Yesterday I opened the Logos Mobile App on my iPad to find that it had automatically updated to version 10. Although I know that a lot of work has gone into this release, I am afraid that I must express significant dissatisfaction with the two changes described below:
1. It is now no longer possible to hide the top toolbar. Why is this important to me? Although I appreciate the plethora of features available in the Mobile App, I tend to use these mostly on the Desktop App. The main thing that I want to do with the Mobile App is simply READ. So, what I liked best about version 9 was the elegant and distraction-free experience of seeing ONLY my reading material, and having everything else completely invisible until I wanted it.
Granted, the only thing on the minimized top toolbar in version 10 is the title of the book. That doesn’t seem like much, but I really don’t need or want to see it all the time. Besides, the toolbar wastes space on the screen. So, being unable to hide it is an irritation to me. I would therefore greatly appreciate it if you could offer this as an option in the near future!
2. It appears that the bottom toolbar is accessible only by tapping the top toolbar. So it will seem to many users, anyway. In fact, this is precisely what I thought at first, and so I was despairing at the dismal prospect of having to jump through this additional hoop every time I wanted to get at the bottom toolbar! But then I happened upon your answer to another post about a month ago, in which you explain that both toolbars will be displayed in response to a quick scroll or “flick.” This helps considerably, especially since it works anywhere on the screen.
Unfortunately, however, I fear that many users will miss this trick. It doesn’t seem very intuitive to me, anyway. I don’t know of any other apps that make specific use of a quick scroll or “flick.” Further, I discovered your advice only by looking very carefully for relevant posts on FaithlifeFeedback, for this point is not covered on the support page https://support.logos.com/hc/en-us/articles/360035659011-Get-Started-with-the-Logos-Bible-Mobile-App. If you find it necessary to make a feature dependent on a lesser-known or not-quite-so-intuitive gesture, then you really should provide an explanation in some easily accessible location.
To come to the point, may I suggest a solution that should be technically feasible and intuitive for the user, without sacrificing the additional features added in version 10? Why not allow the user to: (1) hide both toolbars, and (2) display them not only by a quick scroll or flick, but also by tapping the top or the bottom of the screen? Although I am not a developer, I suspect that these changes shouldn’t be too difficult to pull off, based on my user experience with ereader apps such as Kindle. Or at the very least, it should certainly be possible to let the user hide both toolbars, however they are to be accessed.
Cordially in Christ,
Steven E. Wilson
