january as user request month suggestions #303

New Issue

icwtch · 2022-01-13T09:22:23Z

icwtch commented

2022-01-13 09:22:23 +00:00

Hi, don't have a twitter account myself, so thought i could just paste some suggestions here :

1 tor

see current path (nodes)
ability to block certain countries as nodes (entry or middle)

2 ui

thumbs up for "custom contact/conversion color schemes and custom conversation background images"
ability to resize left pane of window (contact name), which is fixed size for now
ability to set own avatar
show progress bar of file being shared for the sender, not just the receiver
brush up the ui as a whole (doesn't look very sexy right now)

3 functionality

ability to drag&drop files on chat window to share (that's a biggy)
ability to have option to either send several files at once or have them queued
ability to pauze or stop ongoing file transfer (f.ex. bad speeds)
ability to delete specific text bubbles for all users (f.ex. when sending passwords you don't want to remain visible in chat history)
ability to add emojis
ability to stretch text bubble to other side of the window (in case of long text for easier reading)
ability to change font & size
are messages stored in cleartext on the PC ? If so, plz abillity to encrypt

4 bug fix

in MacOS, cwtch 1.5.2 still has the bug of having the user's id glued to his user name in the chat window

Hi, don't have a twitter account myself, so thought i could just paste some suggestions here : 1 tor - see current path (nodes) - ability to block certain countries as nodes (entry or middle) 2 ui - thumbs up for "custom contact/conversion color schemes and custom conversation background images" - ability to resize left pane of window (contact name), which is fixed size for now - ability to set own avatar - show progress bar of file being shared for the sender, not just the receiver - brush up the ui as a whole (doesn't look very sexy right now) 3 functionality - ability to drag&drop files on chat window to share (that's a biggy) - ability to have option to either send several files at once or have them queued - ability to pauze or stop ongoing file transfer (f.ex. bad speeds) - ability to delete specific text bubbles for all users (f.ex. when sending passwords you don't want to remain visible in chat history) - ability to add emojis - ability to stretch text bubble to other side of the window (in case of long text for easier reading) - ability to change font & size - are messages stored in cleartext on the PC ? If so, plz abillity to encrypt 4 bug fix - in MacOS, cwtch 1.5.2 still has the bug of having the user's id glued to his user name in the chat window

sarah commented

2022-01-13 22:09:38 +00:00

Thanks for the list, there are some good ideas in there! Answers to a few specific ones below:

see current path (nodes)

Currently working on this (see attached)

ability to block certain countries as nodes (entry or middle)

This functionality is currently in nightly (prototype) and allows a fully custom torrc config.

show progress bar of file being shared for the sender, not just the receiver

This doesn't make sense given the way that file sharing is implemented. In future releases we will allow re-hosting of files and allow people in groups to share responsibility for distributing larger files (i.e. torrent-like) - as such there is no "download progress" - clients just fetch chunks from whoever advertises them.

We do plan to add a few UI updates to this e.g. for image sharing the image will display for the sender as in other messengers, for other files we may also display some indepth information regarding rehosts/chunks but it will not be a progress bar.

brush up the ui as a whole

Any specific critques?

ability to delete specific text bubbles for all users

We do have a plan to implement auto-expiring / deletable messages as part of the new hybrid groups protocol work.

ability to add emojis

The UI already supports adding emojis. On devices without an emjoi keyboard they need to be copy and pasted in. In the future we may add a built in emoji keyboard.

are messages stored in cleartext on the PC

No, everything Cwtch stores is encrypted with a key derived from the password associated with a profile. (Slight caveat when it comes to saved Global Settings which we are currently not able to encrypt as we do not allow for customized "master password")

Thanks for the list, there are some good ideas in there! Answers to a few specific ones below: > see current path (nodes) Currently working on this (see attached) > ability to block certain countries as nodes (entry or middle) This functionality is currently in nightly (prototype) and allows a fully custom torrc config. > show progress bar of file being shared for the sender, not just the receiver This doesn't make sense given the way that file sharing is implemented. In future releases we will allow re-hosting of files and allow people in groups to share responsibility for distributing larger files (i.e. torrent-like) - as such there is no "download progress" - clients just fetch chunks from whoever advertises them. We do plan to add a few UI updates to this e.g. for image sharing the image will display for the sender as in other messengers, for other files we may also display some indepth information regarding rehosts/chunks but it will not be a progress bar. > brush up the ui as a whole Any specific critques? > ability to delete specific text bubbles for all users We do have a plan to implement auto-expiring / deletable messages as part of the new hybrid groups protocol work. > ability to add emojis The UI already supports adding emojis. On devices without an emjoi keyboard they need to be copy and pasted in. In the future we may add a built in emoji keyboard. > are messages stored in cleartext on the PC No, everything Cwtch stores is encrypted with a key derived from the password associated with a profile. (Slight caveat when it comes to saved Global Settings which we are currently not able to encrypt as we do not allow for customized "master password")

Screenshot_2022-01-13_13-11-39.png

44 KiB

icwtch commented

2022-01-14 10:01:31 +00:00

Hi and thanks for the feedback !
Also wanted to thank you guys for developing such crucial software, so do keep up the good work…
I’ll try to reply to a few points you picked up :

This doesn't make sense given the way that file sharing is implemented.

Don’t quite get why. Why would the receiver to be the only one who receives visual feedback on the progress of the file being transferred ? The sender might be as interested to see how his transfer fares…

Any specific critques?

Well, don’t take it badly. I’m just comparing the ui to some other more established desktop messengers I’m familiar with, like element and signal. But upon your request, I’m ok with sharing the personal impressions of a simple (but probably picky) end-user. Just trying to be constructive here with an app I’d like to use on a daily basis (so I have to stare at it often…).

A I’ll start from the main window.

1 consistency in icons
there’s a mix of filled an outlined icons : onion and gear are filled, whereas padlock (and x) are outlined.
In Signal all is outlined, in element everything is filled.

2 background drop when hovering over icons
in cwtch, when doing so, you get a huge (round) background drop more than 3 times the size of the icon, eating into its neighbors. That’s not very sexy…
In both Signal and Element, the backdrop is constrained to the size of the icon, square with rounded corners in Signal), round in Element.
=> I’d actually prefer Element’s solution while dropping the background drop : a mere filling provides sufficient visual feedback making everything minimalistic and slick

B the unlock window

1 Both the text input field and unlock button have too much a rounded corners IMO, the latter being almost pill shaped.
2 Hovering over the eye lid icon triggers a background drop, which is mostly hidden by the text field itself.
3 The eye icons themselves aren’t that good looking, the outlines are thick and very different from the ‘standard’ icons in most IMs.
=> I’d use the ‘stock’ icons, with finer lines and drop the backdrop
4 bullets replacing password characters in text field are too small.
I’d make them bigger in order not to give them the looks of lilliputs compared to the size of the text field.

C profiles loaded window
1 same remark concerning fills and outlines for the pencil

D edit page
1 idem rounded corners

E chat window
cf. Initial post
1 conversation settings : icon filled/outlined
2 ugly send button : too big background. How about just keeping the paper plane ?

F color scheme
as it will be given a thought, no need to insist. The default reddish color scheme isn't very inviting for me, most messengers use blue or green theme, which i find nicer on the eyes

Hi and thanks for the feedback ! Also wanted to thank you guys for developing such crucial software, so do keep up the good work… I’ll try to reply to a few points you picked up : > This doesn't make sense given the way that file sharing is implemented. Don’t quite get why. Why would the receiver to be the only one who receives visual feedback on the progress of the file being transferred ? The sender might be as interested to see how his transfer fares… > Any specific critques? Well, don’t take it badly. I’m just comparing the ui to some other more established desktop messengers I’m familiar with, like element and signal. But upon your request, I’m ok with sharing the personal impressions of a simple (but probably picky) end-user. Just trying to be constructive here with an app I’d like to use on a daily basis (so I have to stare at it often…). A I’ll start from the main window. 1 consistency in icons there’s a mix of filled an outlined icons : onion and gear are filled, whereas padlock (and x) are outlined. In Signal all is outlined, in element everything is filled. 2 background drop when hovering over icons in cwtch, when doing so, you get a huge (round) background drop more than 3 times the size of the icon, eating into its neighbors. That’s not very sexy… In both Signal and Element, the backdrop is constrained to the size of the icon, square with rounded corners in Signal), round in Element. => I’d actually prefer Element’s solution while dropping the background drop : a mere filling provides sufficient visual feedback making everything minimalistic and slick B the unlock window 1 Both the text input field and unlock button have too much a rounded corners IMO, the latter being almost pill shaped. 2 Hovering over the eye lid icon triggers a background drop, which is mostly hidden by the text field itself. 3 The eye icons themselves aren’t that good looking, the outlines are thick and very different from the ‘standard’ icons in most IMs. => I’d use the ‘stock’ icons, with finer lines and drop the backdrop 4 bullets replacing password characters in text field are too small. I’d make them bigger in order not to give them the looks of lilliputs compared to the size of the text field. C profiles loaded window 1 same remark concerning fills and outlines for the pencil D edit page 1 idem rounded corners E chat window cf. Initial post 1 conversation settings : icon filled/outlined 2 ugly send button : too big background. How about just keeping the paper plane ? F color scheme as it will be given a thought, no need to insist. The default reddish color scheme isn't very inviting for me, most messengers use blue or green theme, which i find nicer on the eyes

sarah commented

2022-01-14 22:17:44 +00:00

Thanks for this feedback, it is very useful!

Don’t quite get why. Why would the receiver to be the only one who receives visual feedback on the progress of the file being transferred ? The sender might be as interested to see how his transfer fares…

We will definitely offer some kind of feedback, but a progress bar doesn't really capture what is going on in the backend - especially when applied to conversations with more than one member. We are stil working through some of the UI details.

Well, don’t take it badly.

My apoligies if it came off that way. I only meant that specific nitpicks are much more actionable than general statements.

background drop when hovering over icons

Do you mean the (pink) splash? Or the tooltips?

I have fixed the size of the splash in my dev build which makes them the size of the icon - which is definitely much nicer.

For the tooltips there isn't much we can do.

too much a rounded corners

Also agreed. I've trimmed these down in my dev build. I think there are still some work to do on the text fields.

bullets replacing password characters in text field are too small.

Good observation. Turns out Flutter defaults to a very small unicode character that doesn't respect font scaling. Fixed this in my dev build. Should be in nightly next week.

send button : too big background. How about just keeping the paper plane ?

Currently thinking about this. It is definitely something we've gone back-and-forth on. I've made it a little smaller in my dev build and I like it better. I'll chat with our designer about this.

consistency in icons

Agreed.

Thanks again.

Thanks for this feedback, it is very useful! > Don’t quite get why. Why would the receiver to be the only one who receives visual feedback on the progress of the file being transferred ? The sender might be as interested to see how his transfer fares… We will definitely offer some kind of feedback, but a progress bar doesn't really capture what is going on in the backend - especially when applied to conversations with more than one member. We are stil working through some of the UI details. > Well, don’t take it badly. My apoligies if it came off that way. I only meant that specific nitpicks are much more actionable than general statements. > background drop when hovering over icons Do you mean the (pink) splash? Or the tooltips? I have fixed the size of the splash in my dev build which makes them the size of the icon - which is definitely much nicer. For the tooltips there isn't much we can do. > too much a rounded corners Also agreed. I've trimmed these down in my dev build. I think there are still some work to do on the text fields. > bullets replacing password characters in text field are too small. Good observation. Turns out Flutter defaults to a very small unicode character that doesn't respect font scaling. Fixed this in my dev build. Should be in nightly next week. > send button : too big background. How about just keeping the paper plane ? Currently thinking about this. It is definitely something we've gone back-and-forth on. I've made it a little smaller in my dev build and I like it better. I'll chat with our designer about this. > consistency in icons Agreed. Thanks again.

sarah added the

enhancement

label 2022-01-14 22:17:57 +00:00

icwtch commented

2022-01-15 09:51:50 +00:00

Thx for checking out my comments...

We will definitely offer some kind of feedback

ok, just a live percentage + speeds of how the transfer is going should do the job.

Do you mean the (pink) splash? Or the tooltips?

just the splash.

Agreed.

Thx. Just comparing signal and element desktop again. I actually wonder whether the splash couldn't be dispensed with. In desktop Signal, on the bottom part of the chat window, the outlines of the icons (nice looking thin lines IMO) just change color (from grey to black) when being hovered over and/or selected. That looks really nice and gives it a refined and minimalistic look. In cwtch you might try out something similar with an extra, f.ex. to have grey/black icons as default (outlines) and have the outlines turn into the overall color scheme for the app you let the user choose from. That would add an extra visual consistency inside the app. Hope you like the idea... Adding link to short video clip showing how it goes in Signal :
https://streamable.com/jtjqg9

Did you guys consider f.ex. a sliced onion as the connection icon, which would be reminiscent of the TBB ?

Thx for checking out my comments... > We will definitely offer some kind of feedback ok, just a live percentage + speeds of how the transfer is going should do the job. > Do you mean the (pink) splash? Or the tooltips? just the splash. > Agreed. Thx. Just comparing signal and element desktop again. I actually wonder whether the splash couldn't be dispensed with. In desktop Signal, on the bottom part of the chat window, the outlines of the icons (nice looking thin lines IMO) just change color (from grey to black) when being hovered over and/or selected. That looks really nice and gives it a refined and minimalistic look. In cwtch you might try out something similar with an extra, f.ex. to have grey/black icons as default (outlines) and have the outlines turn into the overall color scheme for the app you let the user choose from. That would add an extra visual consistency inside the app. Hope you like the idea... Adding link to short video clip showing how it goes in Signal : [https://streamable.com/jtjqg9](https://) Did you guys consider f.ex. a sliced onion as the connection icon, which would be reminiscent of the TBB ?

icwtch closed this issue

2022-01-15 09:51:50 +00:00

icwtch commented

2022-01-15 09:52:26 +00:00

sorry, didn't mean to close the ticket, dunno how to undo that...

icwtch reopened this issue

2022-01-15 09:52:27 +00:00

icwtch commented

2022-01-15 12:20:37 +00:00

and PS, the idea of being able to run a Tor middle node sounds great to me. I'd see it as a possible opt-in feature with some user customization such as the ability to set bandwith caps f.ex. ...

PS2 is there a way to permanently delete blocked users from the user interface ?
Don't find any settings ans clicking on the 'delete' icon next to the user in the chat window doesn't do anything...

and PS, the idea of being able to run a Tor middle node sounds great to me. I'd see it as a possible opt-in feature with some user customization such as the ability to set bandwith caps f.ex. ... PS2 is there a way to permanently delete blocked users from the user interface ? Don't find any settings ans clicking on the 'delete' icon next to the user in the chat window doesn't do anything...

sarah commented

2022-11-28 22:05:12 +00:00

I believe everything captured in this issue is captured in specific individual issues (or fixed). If not feel free to reopen new individual issues.

sarah closed this issue

2022-11-28 22:05:12 +00:00

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