Recommendation: Verse Picker Simplification and Power
The verse chooser is looking nicer in many ways...**
I have played with it, attempting to accomplish something that has always been painful about the Android app when compared with verse choosers from Logos' competitors. I failed, yet I think I see a way to get there without significant developer effort (or serious change to the user interface.) Let me explain...
The goal: quickly move within a book or chapter without remembering and completely reselecting the entire passage reference.
The problem: right now, if I am at a given location (eg Ps 119:11 or Rom 10:19), if I want to jump by several verses or chapters (eg to Ps 119:159 or Rom 5:8), I must always do five things:
- Remember my current reference
- Open the verse chooser
- Find and reselect the current book
- Find and reselect the current chapter (or choose new chapter)
- Find and select the correct verse
Other verse pickers provide separate selection for each part of a reference, and pop up showing the current reference. Thus, changing chapter or verse in other verse pickers is as easy as two or three touches:
- Open the verse chooser
- Choose new chapter (if necessary)
- Choose new verse
This could be done in Logos without a lot of change.
a) Already, as you touch the book / chapter / verse, the text interface displays the "growing" reference, with the chosen part already highlighted.
b) Already, if you have already touched the book and chapter, if you touch the text "book name" in the input box, the verse chooser "backs up" to let you select a different book.
[c) Unfortunately, entering the text by hand, or by copy/paste, does not currently accomplish the same thing.]
Based on the above observations... what if:
a) On entering the verse chooser, the current reference is pre-pasted into the chooser, and is fully highlighted
b) If the user touches a book down below before doing anything else, the process continues as it does right now (ie touch a book and the chooser then has just the book name, etc)
c) BUT if the user touches one of the three elements of a reference in the input box (Book, Chapter, Verse), the chooser goes directly to that picker-screen, allowing the user to modify just that portion.
- Touch the chapter, and you will get the chapter list of the current book
- Touch the verse, and you will get the verse list of the current chapter
With these simple changes, moving within a book or chapter looks like this:
- Open the verse chooser
- Touch chapter or verse in chooser to begin selection there
- Choose new chapter (if desired)
- Choose new verse
Advantages? No memorization needed, and one or two fewer touches as well. More intuitive, much simpler.
Thanks for listening 
** I do agree with those who suggest more text color contrast would help
Comments
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The problem: right now, if I am at a given location (eg Ps 119:11 or Rom 10:19), if I want to jump by several verses or chapters (eg to Ps 119:159 or Rom 5:8), I must always do five things:
Do you know that you can change the reference in the box next to the chooser icon (by tapping in the box)?
Dave
===Windows 11 & Android 13
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Do you know that you can change the reference in the box next to the chooser icon (by tapping in the box)?
Yes, but only by using the keyboard to select/delete/re-type.
However... your comment implies an even better improvement: bring up the appropriate chooser element as soon as I touch book, chapter or verse in the box next to the chooser icon!
Then, flipping to a different chapter or verse would just involve touching chapter/verse in the reference box and touching the new (chapter+) verse.
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However... your comment implies an even better improvement: bring up the appropriate chooser element as soon as I touch book, chapter or verse in the box next to the chooser icon!
The issue with that is recognising the different parts in a text entry box and being accurate/sensitive for fat fingers!
Alternatively, display the current reference in the box in the verse chooser. If I select the same book from the chooser icons keep the reference and repeat for the chapter and verse. If I change any of those, of course, it is reflected in the box as is done currently.
Dave
===Windows 11 & Android 13
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I have fat fingers as well... even touching the book/chap/verse buttons can be tricky.
Even if they don't allow simplified choosing, it sure would be nice to have the current reference pre-highlighted (and scrolled-to) in the chooser.
There are subtleties to any of these options
... I'm sure the Logos Developers will find a creative and friendly way to accomplish the goal!0 -
I have fat fingers as well... even touching the book/chap/verse buttons can be tricky.
I've noticed that the Logos Android (v 0.94) has very small boxes for the 3 stage verse picker. In contrast the Tecarta 3 stage verse picker uses large boxes. Maybe the Logos designers could enlarge those boxes. That would help getting fat fingers on the correct box. In addition, one must tap the Logos screen to see what book and chapter one is in. Tecarta has a large book and chapter designation at the top of each page. Logos should implement that as well.
The "And Bible" keeps the present book box in very bright mode when going to their 3 stage verse picker. That helps one to select the proper book if one just wants to change chapters and verses.
To go to different chapters in the same book, Logos does enable one to tap the verse box and then the end of the verse locator. One can then backspace out the verse or chapter and verse, shift to the number keyboard on the Kindle Fire and type in what is needed. The Kindle Fire makes it easy since their virtual keyboard is very large especially if one uses Landscape Mode.
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I've noticed that the Logos Android (v 0.94) has very small boxes for the 3 stage verse picker. In contrast the Tecarta 3 stage verse picker uses large boxes.
The beta version has larger boxes in the chooser but the context for "fat finger" was the reference box, where the full reference is displayed.
Dave
===Windows 11 & Android 13
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