Reconsider layout

[bragefuglseth]

Here are some issues with the current sidebar layout:

• The app looks awkward without any active/completed downloads
• The sidebar has a lot of empty space beneath the entry
• The app isn't adaptive, and can't be used on phones

I've actually done some design work on a hypothetical download manager before, at the request of @adhami3310. Since this project is essentially the same as what he planned, I figured it would be cool to finish that work, so here's my suggestion for the app layout:

This is a chat-like layout where new downloads appear on the bottom of the stack. It has a well-balanced empty state and is fully adaptive. Actions like pausing/cancelling all downloads would be relocated to the app menu.

This isn't the only possible solution, but at least it's a starting point.

[giantpinkrobots]

That is a really neat design! But I kinda like the idea that vada3n (#8) was recommending, that I put a list of categories on the sidebar. Thus, I kind of want to keep the sidebar. However, on other fronts, your design is pretty inspiring. I'll see what I can do.

[bragefuglseth]

For the sake of adaptiveness I'd move the entry out of the sidebar, at least. Using AdwOverlaySplitView would allow it to be collapsed on mobile.

[wada3n]

What a distinctive and very elegant design. bragefuglseth
I think we can have both (download categories) and this design through a collapsible sidebar.

[bragefuglseth]

Sidebars that are collapsible with a toggle button is a common pattern in GNOME apps, so that shouldn’t be too hard to achieve. I’m still not so sure about the need for a sidebar, though.

[adhami3310]

Here's my two cents. I like apps to be focused with very clear intentions behind everything. In theory, every single app can get a tagging system, but I think it's rarely needed.

The user can always organize the downloaded content in whatever folder they like. It's also going to be very rarely used by anyone. I advocate for only creating features that are going to be used often.

[wada3n]

Based on the discussion here: #8 (comment) , #8 (comment) ,

We can then go further to a simple, intuitive interface.
the interface should use icons and colors to provide clear and concise information about the status of downloads. For example, files that are paused should be dimmed, files with errors should be displayed in red, and files that have completed should be displayed in green.

The interface should also be easy to navigate. The main window should be divided into sections for different tasks, such as downloading, paused downloads, and downloads with errors.
Thus, we will not need either the sidebar or a popover menu.

[bragefuglseth]

Not sure if that's the best approach. If you pause the download of a file it would be disorienting if it suddenly jumped to a different section. The state of a download can be indicated by other things than icons, like the fact that a pause/play button is present to the right. Failure/success can be indicated by e.g. coloring the loading bar green or red (in addition to having an explanatory label somewhere).

If people are expected to have a lot of downloads at once, a popover menu for filtering between all/active/paused/completed/failed downloads would be more intuitive than having to scroll between the sections. If we sort downloads by starting time by default, we're likely to have the most relevant downloads visible to begin with anyways.