Better UI for sync-delete confirm [Req #10912]

[mcow]

When displaying the confirmation for deleted files, it would be better to just show an album icon than to list every track, with all de-sync'd tracks shown alphabetically. The full list of tracks is not too useful if I've deselected, say, fifteen albums and there are several dozen albums on the device.

[Lowlander]

Except that wouldn't be helpful if some tracks of an Album are being deleted while others are not.

[captainmcl]

I like this idea. Good point, Lowlander -- not all tracks on an album need to be deleted. But if the tracks were grouped by album, or if the interface showed the albums with count of tracks for deletion, it would make it a lot simpler to go through a long list.

[rovingcowboy]

Just turn confirmation of delete off when you plan on deleting a lot of songs, don't forget to turn it back on afterwards.

[Lowlander]

But if the tracks were grouped by album, or if the interface showed the albums with count of tracks for deletion

Except it wouldn't tell the user which tracks are being deleted. The user should always be able to know this.

[mcow]

But if the tracks were grouped by album, or if the interface showed the albums with count of tracks for deletion

Except it wouldn't tell the user which tracks are being deleted. The user should always be able to know this.

First of all, the use case of having sync'd all or some tracks from a particular album, and then removing a subset of those tracks, is relatively rare. Selection of tracks for syncing is by album (or by some other grouping: playlist, artist, rating); I don't see a way to select for sync by individual tracks, altho there may be one that's not part of my configuration.

My proposal was primarily about the sync-by-album case (which I select from Album nodes under Album Artist nodes); I wasn't considering other node types. Take playlists: If the playlist contents change, or if the playlist is removed from the synclist, then various individual tracks probably will be removed. The way to handle this is to use a playlist icon rather than an album icon, with some indicative text: "6 tracks of 15 in this playlist". Similarly, tracks that were sync'd onto the device via Artist or Rating could be presented in the list under Artist or Rating groupings.

Yes, there is more complexity to this: these different types of nodes may overlap with others. Playlists may contain tracks that are redundant with other playlists and with albums; but if a track that's part of a removed album or playlist isn't being removed because it's in use elsewhere, that doesn't really affect this issue because those tracks are not being removed, and so they don't show up in the list anyway.

Second of all, in the case that I'm trying to improve, where there are a large number of tracks being removed, the existing solution does not address your concern any better: a very long list of tracks, sorted alphabetically, does not give the user visibility into which tracks are being removed.

Third, my idea could be improved upon by making the individual tracks visible on demand, by tapping the album or playlist entry.

Finally: suppose some tracks do get accidentally sync'd off the device? It's not the end of the world. When I sync, I do want to know that tracks are being removed and have a general idea of which ones, in case something catastrophic has happened in the sync-list. But I don't need every track listed out, because I'm always syncing entire albums off, and usually six or ten albums at a time. The existing list does not help me.

[Lowlander]

And others do need that, your proposals would make it a big hassle for those that do need to see individual tracks. Assuming that users mainly use Albums isn't necessarily true.

[mcow]

And others do need that, your proposals would make it a big hassle for those that do need to see individual tracks. Assuming that users mainly use Albums isn't necessarily true.

I don't see the hassle. Please, describe the use case for those who actually need a complete list. What problem is being solved?
Bonus points if you address the issue of dozens or hundreds of tracks being removed.

[Lowlander]

You're hiding useful information that some users need to make a decision. That may be beneficial to some, but a huge hassle for others. It is a bigger negative impact than the current implementation has for those who'd like to see a condensed (album) list.

[mcow]

You're hiding useful information that some users need to make a decision. That may be beneficial to some, but a huge hassle for others. It is a bigger negative impact than the current implementation has for those who'd like to see a condensed (album) list.

I don't think you are correct, and you have yet to give a coherent use case to support your assertion. Everything you're saying is, "some people..." How does this affect your usage? How exactly do you use syncing that makes the list useful?

Furthermore, you have not addressed the fact that dozens or hundreds of track titles do not, in fact, present useful information. It's a huge list; nobody wants to scan every item, or even can scan every item, to make sure that all the tracks being deleted are the intended tracks.

[Lowlander]

nobody wants to scan every item

Can you back that up then?

I myself am a track based user, not an Album based user. A list of Albums doesn't present any useful information for me, a track list (Artist - Title) does and as I may have hundreds of Albums on the device it wouldn't really change the long list issue, but it would hide useful information if presented with an Album list. Although I maintain Album information I don't know what Album what track is on, but do know what track I may want to keep on the device.

The list inherently looses usefulness when dealing with a larger collection even in Album mode. Things like sorting, jump to typing, view as track or view as Albums, etc. would make accessing specific tracks much easier, but that would be useful features in the MMW delete files confirmation dialog.

[BigInJapan]

My syncs are primarily playlist based. Seeing the flat list of tracks to be deleted works fine in my use case. I think it would be a nice enhancement to have the option to view the delete list as a collapsable Artist -> Album -> Track hierarchy. That might be pretty challenging UI-wise though given the confines of a smartphone screen.

The original suggestion of showing just the album names / art would not work at all in my use case.

[Barry4679]

Loving Synchronisation.

I have MMW Device Profile set require confirmation during auto-synch deletions on the android device.

I have MMA WIFI synch options to allow the server to control what gets synched, and to allow deletion.

The MMA deletion confirmation screen just shows a list of track titles. It is disconcerting as I am authorising deletion on MMA without being able to check which albums are being affected.

It would be better if the confirmation list showed Album|Track, or even better had a toggle between album title list summary, and the full list of track names.

[rusty]

I can understand the need for some users. Tracked at http://www.ventismedia.com/mantis/view.php?id=10912 but it's unlikely to be fixed for the initial release.

Thanks.

-Rusty

[Lowlander]

I think at the very least it should have separate type of content in dialog like audio/video. Finding if video(s) are included (like those taken with device) in a list of potentially thousands of music files is undo-able.