[scopes] Allow users to create their own aggregator scopes without programming

[Niklas Wenzel]

It would be nice if there were an UI to create your own (virtual) aggregator scopes straight from the Unity8 dash without any programming efforts. They would then display data from a few scopes which the user would be able to select from the ones he has installed using a layout the user would be able to define as well. Then there would be a new page in the Unity8 dash which collocates the data in the way the user wanted to.

Here's a usage scenario outlining why I think this functionality is important:

Let's say you read news from 4 custom news sources regularly for which scopes do exist. Currently, you then need to favorite all of them separately, resulting in the addition of 4 pages to the dash. As a result, you will have to swipe a lot to reach the scopes you want, which is quite annoying.

Now imagine you need to do the same for other types of content and you will have a notion of how crowded your dash will become. To keep it short, the user experience will be suboptimal.

--------UX comment---------

This is part of a bigger redesign across different projects. The required design for this bug is ‘paused' while we await the outcome of ongoing discussions regarding the Scopes as apps and Scopes customisation projects.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Selene ToyKeeper (toykeeper)]

FWIW, this functionality is covered in Android by using widgets. Users can arrange arbitrary widgets freely in several Android launchers, such as ADWLauncher. Each app can provide multiple widgets for different styles and functions, to make that app's data and operations usable directly from the launcher screens without having to actually launch the app... and the user can easily group or arrange them however they like with a few taps and gestures.

Just as a point of reference for what people may be expecting as baseline functionality.

If anyone in design would like a demo, I have a friend in London who loves Ubuntu and would be happy to show how this UI works along with several other useful concepts. I'd also love to see more end-user-configurable scopes.

[Michał Sawicz (saviq)]

We've been discussing this recently and have a plan cooking up. Stay tuned!

(I removed the RTM tasks because it's unlikely we'll get this done before RTM gets phased out).

[Niklas Wenzel (nikwen)]

Thank you, Michal. I'm really looking forward to it. :)

[Albert Astals Cid (aacid)]

unity8 waiting for design -> Incomplete