Modernize design

[ThatOneCalculator]

While this app is very useful, the UI feels very dated. Bringing it up to MD3 design guidelines would help it feel cohesive with the rest of a modern Android phone.

[VasilisKos]

Definitely, a Material You design would make this app awesome. It's a pity to have such an outdated UI.

[woheller69]

Please try this. I reduced the number of colors. Should look a bit more modern now.

-Uninstall
-Remove .zip and install

app-release.apk.zip

[ThatOneCalculator]

Having less colors doesn't really modernize a design. I'd recommend reading over https://m3.material.io/

[woheller69]

not going to waste time on that. Maybe someone wants to provide a PR

[VasilisKos]

A monochrome UI with a color accent taken from the wallpaper would be perfect.

[VasilisKos]

not going to waste time on that. Maybe someone wants to provide a PR

I wouldn't use the word "waste". "Spend" would be much better... 🤨

[ig9000]

On a practical level, I would love to have better contrast for the rulers (and not by shining a glaring white screen in my face). A full black background mode would make a lot of sense with modern OLED screens, reducing heat and battery consumption when being used for extended periods of time. This may be considered "modernization", I guess?

[sanctimoniousape]

Ugh. Does it work? That's what matters. I can't believe how many people complain about how something "looks" nowadays. The "Form Over Function" crowd has really taken over in recent years. It's a tool, not a showpiece.

The only comment in this thread I agree with is the one mentioning OLED pure black usage, and that's more out of an ecological concern for conserving power & extending battery longevity wherever possible. Otherwise, if you really give that much of a damn about "prettiness," then fork it and do it yourself. The dev (rightly, IMHO) doesn't feel the need to waste time on Google's regularly shifting guidelines on "design," and I can't blame them one bit.

(Go ahead, bring on the hate.)

[VasilisKos]

Ugh. Does it work? That's what matters. I can't believe how many people complain about how something "looks" nowadays. The "Form Over Function" crowd has really taken over in recent years. It's a tool, not a showpiece.

The only comment in this thread I agree with is the one mentioning OLED pure black usage, and that's more out of an ecological concern for conserving power & extending battery longevity wherever possible. Otherwise, if you really give that much of a damn about "prettiness," then fork it and do it yourself. The dev (rightly, IMHO) doesn't feel the need to waste time on Google's regularly shifting guidelines on "design," and I can't blame them one bit.

(Go ahead, bring on the hate.)

Who talked about "form over function"? How about "firm AND function" like hundreds of apps do? Isn't that an option for you?

[ThatOneCalculator]

Bringing it back to my original comment:

would help it feel cohesive with the rest of a modern Android phone.

I think there's a merit to trying to make sure users have a somewhat consistent visual and interactive experience across the applications on their device. Having 80-90% look like they're modern and the rest be somewhere in-between 2000s and 2010s design just makes things feel cheap and unpolished.

[woheller69]

Just do it. If it looks nice, I might accept a PR :-)

[ThatOneCalculator]

I would, but alas I'm a web developer.

[sanctimoniousape]

Ugh. Does it work? That's what matters. I can't believe how many people complain about how something "looks" nowadays. The "Form Over Function" crowd has really taken over in recent years. It's a tool, not a showpiece.
The only comment in this thread I agree with is the one mentioning OLED pure black usage, and that's more out of an ecological concern for conserving power & extending battery longevity wherever possible. Otherwise, if you really give that much of a damn about "prettiness," then fork it and do it yourself. The dev (rightly, IMHO) doesn't feel the need to waste time on Google's regularly shifting guidelines on "design," and I can't blame them one bit.
(Go ahead, bring on the hate.)

Who talked about "form over function"? How about "firm AND function" like hundreds of apps do? Isn't that an option for you?

If the developer so wishes to spend the time, that's obviously an option. However the app does what it is intended to do, and the developer obviously feels they have more important things to do than to "make it pretty." If I were in their shoes, I'd feel the same - especially since Google keeps moving the goalposts on design.

Again, it's a freaking tool, not an art exhibit. Pretty is nice, but hardly a priority over or even equal in importance to proper function. It's open source, so you have the option to contribute patches to make it pretty, or fork it if you prefer. Don't badger the developer who has plainly said it's not a priority for them.

ETA: Or you can offer to pay a bounty for the feature to be added by someone. Remember that the Dev is donating their time for this.