Kinoma Play without Soft Keys = Misery

[Charles@Kinoma]

Originally Posted by JStewartx

poor Charles... He takes so much crap on so many forums. I like the guy. Great software, cool and concerned support.

Thanks! I try not to take it personally, but kind words are always appreciated.

borntochill and I talked again on our forum, and I think we're cool.

My definition of "soft key" comes from personal experience with carriers and device makers (I was at Qualcomm before Kinoma), but that's not useful if readers don't get that they work even if there are no physical keys underneath them. I'm sure we can improve that part of the quick-start guide.

Likewise, I'll bring up the possibility of having a dedicated Home button next time we revisit UI improvements.

-- Charles Wiltgen

[borntochill]

Originally Posted by Charles@Kinoma

borntochill and I talked again on our forum, and I think we're cool.

Note that I opened this thread saying that "Kinoma may be my favorite WM app."

Yes, in the Kinoma forum, I thanked Charles for his assistance. I recognize he's only Kinoma's liaison, not their software developer or technical writer. I appreciate that he's here to answer questions...and to catch the occasional flak.

Originally Posted by Charles@Kinoma

My definition of "soft key" comes from personal experience with carriers and device makers (I was at Qualcomm before Kinoma), but that's not useful if readers don't get that they work even if there are no physical keys underneath them. I'm sure we can improve that part of the quick-start guide.

Right. Based on other comments in the Kinoma forums, I'm clearly not the only one reading the Kinoma manual differently than the way that its technical writers intended it to be read. Referring to the on-screen return icon as an "icon" rather than a "soft key" would have avoided any confusion, especially since adjacent figures in the manual showed samples of phones with hardware soft key buttons and d-pads.

Originally Posted by Charles@Kinoma

Likewise, I'll bring up the possibility of having a dedicated Home button next time we revisit UI improvements.

I appreciate that. I imagine many users move back-and-forth between Music and other Kinoma apps so this minor UI change would result in a big usability improvement.