Kinoma Play without Soft Keys = Misery

[Charles@Kinoma]

Originally Posted by borntochill

Why the heck doesn't Kinoma list that feature in its User Manual?

We do, so apologies that it didn't stand out enough for you to easily find.

I'm glad you read it, though! For other folks reading along (whether you own Kinoma Play or not), the Kinoma Play quick-start guide is at http://kinoma.com/support/manuals/play/.

-- Charles Wiltgen

[dafuse]

Originally Posted by Charles@Kinoma

We do, so apologies that it didn't stand out enough for you to easily find.

I'm glad you read it, though! For other folks reading along (whether you own Kinoma Play or not), the Kinoma Play quick-start guide is at http://kinoma.com/support/manuals/play/.

-- Charles Wiltgen

I can vouch for that: Ironically, I found it today, right after reading this thread.

[borntochill]

Originally Posted by Charles@Kinoma

We do, so apologies that it didn't stand out enough for you to easily find.

I'm glad you read it, though! For other folks reading along (whether you own Kinoma Play or not), the Kinoma Play quick-start guide is at http://kinoma.com/support/manuals/play/.

-- Charles Wiltgen

Charles, if it says so in that manual that you linked to, then it is either unclear, poorly written or I'm a dumbf***, which is certainly possible.

In your manual, I only see instructions for using "soft keys" to return to the Kinoma home screen. According to every cell phone definition/glossary that I've ever read, soft keys are physical hardware buttons on a cell phone, usually located just below the LCD display. See, for example here:

http://www.phonescoop.com/glossary/term.php?gid=361

If, on the other hand, your manual had said that pressing and holding down the on-screen half-loop arrow icon for several seconds would return you to the home screen (as Malatesta informed me upthread), then I would have tried that and there would have never have been an issue. Where in your manual does it say that you can use the on-screen icon that way? On what page? I will eat crow if I overlooked it, but otherwise your documentation writers, who are writing about a cell phone product, need to learn the difference between "soft keys" and icons.

[Charles@Kinoma]

dafuse,

Originally Posted by dafuse

It still can't play protected music...

I don't know of customers using Rhapsody, so I'd appreciate it if you could send a short note explaining how you use it to charles@ our domain.

Originally Posted by dafuse

...can't sort my music per track number within an album...

Albums tracks (regardless of format) are sorted by the track number metadata, so I'd appreciate it if you could contact our support team and they'll arrange to get the tracks for testing and escalation.

-- Charles Wiltgen

[Charles@Kinoma]

borntochill,

Originally Posted by borntochill

Charles, if it says so in that manual that you linked to, then it is either unclear, poorly written or I'm a dumbf***, which is certainly possible.

I think the last possibility is the least likely. Another possibility is that we talk to carriers and device makers too much, and that "soft key" is too jargony.

The Phone Scoop glossary entry is (IMHO) misleading. In their entry, the "soft keys" are "Camera" and "Contacts". On non-touch phones, physical keys trigger the soft keys as the illustration shows, but on touch phones they're soft keys as well -- the difference is that you just touch them directly, instead of (or even in addition to) using a physical key.

Originally Posted by borntochill

If, on the other hand, your manual had said that pressing and holding down the on-screen half-loop arrow icon for several seconds would return you to the home screen (as Malatesta informed me upthread), then I would have tried that and there would have never have been an issue.

That seems totally reasonable, and I'll make sure we revisit that in the next manual update. (Thanks!)

-- Charles Wiltgen

[borntochill]

Originally Posted by Charles@Kinoma

The Phone Scoop glossary entry is (IMHO) misleading. In their entry, the "soft keys" are "Camera" and "Contacts". On non-touch phones, physical keys trigger the soft keys as the illustration shows, but on touch phones they're soft keys as well -- the difference is that you just touch them directly, instead of (or even in addition to) using a physical key.
-- Charles Wiltgen

Updating your manual would be a good idea. Sorry, but I disagree with you about Phone Scoop's glossary entry being "misleading." It is the Kinoma manual that is misleading. I did a Google search using the search term:

Cell Phone "Soft Keys" Definition

and every definition said essentially the same thing: insofar as cell phone terminology goes, soft keys refer to physical hardware buttons below the LCD screen. In addition to Phonescoop, SEE ALSO HERE:

http://www.mobiledia.com/glossary/228.html

AND HERE:

http://www.gsmarena.com/glossary.php3?term=soft-keys

AND HERE:

http://debbiehawk.com/reviews/soft-keys-definition/

AND HERE:

http://books.google.com/books?id=SaM...age&q=&f=false

And the manual of every cell phone I ever owned before that had soft key buttons said the same thing. So if you're writing a manual intended to assist users you shouldn't assume that users know what you're talking about when you're confusing and misusing technical terms.

[borntochill]

And there's still no quick way to return to the Kinoma home screen on phones like the Touch Pro 2 without "soft keys". I'd probably be a whole lot less grouchy about this if you guys remedied that, especially since users were pointing out this problem to you in the Kinoma user forums over a year ago. Usability first please.

[Toe]

Hmm... does this apply to FreePlay? I'm holding and holding the half-loop back arrow at the bottom-left corner, and when I release, it just goes one screen back, not to the home screen. I know FreePlay has a different home screen, but I would expect this to work the same way.

[dafuse]

Originally Posted by Toe

Hmm... does this apply to FreePlay? I'm holding and holding the half-loop back arrow at the bottom-left corner, and when I release, it just goes one screen back, not to the home screen. I know FreePlay has a different home screen, but I would expect this to work the same way.

Works well for me. I have the paid version. I press and hold the "little back arrow that can't be called a soft key for penalty of death", and I'm brought straight back to the home screen.

[JStewartx]

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