Tidying up the 'Selected Album' view

[PW1]

Could the artist and album names be moved to a single line under the art, perhaps with the play icon at the start of it? E.g. ▶Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

Other info (year, track count, album duration) could be an optional line under this.

The tracklist could then be shifted down a line (or two) accordingly.

The other icons currently obscuring the album art could be invisible, appearing after a long press on the art.

 Overall, a cleaner more streamlined look.

[6b6561]

Have you tried the "alternative layout" under skin settings? That moves the text below the album cover but it's still two lines.

[andrewilley]

The header area can be made a bit smaller with (menu icon ) > List Options > Compact Header.

Also, you can display the track count & total running time in the header block by enabling Settings > Library > Lists > Headers With Meta.

Andre

[PW1]

 

@6b6561

I'm already using alternative layout skin; it removes the labels/icons from the art only on the main player UI.

I'm referring to the selected album view, i.e. the screen that appears after tapping the name of an album.

@Andre

Making the header art smaller doesn't remove the labels/icon from it. The 'headers with meta' option adds another ugly label to the art. 

I'm proposing the artist and album title occupy a single line under the art, with the meta info an optional line under this, followed by the tracklist.

The other icons (magnifying glass, shuffle etc) should be invisible, appearing after a long press on the header art.

Edited February 17, 2021 by PW1

[MotleyG]

2 hours ago, PW1 said:

 

@6b6561

I'm already using alternative layout skin; it removes the labels/icons from the art only on the main player UI.

I'm referring to the selected album view, i.e. the screen that appears after tapping the name of an album.

@Andre

Making the header art smaller doesn't remove the labels/icon from it. The 'headers with meta' option adds another ugly label to the art. 

I'm proposing the artist and album title occupy a single line under the art, with the meta info an optional line under this, followed by the tracklist.

The other icons (magnifying glass, shuffle etc) should be invisible, appearing after a long press on the header art.

I could understand cleaning up the art display on the Now Playing page, but on the headers this is more for a quick recognition than for admiring the covers. If the info you suggest is moved below, it reduces the space for the rest of the list, and that I suspect would generate far more complaints.

[PW1]

@MotleyG Yes I appreciate that; it's all down to personal preferences, which why ideally what I've suggested would be configurable options via the settings menu. Making it default in the Alternative Layout skin would maybe be logical.

In my screenshot above, there are still nine visible tracks (12 if the mini-player wasn't there) – and that's with a 'large' header and the track list not 'extra small'.

When in the selected album view, the only thing I ever tap is a song title to play (and usually the first one), making the other options redundant clutter.

Edited February 17, 2021 by PW1

[andrewilley]

25 minutes ago, PW1 said:

When in the selected album view, the only thing I ever tap is a song title to play (and usually the first one), making the other options redundant clutter.

That has always been my standard way of commencing playback too (as it doesn't change my chosen Shuffle and Repeat modes) but in many previous conversations here I found lots more people seem to use the Play or Shuffle icons by preference. I also use menu often (for List Options). So I think having that row hidden when you first view the screen would not be an ideal for most people. It's just a header, so I guess I feel the information and controls are more important than the prettiness of the background . I tend to use skin settings to fade those labels so I can still read them, but they don't jar visually too much:

Andre