I love Anytype and use it for most of my workflows and personal organisation these days even though an array of absolute key features for lists (sets) are still missing. But yes, the UI is ... not the strongest feature. Way too much whitespace, pop-ups like categories still regularly cover other boxes and text. Did not like this update, almost screamed at my screen until I found the preference for the sidebar remaining sticky. Anytype is all about customising my experience. So let me.
I have to disagree, I personally find it very practical to be able to switch from one Space to another very quickly. I'm used to this with Coda, but Anytype has made the Spaces even easier to access than Coda. I'm working with a lot of Spaces, and being able to select one of them with a single click is great. However, I think it should be optional (maybe with a pin/unpin function), because users who only work with a single space really don't need this bar.
I like the ability to switch, I just don't like the auto hide and show, and I think that they could've found a better place/way to integrate the switching... I liked how they had it before, with the bottom menu, or something like Obsidian would've worked fine too. This is my frustration with the design principle idea - this seems like they're doing it to have a sidebar, not because it is the best way to implement this idea.
@@pianomacpower Automatically showing and hiding the sidebars is an option in the settings. If you don't want to be distracted by left sidebars, switch this on. Everyone else can leave the sidebars as they are. So what's the problem? Of course, the new additional narrow sidebar for the Spaces could be optional for those users who don't need it if they only use a single Space. But for all other users, it's a useful feature because it allows access to the different Spaces with a single click, and it takes up little horizontal space, even on a small laptop. If you want or need to save space, simply switch the sidebars to "automatic" in the settings. By the way, it is also possible to hide/show the sidebars manually at any time.
@@Visual_Notes True. The .42.3 version actually makes this a lot nicer. I still prefer the old version, but I think what they've done is a good compromise.
I've got to be honest, I like having the sidebar as a sort of 'engineer's interface' for my space, but I keep it hidden most of the time. Agreed though, the switch space from the sidebar is awful and strays from the minimalist feel that first attracted me to the app.
I think the biggest issue is first, it implies that we are going to use different spaces to the extent that we use different servers like Discord, which is possible, but not currently the state of affairs. So it just takes up extra space since most of us use only one space. If you choose to disable it, you have to manually enable it before you can switch spaces. On top of that, the settings menu is also only accessible through this bar now.
The discord analogy is really interesting... I hadn't thought of it like that. I like the idea of using different spaces simultaneously, but Anytype seems to want to be "all-in-one"... why divide from that point? Not the end of the world, but unfortunate methinks.
@@pianomacpower They have mentioned wanting to add real-time communication as a feature, but its distant in the roadmap for now. I would say the infrastructure is mostly in place, but it isn't high on their radar right now. So, in the meantime, I'll continue to use Signal.
I don't know wtf did they smoke when writing that update, but it had to be contaminated. Hate it, the bar disappearing is annoying and distracting as hell, it doesn't disappear consistently [sometimes it goes away faster, sometimes slower], simply not going to use anytype anymore if this stays.
I love Anytype and use it for most of my workflows and personal organisation these days even though an array of absolute key features for lists (sets) are still missing. But yes, the UI is ... not the strongest feature. Way too much whitespace, pop-ups like categories still regularly cover other boxes and text. Did not like this update, almost screamed at my screen until I found the preference for the sidebar remaining sticky. Anytype is all about customising my experience. So let me.
side bar wastes too much space. I use only one space so 90% of it is empty
I have to disagree, I personally find it very practical to be able to switch from one Space to another very quickly. I'm used to this with Coda, but Anytype has made the Spaces even easier to access than Coda. I'm working with a lot of Spaces, and being able to select one of them with a single click is great.
However, I think it should be optional (maybe with a pin/unpin function), because users who only work with a single space really don't need this bar.
I like the ability to switch, I just don't like the auto hide and show, and I think that they could've found a better place/way to integrate the switching... I liked how they had it before, with the bottom menu, or something like Obsidian would've worked fine too. This is my frustration with the design principle idea - this seems like they're doing it to have a sidebar, not because it is the best way to implement this idea.
@@pianomacpower
Automatically showing and hiding the sidebars is an option in the settings. If you don't want to be distracted by left sidebars, switch this on. Everyone else can leave the sidebars as they are.
So what's the problem?
Of course, the new additional narrow sidebar for the Spaces could be optional for those users who don't need it if they only use a single Space.
But for all other users, it's a useful feature because it allows access to the different Spaces with a single click, and it takes up little horizontal space, even on a small laptop.
If you want or need to save space, simply switch the sidebars to "automatic" in the settings.
By the way, it is also possible to hide/show the sidebars manually at any time.
Update: As of Anytype 0.42.3 you can now choose to have only widgets displayed or widgets and spaces.
@@Visual_Notes True. The .42.3 version actually makes this a lot nicer. I still prefer the old version, but I think what they've done is a good compromise.
I've got to be honest, I like having the sidebar as a sort of 'engineer's interface' for my space, but I keep it hidden most of the time. Agreed though, the switch space from the sidebar is awful and strays from the minimalist feel that first attracted me to the app.
thank you for sharing, I did find the sidebar is annoying, and maybe that's due to I am used to the fixation sidebar.
my first thought when this update dropped in was "wtf?"
I think the biggest issue is first, it implies that we are going to use different spaces to the extent that we use different servers like Discord, which is possible, but not currently the state of affairs. So it just takes up extra space since most of us use only one space. If you choose to disable it, you have to manually enable it before you can switch spaces. On top of that, the settings menu is also only accessible through this bar now.
The discord analogy is really interesting... I hadn't thought of it like that. I like the idea of using different spaces simultaneously, but Anytype seems to want to be "all-in-one"... why divide from that point? Not the end of the world, but unfortunate methinks.
@@pianomacpower They have mentioned wanting to add real-time communication as a feature, but its distant in the roadmap for now. I would say the infrastructure is mostly in place, but it isn't high on their radar right now. So, in the meantime, I'll continue to use Signal.
I don't know wtf did they smoke when writing that update, but it had to be contaminated. Hate it, the bar disappearing is annoying and distracting as hell, it doesn't disappear consistently [sometimes it goes away faster, sometimes slower], simply not going to use anytype anymore if this stays.