Launcher autohide delay should be configurable

[Erlan Sergaziev]

I have enabled autohide launcher in Unity which is very useful on my netbook.
There's just one issue though, it takes a whole second or two before it hides when cursor is moved away from it.
This keeps an important part of the window obscured for far too long.

I would suggest that launcher should hide immediately once cursor moves away from it.

Or, make the delay configurable.

[Mark Shuttleworth (sabdfl)]

 status opinion

No, we don't want the launcher to hide instantaneously. However, the
hide time does need tweaking: when you launch an app and then leave the
mouse untouched over the launcher, it should hide after the same amount
of inactive time as it would have if you'd moved it off the launcher.
Please either update this bug's details to reflect that, and reopen it,
or file a new bug with that guidance which I'll confirm.

Mark

[Jendrik Seipp (jendrikseipp)]

To my mind not having the hide delay configurable is a major issue. When I have to wait for the launcher to close after I have moved the mouse away, the system feels very slow and sometimes even the launcher hides relevant buttons too long (e.g. navigate-back button in chromium). It would be nice if the "hide delay" could be configured just like the "reveal delay".

[Erlan Sergaziev (sergeant)]

Jendrik,

I am fully with you, but unfortunately my bug was downgraded to an opinion, so it won't attract developer attention.
As Mark suggested I will need to open a new bug with a better description.

Or, if you want, you can file such a bug yourself (please see Mark's comment).

Erlan

[Jendrik Seipp (jendrikseipp)]

As the issue that Mark describes seems to be fixed I'm reopening this bug with the original suggestion: Make the launcher hide delay configurable.

[ChristieGrinham (christiegrinham)]

As a performer this is extremely frustrating for me. I enjoy using Ubuntu and have learned to love unity on my laptop. It is great for using my laptop live as it lets me move between workspaces easily, but if part of my screen is obscured for no good reason while I am trying to press a button under the part that is obscured, that can be a total deal breaker for me. In a live circumstance, I cannot afford to wait for that. Having this configurable is vital. I love the rest of unity, the workspaces, the dash and the launcher all help me work very quickly and efficiently but this is a hindrance.

[Marius B. Kotsbak (mariusko)]

It should be configurable to disable the autohide. I can afford the screen space.

[Omer Akram (om26er)]

there is an option to configure just that in 11.10

[Jendrik Seipp (jendrikseipp)]

Do you mean the edge reveal timeout in ccsm? If yes, I'm looking for
"edge hide timeout". If no, where can I find this option?

[Marius B. Kotsbak (mariusko)]

Where is that option? Is it possible to set it not to autohide?

[Erlan Sergaziev (sergeant)]

To clarify things:

1) Yes, it is possible to disable launcher autohide. You need to install CompizConfigSettingsManager, launch ccsm and there in Unity experimental settings you can set Autohide:Never

2) However, for small screens (e.g. netbooks) having launcher always on is suboptimal because it causes vertical scroll on most pages. Therefore, configuring autohide timeout is still desireble.

So, downgrading this bug report to Wishlist is kinda OK, but saying Fix Releasing is not correct.

[Omer Akram (om26er)]

its an option in CCSM and it won't be added OOTB in Ubuntu.

[Jendrik Seipp (jendrikseipp)]

Again some clarification: We do not want to change how long it takes for the launcher to *appear*, but how long it takes the launcher to *hide*. I cannot find such an option in 12.04 and think that this delay should be configurable for the desktop to feel more responsive.

[Omer Akram (om26er)]

Uh sorry, setting it back to triaged with a basic comment "patches welcome"

[Brandon Schaefer (brandontschaefer)]

Well this needs info from design at this stage....marking as incomplete until we hear some feedback.

[Brandon Schaefer (brandontschaefer)]

This also shouldn't be to hard to do...(hopefully ;)