New UI / AOSP

mar

Initially I thought the new UI was pretty decent at first glance - but on a closer look, I think there's a few gaffes (as others have noted too). Font size mismatch being one. And then some basic UI schoolboy errors with excessive padding around buttons, and the wrong headed 'more is more' approach they've taken - eg. the brightness slide button with a vertical bar on it now - what is the point of that? It adds nothing but unsightliness. So just wondered if there's a way to give some feedback - not that I think it will do much good, but if enough of us at least register our gripes through some official channel, "maybe" someone will see feedback and perhaps give the points raised some consideration.

I want to reiterate, I am not complaining about GrapheneOS devs here - I know they are not responsible, and these changes are a result of the UI direction AOSP have chosen to take. And again, thanks for all the GrapheneOS devs's hard work.

Novalissoide

mar he brightness slide button with a vertical bar on it now - what is the point of that?

That slide was too indistinct about where it actually got positioned when the finger approached either end of the display. Now it is unambigous as opposed to vaguely rounded.

DeletedUser499

mar
negative feedback needs to be sent to AOSP, and out of the tens of millions of Android users, how many millions will it take for AOSP to sit up and pay attention?
I, like a few don't like the new look, but as I only use the operating system and don't contribute to its development or style, I have to live with what I am given.
Does the new style make GrapheneOS, less secure? or Private?.. no, so I get on and use it.

Tandara

Hi there!
GOS team doesn't have enough resources to modify UI in any way, the absolute max they can do is to fix font inconsistency. Moreover, due an open-source nature of the project, it's logical to leave UI elements to a solid entity (like Google) than accommodate 400k+ userbase with different opinions.

No problem, everyone has feedback and is encouraged to share it despite the possibility of being overlooked! :)

b1k3rdude

DeletedUser499
Got a link to a support forum where feedback/complaints can be posted, as I can't seem to find anything on https://source.android.com/.

b1k3rdude

Like other's I am not a fan of the fatter/thicker fonts & elements of the UI. I appreciate this isn't a GoS created issue but rather an AOSP created issue. I don't dislike all of the changes, just some parts of it, for example -

intensely dislike the thicker/fatter look of the status bar with the clock, Wi-Fi and other icons.
intensely dislike the thicker/fatter lock screen clock, (so had to turn off the 'dynamic clock option', but the clock font is still thick/fat.)
I don't mind the new coloured version of the settings screen
the exclamation in the mobile data icon when data is turned off is irksome (but I cant remember what was there before tbh)

So my question, is are there guide, mods or tools people can recommend to revert some of the changes? I already use a different launcher, but there is only so much it can do.

Novalissoide

b1k3rdude intensely dislike the thicker/fatter lock screen clock,

Wallpaper & Style > left > Clock > Clock face width
Pull this slide to the right.

DeletedUser499

b1k3rdude
The flip side of making the UI "yours".
The more third party apps you add, perhaps the more attack surface you add? ... Inadvertently.

b1k3rdude

Novalissoide ah thanks for that, I was in there but it had not occurred to me that I could change the LS clock there, noice. its now back to the way it was.

Novalissoide

b1k3rdude Nice. You have to tinker deeper. 😙

Oggyo

Why duplicate the thread? Another / (very) similar discussion already exists - https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/28309-fix-the-ui

wizoatk

Oggyo

Multiple other threads. Not much that can be done.

MetropleX

We had all the same arguments with the changes made in Android 12 and the monet engine as well as the combining of the wifi and cellular network toggles together into one.

These changes are derived from AOSP and with the resources of the dev team always taken up by the rapidly changing and challenging privacy and security environment, theming for obvious reasons is left as AOSP dictates it, any changes however minor would require maintenance to keep them up to date with our code base as well as relevant.

We're not an OEM with resources to focus on ensuring we have our own "skin" such as those found on OneUI, Nothing etc. also don't forget many of these companies prioritise aesthetics over security which is why you have access to patches months in advance on GraphenOS where they delay them up to 4 months. I'd rather those OEMs put their UI dept money toward their security dept instead.

Source: https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/28343-why-do-grapheneos-force-users-to-use-a-new-design/11

FYI:

They only released Android 16 QPR1 to AOSP this month and it's in a partially broken state where it chain crashes in the upstream repositories. We had to resolve those things and there are also aspects of what's shown here which looks the way it does due to fixing up some stuff.

Source: https://xcancel.com/GrapheneOS/status/1993054114440527891