I'm the Aqua Mail designer - just wanted to introduce myself

[lpetkov | Mobisystems | Designer]

Hi everyone,

I probably should have done this earlier, but I wanted to say hello to the community - which I did not realize was so vibrant and active!

When Mobisystems acquired Aqua Mail, I was given the task to update its interface according to the modern Material guidelines, make its look more appealing/familiar to new users, etc. Certainly not an easy task, and we've only just begun!

We received some great feedback (of course, both negative and positive) which I wanted to say, I really appreciate, and I'm doing my best to learn from it. I'll be trying to address all meaningful suggestions and criticism (although, I hope everyone realizes that we can't possibly make everybody 100% happy, and that not all decisions are up to me).

Sometimes I may not be able to answer directly to everyone or every thread, but I'll be lurking in the forums for sure.


Cheers,
lpetkov

[Yaatzek]

Great job! Your work made me finally switch to aqua ☺️ besides functionality I need the app to look great and now it does 👍

[lpetkov | Mobisystems | Designer]

Thanks, guys.

@Paris Geek - yeah, I lurked through that thread. We actually addressed some of your points there, others we'll probably address in future releases! Thanks!

[jmccabe]

.... make its look more appealing/familiar to new users, etc

With all due respect, you appear to have done that at the expense of existing users, many of whom have clearly been pretty pissed off with your work.

[lpetkov | Mobisystems | Designer]

.... make its look more appealing/familiar to new users, etc

With all due respect, you appear to have done that at the expense of existing users, many of whom have clearly been pretty pissed off with your work.

Some users will always resist any change. As an example, any time Facebook introduces a design change, millions of people go crazy, then a couple of weeks later no one can't even remember what the older design looked like.

Having said that, however, I realize I need to be more careful and find a better balance between what old-time users want and like, what new users want and like, what my boss wants, etc.  This is why I'm here, and I'll try to be as active as I can, ask the community about future changes, listen to feedback, etc.

Thanks for you comment!

[beerlao]

.... make its look more appealing/familiar to new users, etc

With all due respect, you appear to have done that at the expense of existing users, many of whom have clearly been pretty pissed off with your work.

Please keep in mind that the chance users express their opinion is higher when they are not satisfied. People that are happy with the design changes (like me and I'm really a long time user) might not feel the need to seek for a forum to express their appreciation. So it might not be an indication for a bad design change if more users seem to be unhappy in these forums. That being said I like the fresh layout and I am a big fan of a clean interface with enough white space to make it look neat and clean. So, while I fully respect our position, count me to the happy user side ;-)

Best regards,

Beerlao

[jmccabe]

With all due respect, you appear to have done that at the expense of existing users, many of whom have clearly been pretty pissed off with your work.

Please keep in mind that the chance users express their opinion is higher when they are not satisfied. People that are happy with the design changes (like me and I'm really a long time user) might not feel the need to seek for a forum to express their appreciation. So it might not be an indication for a bad design change if more users seem to be unhappy in these forums. That being said I like the fresh layout and I am a big fan of a clean interface with enough white space to make it look neat and clean. So, while I fully respect our position, count me to the happy user side ;-)

That's not an unreasonable hypothesis. However, it's also not unreasonable to hypothesise that there may be many disgruntled users who either can't be bothered to, or don't know they can, express their opinion on a forum where doing so might have an influence on the future direction of the product. It's all guesswork to be honest, but you're probably right.

Perhaps I'm a little biased as I use a Sony Xperia Z3 Compact; it's only little, so all that extra whitespace isn't always a good thing!

[mikeone]

Since there is already an option "Slim padding" it could be useful to make this a bit more 'aggressive' to reduce the white space between "account/folder name" line and first title line.

[mikeone]

@Paris Geek:
Well, as shown in the screenshots below:

#1 "Slim padding" disabled
My suggestion is to leave the white space as it is currently:
Users who want a more clear, airy layout will be happy

#2 "Slim padding" enabled
Reduce the white space between "account/folder name" line and first title line a bit more 'aggressive' to satisfy users who want to see as much messages as possible on the screen.

PS:
I'm not of the opinion that slim padding is already too aggressive now.

[beerlao]

Perhaps I'm a little biased as I use a Sony Xperia Z3 Compact; it's only little, so all that extra whitespace isn't always a good thing!

Yes, point taken, I'm using a Galaxy S7 edge, so there's plenty of room. It might come down to just personal needs ;-)

[mikeone]

@mikeone,

Screenshots, in order:

- "middle size", slim
- "middle size", regular
- "+1 size", slim
- "+1 size", regular

Thanks, I see.... 
Too much white space in "regular view" but IMO too much even with "Slim padding".

[iainmann]

Welcome lpetkov...and good to see you taking notice of a feedback forum like this. You have a hard act to follow and I wish you well.

[lpetkov | Mobisystems | Designer]

Thanks, guys.

@Paris Geek - yeah, I lurked through that thread. We actually addressed some of your points there, others we'll probably address in future releases! Thanks!

Hi again,
Just before you finish 1.8, please see attached screenshot. It's without "slim padding" so it's layout by default, and as shown, the white band between "account/folder name" line and first title line is too large. It is significantly larger than the space between "account/folder name" and the preview lines of the previous message.

Would you please decrease the width of that space (by 20 or 25%, or even less).
The user would gain in layount balance (especially when there attachement clips or message size displayed): the "colored" line will be closer to the title of its message. I don't see any cons for that change.

Thank you

Yeah, this is actually an implementation bug that we didn't catch before release. Not an intentional design decision.
Thanks!

[Jeff]

I really miss the Floating Tool Bar (FTB) being vertical.  Any chance this can be made an option?  Even better, make it truly floating, in that it could be dragged and AM will remember its position.

[jcasares]

Having said that, however, I realize I need to be more careful and find a better balance between what old-time users want and like, what new users want and like, what my boss wants, etc.  This is why I'm here, and I'll try to be as active as I can, ask the community about future changes, listen to feedback, etc.

First of all, welcome!

I value an application with an updated design but I value more functionality. While you don't reduce or impair functionality I will try to adapt to the new design. I know it takes time sometimes, and that you can't please everybody. In any case thank you for your work.