Hi everyone 
I’m looking for feedback about a redesign of the “Downloads” » “Log” screen. What do you all think about combining the currently running downloads and the logs? The list of currently running downloads is empty in most cases anyway, so I believe that it does not need its own screen.
(prototype available here: Merge download log+running lists by ByteHamster · Pull Request #5134 · AntennaPod/AntennaPod · GitHub)
Agree with you.
I think separating running and log with headers is not necessary as you have a progress circle for episodes currently downloading and as they would always be in latest entries.
I have a remark : wouldn’t it be better to merge it with completed instead of logs? Completed could be rename as “on device”.
I like the new cleaner interface.
I thought about that, too, but then decided against it. The main reason is that the “Completed” screen only shows episodes. The list of running downloads also shows feeds (later maybe even transcripts).
Is it really more clean? 
I think it looks a bit more cluttered because the list items are less consistent. I like the fact that the number of tabs decreases, though.
I was thinking about even removing the logs tab and only adding an icon to the toolbar. Then we can get rid of the tabs completely. The currently running downloads are already displayed in Android’s notification bar anyway and streaming instead of downloading seems to get more common, currently.
Hmm. I feel like this somehow makes it one more step that users need to think when looking at the screen. When there are failed downloads, they also have the circle on the right, so it is not visible on the first sight. Maybe we could use the same list item design for both running and completed downloads. Then the running downloads could have another little icon in front that indicates that they are running. That way, it does not need the extra step and we can remove the headers. I will experiment with that 
If it’s up to me I would say let’s go with that. Indeed history doesn’t need to be accessed frequently.
If we do downloaded would only be one tabs and will show in fact episodes on device. (Not the one completed but not on device)
So… Is there no way to take an additional step and try to fit it in episodes screen? Maybe instead of tabs there could be a drop down menu to switch between : new / all / favorites / on device ? For logs / history it would still be an icon or an access in drop down menu.
What do you think about the following design (question mark icon should actually be a refresh icon)? Looks pretty clean and consistent, I think. Also, it’s a lot easier to implement because it uses the same layout for all list items 
The same applies to the “Playback history” entry that is currently displayed in the sidebar. I would argue that downloads are more important than playback history.
All of the tabs could actually be handled by the “filter” button. I just wonder if it is good to do that. I think it is easier for new users if we explicitly show the most important screens, rather than hiding them behind a filter or drop-down.
I like a lot the new list. Especially with the blue mark. You can quickly notice what is neither completed or failed. (And so is downloading)
This is very clean, i think it is easy to understand.
I hate when colors alone are used to indicate differences, due to the fact that I am color deficient. But when combined with icons or other such indicators it is fine. Great job.
I like the simplified screen. I’m just thinking: can’t we get rid also of the icons on the left, and only have icons on the right: Blue + cross + progress circle is ongoing (tapping cancels). Green + check is successfully finished (tapping does nothing). Red + round retry arrow is failed (tapping retries).
The freed up space on the left could then indicate a download type: episode, feed, transcript, … (Or just provide more space to the title.)
I think the history should be a sub-feature of the queue.
I also feel that an overview of episodes currently on the device doesn’t add much, as it would very logically fit with the Episodes screen.
However, then ‘Downloads’ would basically only contain the log - which doesn’t really merit a menu tab on its own. Also, I do see @ByteHamster’s use-case of having quick access to a screen to manage how many episodes (and thus space on the phone) AntennaPod takes/has. So for me it makes sense to keep it as proposed.
The only other way I see (which would work for me) is makint the download log accessible from the settings and Android notifications, and making Downloaded episodes part of the Episodes screen.
Actually what I meant was having logs accessible from download not as a tab but as an icon in top bar or via 3 dots menu.
Then download screen is only one tab which show episodes on your device. So it should actually be part of episodes screen and what would be needed is just the ability to filter episodes you want to see. (And in episodes screen you would still have access to download history via icon or menu)
And playback history could do the same in queue screen. I agree with your suggestion.
The “retry” icon of failed downloads disappears when the same file is later loaded successfully. So I would keep it like it is - it’s also a bit more obvious to have a dedicated icon that shows the state instead of having differently colored actions.
Hmm. It somehow doesn’t feel right to me. Not sure why. Maybe because it would introduce more tabs again. Also, it would interfere with swiping. When hiding it behind an icon, it’s probably pretty hard to find. For the download logs I think it’s okay if it is a bit hidden (if all goes well, users never have to look at it) but users already explicitly asked for the playback history (it turned out they just removed the sidebar entry and then forgot that they removed it).
For the next update, I would maybe keep the download logs as a tab and see if someone complains. I like the idea of moving it to the toolbar but I think we should try to do slow UI changes. Not too much at once.
I must admit I am horrible at UI design. With just a couple of exceptions I did VB script for a reason 
. I would say that I only use 3 screens in AntennaPod. The most commonly used one is queue, this lets me see what I have downloaded (I get nervous if I have less than 160 {I have many issues }). The player which is because I click the pic on the widget to bring up that screen. And third I occasionally view subscriptions to make sure I didn’t subscribe to a dead podcast (and to make sure that my subscriptions are in even rows {I am crazy 
}.
I would love the UI be paired down. But doing so should give the information that users like. I love looking at the statistics.
I rarely use the Downloads screen. So much so that I have removed “Downloads” from my Navigation drawer.
When I do use it though is when I get notification of a download failure and clicking on the notification takes me to the log where I can examine / address the problem. So long as I can still quickly and easily address download problems either seems fine to me.
Spotify has it on their landing page - we could (in the end) include it there, too.
For me ‘Downloads’ is just another episodes list, so conceptually I find it very logic. So in the end (I agree incremental changes might be easier to deal with for users) I’d rather have one screen less and one extra tab in a logical place.
Right, of course. The same could be true for right-sided icons: adding “Red + cross/exclamation point is failed but successful later (tapping does nothing)” to my list would solve it. With that use-case covered, I think this approach would make the screen again a bit cleaner and simpler to use.
I think it could be confusing if the action buttons of list items don’t do something. Once we start using that behavior, users can never be sure about the actions doing something (like, on all screens).
Looks great, and I love that this removes somewhat unnecessary complexity and inefficiency. 
