Can't drag an app icon from Ubuntu Software Centre to the Launcher

[Thibaut Brandscheid]

Watching a first time user using Ubuntu I noticed at min 12:50, that she tries to drag & drop the calculator icon to the launcher. It doesn't work, but I think it should.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgGbZfR6Vec#t=12m50s

Being able to add programs to the launcher in different ways improves the UX for average users. For them an icon represents a program and being able to D&D it to the launcher is logical. Therefore this feature should be added.

<https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SoftwareCenter#software-item-dragging>: "A software item should be draggable, wherever in USC it appears — on the home screen, in any other tile view, in a list view, or (for its icon only) in the software item screen itself. If you drag an item to the Launcher, then..."

Desired resolution:

1. Allow users to drag and drop app icons from the Software Centre to the Launcher.

- If the app is already installed but not pinned to the Launcher, this action pins the app icon to the Launcher.

- If the app is zero cost ($0) not yet installed, it is installed and pinned to the Launcher in the same manner that apps can be installed by dragging and dropping from the App Lens to the Launcher.

- If the app is a paid app, the user is taken to the purchase page in the Software Centre. When purchase is complete the app is pinned to the Launcher.

2. Dragging a item which is not a app (e.g. a pdf or a system liberty) does nothing. The Launcher should signal this to user by dimming; exactly the same interaction that happens currently if the user tries to drag a file from Nautilus to which has no valid drop targets in the launcher.

3. In all other ways, this interaction should be exactly the same as the interaction a user experiences when dragging a app icon to the Launcher from the Dash.

[Michael Vogt (mvo)]

I subscribe Mpt for design input on this, I like the idea but I'm not a designer.

[Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt)]

Well spotted, Thibaut! I watched that part of the video yesterday but didn't notice that drag.

I can think of two issues to clarify before adding this feature.

1. What happens if the item isn't already installed? We could just install it. But if it's a commercial item, there would be a series of interactive steps before it starts installing. What, if anything, would we show at the drop target in the meantime?

2. What happens if it isn't an application? For example, a system library. We could make those undraggable. But if we did, how would we visually distinguish items that are draggable from items that are not?

[Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt)]

One more:

3. What if you're dragging an application to the Launcher, but it's already in the Launcher, just scrolled out of view? Perhaps the Launcher could temporarily scroll to reveal it. Or perhaps the existing item could move to the position you'd dropped at.

[Thibaut Brandscheid (k1au3-is-37)]

When adding an app to the launcher there should *general* be a glowing around the icon for ~1 sec - like a level-up-glow in PC games, to visualize that an app has been added to the launcher.

1. If it's a commercial item, allow the dragging but make the icon color in the launcher grayscale (or put a big lock on it, or something like that). Then open up a page in USC and ask if the user wants to buy application XYZ. If he press "no" remove the grayscaled item from the launcher -> visual blob effect to let it disappear (use the same effect for normal removal of launcher icons).

2. If it's an undraggable icon, then the icon should shake when trying to grab it -> visualizing that icons can general be dragged, but not this one (maybe add a 3D effect for the shaking icon, not a 1D effect).

3a When dragging an icon to the launcher - and there is already one - the icon should when released fly down to the already installed icon, moving the launcher focus to reveal the previously hidden icon and then both be merged (use the same glow effect described above – the level-up-glow).
Result: one app icon left in the launcher.

3b Same as 3a but let the (hidden) icon fly up to the position where the user dragged the icon from the USC. This would have the benefit of not having to move the launcher and be therefore visual more quiet (I'm a fan of having less visual noise).

PS: Ubuntu needs much more effects to clarify actions.

[Matthew Paul Thomas (mpt)]

Specification updated. <https://wiki.ubuntu.com/SoftwareCenter?action=diff&rev2=674&rev1=672> Here's how I've addressed each of those questions I listed earlier:

1. During the installation process, and even the purchase process if any, the icon should be greyed-out in the Launcher. We should be doing that anyway -- that it appears in the Launcher only after installation now is a bug.

2. An unpinnable software item should cancel its drag in the normal way (by bouncing back to where you dragged it from). We wouldn't distinguish them specially, but it will be fairly obvious because unpinnable items will have a plain package as their icon.

3. If you drag an item that's already in the Launcher, that Launcher item should just move to the new position.

[dino99 (9d9)]

That version is no more maintained