why is it that you want the toolbar buttons to be icons-only in Epiphany, but icons+text everywhere else?

I can think of a number of possibilities ...

1. With an icons+text toolbar there’s too much empty space above/below the address field, making it look ugly. (Mozilla has always had this problem.)

2. You almost always use the keyboard equivalents for Back and Forward, so you don’t need to click the Back and Forward buttons as often (and therefore don’t need to target them as quickly) as most people do.

3. You use button text primarily to tell you what a button is, not to increase its target area. But you don’t need such cues with Epiphany because its toolbar icons are more obvious than those of other Gnome apps.

4. You actually wouldn’t mind changing the setting Gnome-wide, but finding the GUI for that is too hard compared with how easy it would be if the option was in Epiphany’s own UI (which might be a reasonable complaint).

5. A combination of the above.

6. Something else entirely.

I guess Apple thought one or more of these applied to most Safari users, too, as Safari’s toolbar buttons are smaller than those in a standard OS X toolbar.

Because I know the toolbar icons on epiphany (or any browser) are simple, but some other gnome app might not be as logical. Plus I do like saving the toolbar space.

Clicking an application in the dock should always bring forward an active window. If the user clicks on an open app's icon in the Dock, the application is active and all unminimized windows come along with it. I have found a few problems with windows behaving independently of their application.

Dock Animation. Sometimes animating icons in the dock can be useful in communicating the status of the system or application.

To help you become a good Aqua citizen, Apple has created a few guidelines. I've put together a brief overview of them, and we'll be tackling many of them in the months to come.

Okay, I just told you what Apple wants you to look out for with window positions, but in the real world, not everyone uses the hiding feature of the Dock, and it is unrealistic to be able to predict where each user will place their Dock at any given day or how large they will have it. However, you can build a feature into your application that allows spacing for the Finder. You can give users the option of where to position their windows and what area of the screen not to cross. I know that BBEdit provides me with this feature, and I wish more developers gave me more control over my windows.

Whether native or not, this is obviously one of the first steps on your way to OS X. Keep in mind that often, the functionality of your code has a lot to do with how your interface is designed. How many developers have come up with great functional ideas from working with their interface or looking at their competitors'? Start working on your Aqua compliance from day one. Don't wait until the last minute.

By building an application that takes advantage of Aqua's many facets, you help ensure that your application will not only look good, but have a chance of becoming a raging success. After a new user clicks on the icon of your program, the first thing he or she sees is the application interface. I know that when I review a product, I am very critical of its visual design. I usually have a short time to learn the new software, so design and ease of use are very important. Aside from those who marvel at the beauty of the command line, most users tend to react the same way.

By building an application that takes advantage of Aqua's many facets, you help ensure that your application will not only look good, but have a chance of becoming a raging success. After a new user clicks on the icon of your program, the first thing he or she sees is the application interface. I know that when I review a product, I am very critical of its visual design. I usually have a short time to learn the new software, so design and ease of use are very important. Aside from those who marvel at the beauty of the command line, most users tend to react the same way.

Drawers. Similar to Sheets, this is a "child" window that gives users access to items that do not always need to be present. But when do you use a drawer and when do you use a palette?

This topic is one we will tackle later in this article, but it refers to making sure that your application and the dock aren't fighting it out for supremacy of the screen.

You Must Promise. To call your mother, to help old ladies cross the road, and to turn your cell phone off at the movies.