Miscellaneous Apple app UI comments
July 18th, 2004
- Why doesn’t the file dialog’s column view preview files? This would be particularly useful for images.
- In iTunes, the Command-[ and Command-] keystrokes be used to move through the preference panes (it also works in the Info window). As far as I can tell, iTunes is the only application that does this (of course, in iTunes you can’t use the keyboard control accessibility features…) and there is currently no other way to switch preference window panes using just the keyboard. Could this be made a default for single-row multi-paned preference windows? I know some applications use these keyboard shortcuts for other things (MacJournal uses them for entry navigation, for example), but not in the preferences.
- The iSync conflict resolution window changes height depending on the text of the conflicting items, meaning the action buttons change their vertical position. This is really annoying!
- iPhoto ought to have the same per-side crop selection adjustment controls available in Preview.
I haven’t run in the other issues enough times to have been bothered by them but I have been annoyed more than once by not being able to see the preview of pictures in the file dialog. This is especially annoying when I’m trying to file bugs with screenshots taken with shift-command-4: difficult to remember which screenshot Picture 4.pdf is supposed to be… :/
On an unrelated note, I might just steal your idea about having a Commentators link category for my weblog (if you don’t mind, that is!) :)
Because I frequently take screenshots for use in my PDF mockups, the file dialog’s lack of preview functionality is probably the most personally irritating to me as well.
Steal away. I can’t remember where exactly that idea came from, but I know I’m not the inventor.