Docked Modern UI App, Close Main App, Blank Screen


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Anyone else seeing this.

Example, I have "Tweetro" docked to the far left of my 30" Dell LCD, and lets say I open up any Modern UI app, like... WeatherBug, then I grab it and drag it down to close it.. i end up with "Tweetro" still docked to the left and a blank solid background color screen.

I have to click that screen or press the start key, to get the start screen back.

I had some other app docked earlier and was in the Mail app, and it was doing the same thing.

Anyone else see this or reproduce it?

What behavior would you prefer? Microsoft may be assuming that you want the docked app still visible so they don't pull up the start menu, or they're assuming that you don't want the next app switched to when you close the app.

  • Like 2

I always thought this behaviour makes sense. Unless what you're describing is different to the Release Preview, but even though you say you don't remember this happening in the Release Preview, I'm sure I experienced this all the time. It makes sense to me; you've closed the app that was in that space, so the space remains, ready for you to either place another app there, drag the docked app to cover the screen, or access the Start Menu. I wouldn't like any other behaviour.

  On 12/08/2012 at 23:02, Anthonyd said:

[. . .]

Also, it doesn't worth a new thread there's dozen of Windows 8 thread already.

General Windows 8 discussion is what the official Windows 8 thread is for. This is a support problem and it is accepted and desired that anyone who has a problem with Windows 8 will create a separate thread asking for help, advice, or others' experiences.

  On 12/08/2012 at 23:17, siah1214 said:

What behavior would you prefer? Microsoft may be assuming that you want the docked app still visible so they don't pull up the start menu, or they're assuming that you don't want the next app switched to when you close the app.

Well if I have something docked, that shouldn't make a difference on my main view. If my main view is the Start Screen, and I open the Mail app... then close the Mail app, it should then return to the Start Screen. Not load a blank screen with nothing on it.

That would be like opening an app on the desktop and then closing it, and it just going to a blank screen with nothing on it where you have to click a button to get the desktop icons back.

Not sure how that is a positive thing..

  On 12/08/2012 at 23:27, xendrome said:

Well if I have something docked, that shouldn't make a difference on my main view. If my main view is the Start Screen, and I open the Mail app... then close the Mail app, it should then return to the Start Screen.

I would have actually expected the docked app to take over the whole screen at that point...

  On 12/08/2012 at 23:28, CJEric said:

I would have actually expected the docked app to take over the whole screen at that point...

Or do something, it doesn't just stays docked and single color splash screen comes up.

If the docked app took over full screen, there should be a "Pin" option to keep it pinned as docked, but that's just thinking out loud.

  On 12/08/2012 at 23:28, CJEric said:

I would have actually expected the docked app to take over the whole screen at that point...

I don't want the docked app open full screen, it's a twitter feed/timeline. There is no need for it to have the whole screen. That's kind of the point of docking apps. Have them convert to a minimal version that can stay on the screen at all times, with main apps running in the larger view.. is it not?

  On 12/08/2012 at 23:27, xendrome said:

Well if I have something docked, that shouldn't make a difference on my main view. If my main view is the Start Screen, and I open the Mail app... then close the Mail app, it should then return to the Start Screen. Not load a blank screen with nothing on it.

That would be like opening an app on the desktop and then closing it, and it just going to a blank screen with nothing on it where you have to click a button to get the desktop icons back.

Not sure how that is a positive thing..

I'm quite confused.

Are you saying that if you have a fullscreen app (so, not two docked) open and then you close that app, you are not returned to the Start Screen? If that's the case, that certainly wasn't the behaviour in the Release Preview and I agree with you that one should be taken back to the Start Screen.

I thought you were talking about having two apps docked; if you have two apps docked side-by-side, and you close one of them, I think the space from the app you closed should remain, allowing you to either "maximise" the other app that was docked, place another app in the remaining space, or return to the Start Screen.

  On 12/08/2012 at 23:49, Calum said:

I'm quite confused.

Are you saying that if you have a fullscreen app (so, not two docked) open and then you close that app, you are not returned to the Start Screen? If that's the case, that certainly wasn't the behaviour in the Release Preview and I agree with you that one should be taken back to the Start Screen.

I thought you were talking about having two apps docked; if you have two apps docked side-by-side, and you close one of them, I think the space where the app you closed should remain, allowing you to either "maximise" the other app that was docked, place another app in the remaining space, or return to the Start Screen.

Yes, I have 1 app docked.. Tweetro, on the left... I open up say.. Mail, or Maps.. or whatever, then when I drag down that app to close it, it leaves the docked app intact and the main screen where Mail or Maps was, is a blank solid color screen until I click in the screen or hit the start button on the keyboard. It does not auto return to the start screen.

  On 12/08/2012 at 23:53, xendrome said:

Yes, I have 1 app docked.. Tweetro, on the left... I open up say.. Mail, or Maps.. or whatever, then when I drag down those apps to close it, it leaves the docked app intact and the main screen where Mail or Maps was, is a blank solid color screen until I click in the screen or hit the start button on the keyboard. It does not auto return to the start screen.

Oh, in that case, it's the behaviour I would expect. If you mean that you close the one app and not the app you've docked to the left. If you leave the app docked to the left, Microsoft surely can't assume you'd like to go back to the Start screen? It would make sense for them to leave the space blank from the app you closed, allowing you to either make Tweetro larger, place another app next to it, or go back to the Start screen. But they can't assume you'd always want to go back to the Start screen at that point.

It is reproducible by opening Metro start UI > Open any Metro App > Dock App to left or Right by dragging > You are left with docked app + blank screen instead of docked app and Metro start UI

Once you dock a Metro App from within Metro, you have no choice but to return to Metro start by clicking the blank space, obviously you are not going to maximise the docked app because you just docked it on purpose

The behaviour I would expect, would be whenever you either close or dock a Metro App from within Metro UI, you are returned to the Metro UI, whenever you close a Metro App that is docked on the desktop, you are returned to the desktop

This is the design. When you take the very rare action of force closing the main/"filled" an app, nothing automatically takes it's place, you just see what is behind it (the shell's background window). Showing Start would be weird, since it would cover the snapped app. Picking a different app would be confusing/jarring. After closing the main app you can decide to resize the snapped app, grab another app from the back stack, or go to Start.

  On 13/08/2012 at 00:02, Detection said:

It is reproducible by opening Metro start UI > Open any Metro App > Dock App to left or Right by dragging > You are left with docked app + blank screen instead of docked app and Metro start UI

The behaviour I would expect, would be whenever you either close or dock a Metro App from within Metro UI, you are returned to the Metro UI, whenever you close a Metro App that is docked on the desktop, you are returned to the desktop

The Start screen is designed to fill the screen, so I don't think them showing that while an app is docked would be a good idea, and it probably wouldn't even work well.

I think you're looking at it in the wrong way: One doesn't dock "Metro" apps on the Desktop. The Desktop should be looked at like another app in the "Metro" experience. It can be docked and closed like any other "Metro" app, and "Metro" apps can be docked side-by-side with the Desktop, but not on the Desktop. One always docks "Metro" apps within the "Metro" experience only. If you see what I mean?

  On 13/08/2012 at 00:06, Calum said:

The Start screen is designed to fill the screen, so I don't think them showing that while an app is docked would be a good idea, and it probably wouldn't even work well.

I think you're looking at it in the wrong way: One doesn't dock "Metro" apps on the Desktop. The Desktop should be looked at like another app in the "Metro" experience. It can be docked and closed like any other "Metro" app, and "Metro" apps can be docked side-by-side with the Desktop, but not on the Desktop. One always docks "Metro" apps within the "Metro" experience only. If you see what I mean?

Hmm yea I never thought about that really, it probably wouldn't work well having a docked Metro app + Metro UI, I suppose the blank screen kinda makes sense when you look at it like that

I still think it should work like this:

Docked Modern UI App on left,

Go to start screen.

Open Modern UI app in main view.

(now I see both Docked app and Modern UI full screen app)

Close full screen Modern UI app

Show Start Screen, then I can either (a) launch another metro app, or go to desktop, where my docked app is intact.

The only option at that point, besides clicking or pressing the Windows key, is to open the docked app to full screen. Which defeats the purpose of why 99% of the people are going to dock apps. Which is for informational purposes/data streams.

I can't be the only one who thinks this makes more sense.

  On 13/08/2012 at 13:42, xendrome said:

I still think it should work like this:

Docked Modern UI App on left,

Go to start screen.

Open Modern UI app in main view.

(now I see both Docked app and Modern UI full screen app)

Close full screen Modern UI app

Show Start Screen, then I can either (a) launch another metro app, or go to desktop, where my docked app is intact.

The only option at that point, besides clicking or pressing the Windows key, is to open the docked app to full screen. Which defeats the purpose of why 99% of the people are going to dock apps. Which is for informational purposes/data streams.

I can't be the only one who thinks this makes more sense.

But one doesn't dock "Metro" apps on the Desktop, which is perhaps where some of the confusion between our takes stems from. The Desktop is a different "app" in the "Metro" experience.

I feel if your suggestion was implemented, the workflow would become irritating. Every time I wanted to change the app in the "main view" I'd be greeted with the Start screen, even if I merely wanted to bring another open app into focus while monitoring the app docked to the left/right side. The way it is currently implemented gives the user complete control: They can either bring another open app into the "main view" from the stack, go back to Start to select another app, or make the remaining docked app fullscreen. That's 3 options. If your suggestion was implemented, the user wouldn't have any options?they'd just be taken directly to Start even if they wanted to merely replace the app in the "main view."

I've actually docked some apps to the left or right that I would usually have in the "main view." An example is when I was copying some files over to another drive that took a while: I docked the Desktop to the right side of the screen, so I could watch the progress in a handy thumbnail, while I was browsing the Internet using the "Metro" Internet Explorer. But I would usually have the Desktop in the "main view." There are other similar cases I've experienced, whereby I've docked an app to the left or right that I'd usually have in the "main view," so perhaps it's a more widely used use case than you might expect.

Regarding your second to last sentence, as I mention, there is a third option (the one I tend to use the most after closing an app in the main view): Bringing an already open app into the main view.

  On 13/08/2012 at 13:42, xendrome said:

I still think it should work like this:

Docked Modern UI App on left,

Go to start screen.

Open Modern UI app in main view.

(now I see both Docked app and Modern UI full screen app)

Close full screen Modern UI app

Show Start Screen, then I can either (a) launch another metro app, or go to desktop, where my docked app is intact.

The only option at that point, besides clicking or pressing the Windows key, is to open the docked app to full screen. Which defeats the purpose of why 99% of the people are going to dock apps. Which is for informational purposes/data streams.

This would be really annoying if your goal was to unsnap the second app, or to drag a previous app into the main app space.

And keep in mind, closing apps should be extremely rare (i.e. the app is broken, or you want to end a banking session or something). Do you find yourself doing this regularly? You don't really need to. Windows is more than capable of managing apps you aren't using (and will in fact terminate them if needed).

  On 13/08/2012 at 16:01, Brandon Live said:

This would be really annoying if your goal was to unsnap the second app, or to drag a previous app into the main app space.

And keep in mind, closing apps should be extremely rare (i.e. the app is broken, or you want to end a banking session or something). Do you find yourself doing this regularly? You don't really need to. Windows is more than capable of managing apps you aren't using (and will in fact terminate them if needed).

I'm dragging the metro apps from the top down and they disappear, leaving me with a huge blank window, if your getting onto semantics of "closing" a metro app and how they are never really closed but suspended, that's not what I am meaning.

  On 13/08/2012 at 14:01, Calum said:

But one doesn't dock "Metro" apps on the Desktop, which is perhaps where some of the confusion between our takes stems from. The Desktop is a different "app" in the "Metro" experience.

Maybe there's something lost here in my explanation, but I'm looking at my Tweetro docked to the left, and my Desktop in the main view, in fact I am using Chrome (Desktop) version to type this right now.

Screenshot 1 - Metro App docked with Chrome Desktop Ver showing - http://i.imgur.com/TN8ng.jpg

Screenshot 2 - Metro App docket with Desktop showing - http://i.imgur.com/i21MX.jpg

Screenshot 3 - Metro App with Sports loaded and docked twitter client - http://i.imgur.com/ujQLn.jpg

Screenshot 4 - Dragged down Sports app, to close and this is what it leaves me with till I click or press windows key. - http://i.imgur.com/TYsTC.jpg

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