6 ms·

I hate all the visual clutter and unjustified complexity the new stylish iOS-like interfaces bring. Those interfaces are only good for Twitter and friends (and

by dchest 15y ago

I hate all the visual clutter and unjustified complexity the new stylish iOS-like interfaces bring. Those interfaces are only good for Twitter and friends (and for screenshots). Some feedback: * Get rid of huge spacing everywhere (for example here: http://github-images.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/2011/mac-screenshots/changes-full.png http://github-images.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/2011/mac-screensh...) * Make animations go faster. * History should have preview pane with diffs (see Mail) instead of making me click on commits. * There are windows on Macs. You can use them instead of [edit: or in addition to] making me navigate inside a single window. * Loading indicators are annoying. Move them to bottom (there it won't distract me, but I'll know that it's still loading). Oh, and congrats on release.

kenneth_reitz 15y ago
I love this app so much. However, +10 for "Make animations go faster".
codyrobbins 15y ago
Agreed—the concept of porting UIKit to OS X is insane to me. The Mac desktop is not an iPhone! I don’t want to interact with a desktop app as if I were on a phone—especially not an app that I’m ostensibly supposed to use for development. That said, creating a desktop interface for GitHub is a brilliant move. Bravo!
KingOfB 15y ago
There are windows on macs, but it appears Macs are going away from them with the full screen apps. Look at all of Apple's apps - they're all going single window. Document based apps can still have multiple windows, but everything is self contained.
- dchest 15y ago
  I don't see what's changed in 10.7 regarding windows. Can you point the app that had multiple windows, but moved to something else? But you're right that you can avoid using multiple windows in the app if it's good for usability. My point is that currently it's not possible to have two repositories opened simultaneously; especially since on OS X it's difficult to open two instances of the same application. (As an example, in Mail you have previews in a single window, but you can also double-click the message to open it in a separate window).
  - vtail 15y ago
    XCode 4, though it happened even before 10.7
    - dchest 15y ago
      Xcode had [mostly] single window mode since 2.0 or so. It wasn't default, though, and Interface Builder was a separate application.
      - dchest 15y ago
        For downvoters: Xcode 3 > Preferences > General. Layout: All-In-One "This layout provides virtually all operations within a single window, such as editing files and project content, filtering in the detail view, viewing the build results and build log, and debugging". http://i.imgur.com/uW3SI.png http://i.imgur.com/uW3SI.png
      - bonch 15y ago
        It wasn't a true single window mode; there were still secondary windows, and Interface Builder was not integrated.
  - bonch 15y ago
    I don't see what's changed in 10.7 regarding windows. Can you point the app that had multiple windows, but moved to something else? Other than the APIs for fullscreen support, there's little that can be said without violating NDA. Other Apple applications have gone single-window over the years; Logic merged its windows two major versions ago, and Final Cut Pro X just did the same. Steve Jobs has always preferred single windows. Before OS X 1.0, the toolbar button was instead a toggle for single window mode.
asolove 15y ago
I think it is worth mentioning that while the GUI could use a few tweaks, the overall user experience was amazing. And got right a number of things that were hard or tempting to get wrong: 1. Let me enter an email address separate from my GitHub account. 2. Automatically found git repos on my system. Let me pick which ones to use. My only two requests are: 1. Show untracked files the way git does, where if a whole folder is untracked, it only shows up in the list once, rather than showing every subfolder and file inside it. 2. Handle submodules better: let me see the submodule changes in a commit, let me browse and commit submodule changes and the commit the parent.
- sixcorners 15y ago
  Can't you enter your own email address in the preferences pane?
sunchild 15y ago
FWIW, I disagree that windows should freely proliferate. I prefer apps that stay in a single window. Also, you should let some of that angst go, because it's clear that Apple is anticipating an iOS experience on the desktop for a long time coming.
- dchest 15y ago
  FWIW, I disagree that windows should freely proliferate. I prefer apps that stay in a single window. I think there's a misunderstanding. I'm not against single windows, I'm against making me navigate through screens when it's unnecessary. Also, you should let some of that angst go, because it's clear that Apple is anticipating an iOS experience on the desktop for a long time coming. Apple is anticipating better GUI experience. It doesn't mean that they'll make all apps occupy a single window with a single task shown at a time. Notice the difference between iPhone Mail and iPad Mail clients.
  - sunchild 15y ago
    Fair points, indeed! I can clarify: 1. Floating inspectors drive me bananas unless they can be pinned in the app "wrapper". 2. A new window for every document makes me crazy, because I like to use tools like Witch for doc-level tab switching. 3. The push away toward full screen apps and in-app file management is, IMO, a good thing.
    - dchest 15y ago
      1. Floating inspectors drive me bananas unless they can be pinned in the app "wrapper". I'm with you here, mostly. iCal's switch from sidebar in 10.4 to popups and floating inspectors in 10.5 is painful. On the other hand, Acorn's floating tools window is good. 2. A new window for every document makes me crazy, because I like to use tools like Witch for doc-level tab switching. I'm not so into tabs for documents, but can't live without them in browsers. 3. The push away toward full screen apps and in-app file management is, IMO, a good thing. And yes, and no. It depends, as with other points. I'm glad that now Mac apps are not locked into multiple windows/floating inspectors for everything, but "you have a single window and you can look only at one thing at a time, deal with it" is also not the panacea.
bradleyland 15y ago
Have you tried GitX? What you described seems a bit more like GitX than what GitHub is trying to do here. When I first fired this up, I made a tarball of one of the repos I'm currently working in (it has uncommitted changes) and started clicking around. I'd do something in the GitHub app, then go back to my bash prompt to see what happened. I was pretty confused when I switched branches and all my changes were gone. Then I went back and read the blog post. It auto-stashes when you switch branches. I also wondered what the heck the "Synchronize" button does, so once again, I referred to the blog post. It performs what they call a "smarter version of pull --rebase && push that reduces merge commits but doesn't rewrite your merges". Oh, really? At that point I realized that GitHub has done the hard thing. They haven't re-created the git CLI tool in a GUI, they've created something different. They've created a tool that makes Git more accessible. Little things like auto-stashing when you switch branches will confuse git veterans, but it will make Git much easier to grok for newcomers because of the assumptions it makes about your git workflow. I see great things in this app's future. It's probably not for everyone. If you're a proficient git cli user, and you like it that way, then you're probably best off sticking with what you've got. Maybe explore some of the more traditional Git GUI clients like GitK or GitX, but keep in mind, that's not what this is.
- dchest 15y ago
  Nothing in your reply addresses my points, so I'm not sure what to answer. Yes, I tried GitX, and I'm not looking for (or using) Git GUI tools. This doesn't make GitHub for Mac less visually cluttered. I'm mostly discussing GUI trends (as a Mac developer who cares about this stuff), using GitHub as an example (which, as you say, gets job done great, but I say that it can be improved).
  - pointlessjon 15y ago
    You argue that spacing produces clutter, but I completely disagree. Clutter is shoving tons of information together without spacing.
    - dchest 15y ago
kposehn 15y ago
Sounds like a GUI just isn't really your thing anyway; that isn't a bad thing as the command line interface is very good. I think overall this is a very nice product, even though some of the loading is a wee bit slow (even on an i7 iMac). It adds a very nicely done, easy to navigate interface for the times I want to visually manage stuff. 9/10 times I'll use the command line to do stuff, but this makes other aspects of code management go much quicker for me. Solid 7/10 from me.
connor 15y ago
I disagree. The interface right on target for the operating system they're targeting with this app: OSX. It sounds as though you're suggesting they build their UI for another OS... If you've ever used Quickbooks, you'll understand the pain they're looking to avoid: http://www.quickbooks-software.co.uk/images/quickbooks_screenshot_company.gif http://www.quickbooks-software.co.uk/images/quickbooks_scree....
Vitaly 15y ago
Yeah, right. Remove all the whitespace. While you at it also make fonts smaller so that you can cram more data into the same space. Some people actually like interfaces to be aesthetically pleasing. And whitespace is one of those things that really helps to make ui usable and clean.
- dchest 15y ago
  Here's an example of what I'm talking about (notice the border): * Finder in 10.4: http://miki.samborsky.de/files/article/2008/LeoIcon/Tiger-Finder.png http://miki.samborsky.de/files/article/2008/LeoIcon/Tiger-Fi... * Finder in 10.5-10.6: http://www.askdavetaylor.com/3-blog-pics/mac-finder-places-movies.png http://www.askdavetaylor.com/3-blog-pics/mac-finder-places-m... * Finder in 10.7: http://gavinsmith.me/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Screen-Shot-2011-02-24-at-5.54.29-PM-560x436.png http://gavinsmith.me/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Screen-Shot-... And whitespace is one of those things that really helps to make ui usable and clean. You missed "the right amount of" before "whitespace".
arturadib 15y ago
Ouch, the review is a bit rough, but I agree on point #3 - it's annoying having to double-click on every commit to take a quick peek at its changes.

by dchest 15y ago

kenneth_reitz 15y ago

I love this app so much. However, +10 for "Make animations go faster".

codyrobbins 15y ago

Agreed—the concept of porting UIKit to OS X is insane to me. The Mac desktop is not an iPhone! I don’t want to interact with a desktop app as if I were on a phone—especially not an app that I’m ostensibly supposed to use for development. That said, creating a desktop interface for GitHub is a brilliant move. Bravo!

KingOfB 15y ago

There are windows on macs, but it appears Macs are going away from them with the full screen apps. Look at all of Apple's apps - they're all going single window. Document based apps can still have multiple windows, but everything is self contained.

dchest 15y ago
I don't see what's changed in 10.7 regarding windows. Can you point the app that had multiple windows, but moved to something else? But you're right that you can avoid using multiple windows in the app if it's good for usability. My point is that currently it's not possible to have two repositories opened simultaneously; especially since on OS X it's difficult to open two instances of the same application. (As an example, in Mail you have previews in a single window, but you can also double-click the message to open it in a separate window).
- vtail 15y ago
  XCode 4, though it happened even before 10.7
  - dchest 15y ago
    Xcode had [mostly] single window mode since 2.0 or so. It wasn't default, though, and Interface Builder was a separate application.
    - dchest 15y ago
      For downvoters: Xcode 3 > Preferences > General. Layout: All-In-One "This layout provides virtually all operations within a single window, such as editing files and project content, filtering in the detail view, viewing the build results and build log, and debugging". http://i.imgur.com/uW3SI.png http://i.imgur.com/uW3SI.png
    - bonch 15y ago
      It wasn't a true single window mode; there were still secondary windows, and Interface Builder was not integrated.
- bonch 15y ago
  I don't see what's changed in 10.7 regarding windows. Can you point the app that had multiple windows, but moved to something else? Other than the APIs for fullscreen support, there's little that can be said without violating NDA. Other Apple applications have gone single-window over the years; Logic merged its windows two major versions ago, and Final Cut Pro X just did the same. Steve Jobs has always preferred single windows. Before OS X 1.0, the toolbar button was instead a toggle for single window mode.

asolove 15y ago

I think it is worth mentioning that while the GUI could use a few tweaks, the overall user experience was amazing. And got right a number of things that were hard or tempting to get wrong: 1. Let me enter an email address separate from my GitHub account. 2. Automatically found git repos on my system. Let me pick which ones to use. My only two requests are: 1. Show untracked files the way git does, where if a whole folder is untracked, it only shows up in the list once, rather than showing every subfolder and file inside it. 2. Handle submodules better: let me see the submodule changes in a commit, let me browse and commit submodule changes and the commit the parent.

sixcorners 15y ago
Can't you enter your own email address in the preferences pane?

sunchild 15y ago

FWIW, I disagree that windows should freely proliferate. I prefer apps that stay in a single window. Also, you should let some of that angst go, because it's clear that Apple is anticipating an iOS experience on the desktop for a long time coming.

dchest 15y ago
FWIW, I disagree that windows should freely proliferate. I prefer apps that stay in a single window. I think there's a misunderstanding. I'm not against single windows, I'm against making me navigate through screens when it's unnecessary. Also, you should let some of that angst go, because it's clear that Apple is anticipating an iOS experience on the desktop for a long time coming. Apple is anticipating better GUI experience. It doesn't mean that they'll make all apps occupy a single window with a single task shown at a time. Notice the difference between iPhone Mail and iPad Mail clients.
- sunchild 15y ago
  Fair points, indeed! I can clarify: 1. Floating inspectors drive me bananas unless they can be pinned in the app "wrapper". 2. A new window for every document makes me crazy, because I like to use tools like Witch for doc-level tab switching. 3. The push away toward full screen apps and in-app file management is, IMO, a good thing.
  - dchest 15y ago
    1. Floating inspectors drive me bananas unless they can be pinned in the app "wrapper". I'm with you here, mostly. iCal's switch from sidebar in 10.4 to popups and floating inspectors in 10.5 is painful. On the other hand, Acorn's floating tools window is good. 2. A new window for every document makes me crazy, because I like to use tools like Witch for doc-level tab switching. I'm not so into tabs for documents, but can't live without them in browsers. 3. The push away toward full screen apps and in-app file management is, IMO, a good thing. And yes, and no. It depends, as with other points. I'm glad that now Mac apps are not locked into multiple windows/floating inspectors for everything, but "you have a single window and you can look only at one thing at a time, deal with it" is also not the panacea.

bradleyland 15y ago

Have you tried GitX? What you described seems a bit more like GitX than what GitHub is trying to do here. When I first fired this up, I made a tarball of one of the repos I'm currently working in (it has uncommitted changes) and started clicking around. I'd do something in the GitHub app, then go back to my bash prompt to see what happened. I was pretty confused when I switched branches and all my changes were gone. Then I went back and read the blog post. It auto-stashes when you switch branches. I also wondered what the heck the "Synchronize" button does, so once again, I referred to the blog post. It performs what they call a "smarter version of pull --rebase && push that reduces merge commits but doesn't rewrite your merges". Oh, really? At that point I realized that GitHub has done the hard thing. They haven't re-created the git CLI tool in a GUI, they've created something different. They've created a tool that makes Git more accessible. Little things like auto-stashing when you switch branches will confuse git veterans, but it will make Git much easier to grok for newcomers because of the assumptions it makes about your git workflow. I see great things in this app's future. It's probably not for everyone. If you're a proficient git cli user, and you like it that way, then you're probably best off sticking with what you've got. Maybe explore some of the more traditional Git GUI clients like GitK or GitX, but keep in mind, that's not what this is.

dchest 15y ago
Nothing in your reply addresses my points, so I'm not sure what to answer. Yes, I tried GitX, and I'm not looking for (or using) Git GUI tools. This doesn't make GitHub for Mac less visually cluttered. I'm mostly discussing GUI trends (as a Mac developer who cares about this stuff), using GitHub as an example (which, as you say, gets job done great, but I say that it can be improved).
- pointlessjon 15y ago
  You argue that spacing produces clutter, but I completely disagree. Clutter is shoving tons of information together without spacing.
  - dchest 15y ago

kposehn 15y ago

Sounds like a GUI just isn't really your thing anyway; that isn't a bad thing as the command line interface is very good. I think overall this is a very nice product, even though some of the loading is a wee bit slow (even on an i7 iMac). It adds a very nicely done, easy to navigate interface for the times I want to visually manage stuff. 9/10 times I'll use the command line to do stuff, but this makes other aspects of code management go much quicker for me. Solid 7/10 from me.

connor 15y ago

I disagree. The interface right on target for the operating system they're targeting with this app: OSX. It sounds as though you're suggesting they build their UI for another OS... If you've ever used Quickbooks, you'll understand the pain they're looking to avoid: http://www.quickbooks-software.co.uk/images/quickbooks_screenshot_company.gif http://www.quickbooks-software.co.uk/images/quickbooks_scree....

Vitaly 15y ago

Yeah, right. Remove all the whitespace. While you at it also make fonts smaller so that you can cram more data into the same space. Some people actually like interfaces to be aesthetically pleasing. And whitespace is one of those things that really helps to make ui usable and clean.

dchest 15y ago
Here's an example of what I'm talking about (notice the border): * Finder in 10.4: http://miki.samborsky.de/files/article/2008/LeoIcon/Tiger-Finder.png http://miki.samborsky.de/files/article/2008/LeoIcon/Tiger-Fi... * Finder in 10.5-10.6: http://www.askdavetaylor.com/3-blog-pics/mac-finder-places-movies.png http://www.askdavetaylor.com/3-blog-pics/mac-finder-places-m... * Finder in 10.7: http://gavinsmith.me/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Screen-Shot-2011-02-24-at-5.54.29-PM-560x436.png http://gavinsmith.me/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Screen-Shot-... And whitespace is one of those things that really helps to make ui usable and clean. You missed "the right amount of" before "whitespace".

arturadib 15y ago

Ouch, the review is a bit rough, but I agree on point #3 - it's annoying having to double-click on every commit to take a quick peek at its changes.