GPS suggestion: maximize screen real estate

**aoLhaTer** · 03-11-2006, 12:57 AM

I think the GPS screen should maximize its screen real estate and show more map. With the size screens we have, every little bit counts
I understand that theres a full screen switch but at the loss of all the controls. This would keep the controls but still show more map

What I imagine for the GPS screen

Original for comparison

(Thanks bishooman for the original screenshot [and skin])

**scott_fx** · 03-11-2006, 01:56 AM

that is a great suggestion/

**cold_fusion** · 03-11-2006, 08:13 AM

Sorry aoLhaTer I kinda furthered on your idea, hope you don't mind!

This moves the controls to the left of the screen under the nav menu, further increasing the verticle area available. However this is at a cost of horizontal space, but personally I feel this is wasted ATM.

For the buttons on the left i see that either:
* they could all be made bigger to fill up the blank space
* or the nav menu button made smaller to increase the horizontal map size slighty
* or there maybe room for 1 or 2 more buttons in there.

Anyway I'm sure you get the general idea. Of course this is all for the new destinator plugin (D5 / D6 ?). Sorry about the poor photochop, I don't do this often

**scott_fx** · 03-11-2006, 08:32 AM

that looks great! could this be done with a skin alone? sorry for my ignorance on the matter, I havent done any research on skinning so i'm not sure what the limitations are.

**jollyeskimo** · 03-11-2006, 09:18 AM

not sure if the implementation is possible with CF, but check out these screens of the Kuo's Roadrunner skin with embedded iGuidance:

http://www.kuo.freakstylehosting.com...s/skin/gps.jpg
http://www.kuo.freakstylehosting.com.../skin/gps2.jpg

It's simple, but I find that it works terrific. The button on the right of "prev" maximizes and restores iGuidnace, but in reality it just links between the two different screens that both embed iGuidance.

Heck, looking at the skin that you guys posted, you can trim quite a bit of space by using smaller buttons, and less of them. The circular buttons on the bottom could be trimmed to less than half the height if they were changed to short rectangular-ish ones, and same for the nav-menu row. You could stack the ones under the nav menu in cold_fusion's pic in a single column, and with some trimming on both the top and bottom you could get a significant increase in the GPS area....

**b8bboi** · 03-11-2006, 09:57 AM

man whoever came up with that mail slot design has no concept of usability.

**Floatingpi** · 03-11-2006, 11:03 AM

I have been looking at the skining and I think it is possible to change things around. You would have to only really modify the GPS skin alone. I also hate how narrow things are. I am currently working on a skin that isn't a mail slot.

**krog** · 03-11-2006, 11:57 AM

putting the buttons to the side instead of the top is a great idea...

**ebomb** · 03-11-2006, 12:28 PM

The comp at the beginning of this thread is, from what I understand, how D5 and D6 are going to look. The mail slot orientation is cramped, agreed, but wouldn't you go fullscreen if you wanted to stay in GPS? Is it so bad in that view? Making the buttons on the nav easy to use while driving is paramount to anything else in the UI. Making them half od their current size would give you more room for the map, but it would make them practically impossible to hit comfortably and consistently. Maybe there's a way, like in the DVD player, to have the nav disappear after 3-5 seconds of rest, or with a button-click?