this post was submitted on 01 May 2024
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I agree app indicators are a very strange concept, but the alternative is an app using an extension to place itself in the quicksettings or similar.
Like: Syncthing, Nextcloud, VPN apps. How would they display their small info and sync status?
Notifications, you can have the app fire a notification when it's synced or disconnects for example. Gnome is working on better notifications right now. Tablets, chromebooks, cell phones... have been doing fine without appindicators; people just have a hard time changing their habits.
Notifications are annoying and should only be used for really important things.
Notifications are more effective at displaying a change of status than a tiny icon turning red. What's important to someone is gonna vary on a case by case basis, sometimes getting an email is an urgent notification, you can easily turn off the ones you don't care for or go into DND mode.
At least for us, notifications aren't something you can really glance at similarly to app indicators. They're usually text heavy, only really work for longer tasks for readability (which syncing usually isn't), and are always obscured behind another popup for persistent notifications. Persistent notifications also take up more space within the notifications popup, rather than a small icon that you can easily glance at to know what's happening.
As for programs not staying in the task manager, they usually take up less space if open as an app indicator, being able to be passively open but not take up as much space.
The problem is when you allow one developer its own applet, every application wants one, and suddenly you have 15 applets. Applications need to figure out alternative design patterns to achieve the same result or sidestep the problem.
There's this saying, out of sight, out of mind, do you really need to have a constant eye on every application? When there's an actual change you get a notification.
@imecth
Alternative design patterns like PUTTING A SINGLE ICON ON THE TASK BAR SO USERS CAN SEE AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT WHAT A SERVICE OF THEIR CHOICE IS DOING. Like Windows, MacOS, iPadOS, iPhoneOS, ReactOS, Kde Plasma, XFCE, and morr allow?
Do you honestly think an icon bar like this is a good thing? Look at the colors, the amount of them, how they fold because there's too many... And it's the same shit on windows too. It looks ugly, they're hard to click on, most of them don't serve any purpose... I agree appindicators do serve a purpose, but as it is, i prefer not having them at all.
@forrestguid @imecth @cullmann @ohyran @UnityDevice @domi @boredsquirrel @Plopp @soupermkc @minecraftchest1 You have been able to set the icon size for a while, although the interface is a bit minimal (it is in the options of the systray widget) :
@imecth @cullmann @ohyran @UnityDevice @domi @boredsquirrel @Plopp @soupermkc @minecraftchest1
Of course you have that in KDE, just don't have a panel with a systray.
@imecth
To more directly answer, the only icons I would hide there would be the chrome and Pale Moon ones. However, not having seen those two before, I don't know what they are indicating. I would mouse over them or click on them to see what they are.
On Android apps abuse the persistant notification for just that, while app indicators or a specific area to place those would be way better.
I mostly mute the notifications as they are so annoying, but it is very bad to not have them too.