show favorite folders in a tab

[TheRupp]

Checklist

• [X] I made sure that there are no existing issues - open or closed - to which I could contribute my information.
• [X] I made sure that there are no existing discussions - open or closed - to which I could contribute my information.
• [X] I have read the FAQs inside the app (Menu -> About -> FAQs) and my problem isn't listed.
• [X] I have taken the time to fill in all the required details. I understand that the bug report will be dismissed otherwise.
• [X] This issue contains only one feature request.
• [X] I have read and understood the contribution guidelines.
• [ ] I optionally donated to support the Fossify mission.

Feature description

Currently, there are 3 tabs ("Files", "Recent files" and "Storage analysis") and all favorite folders are displayed after tapping a button in the top right corner.

I suggest to show all current favorite folders in a new separate tab like the current tabs ("Files", "Recent files" and "Storage analysis"). The tab for favorite folders show be included in the setting "Manage shown tabs".

1 small detail: Maybe the tab for favorite folders could include a button to go to the same page as "Manage favorites" in the settings. Or even better: the functionality of "Manage favorites" could be implemented directly in the favorite folders tab.

Why do you want this feature?

In my opinion a tab for favorite folders makes more sense and is more consistent than the current solution. I think, that a lot of users would NOT expect the favorite folders to be at the top right corner next to buttons for sorting, changing view and settings.

Also, there is already a tab for "Recents". "Recents" and favorite folders are similar things and should have a similar user interface.

Additional information

This is a duplicate from "Simple Mobile Tools": https://github.com/SimpleMobileTools/Simple-File-Manager/issues/749

[Pecacheu]

Btw this is already implemented in my fork. I agree that a tab for the favorites view makes the interface more clean and consistent :3

[naveensingh]

I see lots of things there

[Pecacheu]

@naveensingh It's kind of just my "everything and the kitchen sink" fork because I have too much free time lol. Stuff like the favorites tab could be back-ported though. I tried to make the code for each tab in the Fragments files more modular, so a lot of the code was moved to ItemsAdapter or their parent class MyViewPagerFragment

[jguegel]

I am currently developing this. Some feedback/ideas will be appreciated.

1. App Launch:

2. Switch to Favorite Tab:

3. Click on Favorite Folder:

4. Click on Fab-Button, to add Favorite Folder:

5. Manage tabs shown:

Still unsure how to handle:

• remove as favorite folder (since we have grid + list layout)
• should i remove ALL the favorite handling in the menu bar? (open the favorite dialog, add/remove to favorites)
• is the current favorite icon ok?

[chesio]

is the current favorite icon ok?

I'm for a star icon like in the other Fossify apps (Contacts for example).

[jguegel]

done:

• star icon for favorites adapted
• removed "go to favorites" from menu bar
• changed order in menu home, favorites, sort instead of home, sort, favorites (so that favorite icon is more prominent)
• remove manage favorites in settings (since obsolete)
• remove filename toggle in grid view

open still:

• manual refresh needed after list change (unless added via fab button), but appears to be an issue in every fragment

optional/don't know how yet:

• adjust delete message to be aware of "just deleting the favorite status" not the whole directory

[jguegel]

please feel free to test my current version: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cN6KUKErhGccbk0-5tP6KMzOJ_HmCDpU/view?usp=sharing

feedback appreciated, also feel free to give me feedback on the major code change so i could improve code quality https://github.com/FossifyOrg/File-Manager/compare/FossifyOrg:File-Manager:main...jguegel:File-Manager:favorite-tab?expand=1

[naveensingh]

I don't think a separate Favorites tab fits well in the current design. Favorites are like shortcuts/bookmarks to folders in the app, not a top-level destination, and adding a separate tab either means jumping back to the Files tab for browsing or implementing browsing directly in the Favorites tab. In my opinion, both are bad design choices.

Other apps like Material Files implement this as bookmarks accessed from a navigation drawer (the sidebar), which I think works similarly to what we have now than what is proposed here.

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@jguegel please read/follow the contribution guidelines as I mentioned to you before. This issue still has needs triage.