Icon view sizes in Nautilus 43

Applications
1

Is there any reason why certain icon sizes have disappeared in icon view mode? In version 42 there was an intermediate step between view 100% and view 50%, that I miss now.

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2

I thought that it was a bug, so I reported Grid view 67% icon size is gone (#2505) · Issues · GNOME / Files · GitLab, but it’s actually an “intentional design change” :man_facepalming:

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3

The intermediate (67%/64px) icon size is the most sensible option for 1920x1080 displays, which are abundant (if not predominant) on laptops made in the past six years or more.

Please bring it back.

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4

I also would like to see the 67% icon size view back.

But not only: before Gnome 43, on Nautilus and 67% view I was able to define in the “Grid View Caption” preferences to see 2 informations - size and last modified date - under the icon, and both were well visible.

But now even with the 100% view (which is already to big for my desktop PC screen and eyes), only the first one (size) is shown, none is on the 50% view, and I have to select the insanely huge 150% view to see both !

I guess the next step will be to remove this option “Grid View Caption” with the explanation that nobody (at least between Gnome devs) use it


Please give back the 67% icon size, AND the ability to see 2 rows info under it :slight_smile:

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5

67% icon size was essential for me too. All my desktops and laptops have 1920x1080 so any other size is unusable on that kind of screen. 50% is too small to quickly look and see by folder icon and 100% is too big to actually use nautilus for any productive needs.

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6

For me, the usefulness of thumbnails, from least useful to most useful:

  • Folders. Useless.
  • Text documents. I find the filename more helpful in identifying them. I think a large preview is needed to easily recognize them in case the documents don’t have a friendly name (e.g. document title), provided the preview is like in the latest mockups. This thumbnail can also vary according to the size of the page of the document and therefore have its title less identifiable (if the document has pages).
  • Videos. Useful when the thumbnail is representative of the video, useless otherwise.
  • Pictures. Useful if the image is a single image (e.g. a photo). Less useful when there are several (for example, models).

There are mockups on thumbnail optimization (files/grids.png · master · Teams / Design / app-mockups · GitLab) and view optimization (https: //gitlab.gnome.org/Teams/Design/app-mockups/-/blob/master/files/rich-grid-view/files_rich-grid-view_base%2Blabels.png). Maybe something can be done this way: have preview sizes based on file type − but that will only work if we assume sorting by file type. Using the previewer (gnome-sushi) might be more visible in case the thumbnail isn’t useful.

1 Like
8

I would also really like to see the 67% icon size back.

As others have already stated, 100% is too big and 50% is too small for 1920x1080 displays.
Considering that 1080p is one of, if not the most common screen resolution for both desktops and laptops, removing 67% scaling just doesn’t make sense.

I can normally see the reasoning behind and agree with most changes made to gnome.
This is the first one that has genuinely left me scratching my head.

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9

I’d love to see a slider just like in Dolphin (the KDE file manager) with tons of options.

Was there ever a survey or poll done to consult the community over the view sizes and adding or removing some of them?

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10

Of course not. There was not even a reason given for the removal.

It’s silly stuff like this that makes Gnome, and by extent, the linux desktop, very hard to take seriously. There’s not even been any response to this post, despite being sent to this forum to discuss it further.

Can we expect it to be added back anytime during Gnome/Nautilus 43? Or do we need to wait for 44? What do you expect us to do in the meantime?

12

Adding my voice to the 67% crowd. Even on a 2560*1440 screen, the icon size is either too big (even bigger than the default dock icon size) or too small (picture are barely readable, pdf previews becomes useless). Also, in 50% mode the folder “image” switch to the less detailed “simplified flat” one and the whole thing looks really out of place at this size.

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13

The reasons are explained in the commit message that changed the zoom levels: New list view (no expanders version) (!847) · Merge requests · GNOME / Files · GitLab

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14

Same thing here. Having two monitors (1920x1080 and 1680x1050), first thing I tried was to resize icon like Gnome 42.
With Gnome 43, “small” is too small, and “medium” is already too big to me.

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15

I’d like to echo others here & say that the 67% is the right size for a lot of us. I’d really appreciate it if you guys reconsider its removal :slight_smile:

Generally speaking, I feel that this falls under accessibility. I love GNOME’s clean & minimalistic approach, but we need to be careful not to make the desktop experience unnecessarily more challenging to users in areas where the less is more concept genuinely doesn’t apply.

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17

It doesn’t seem the best strategy to call people crazy, if you wish to persuade them that something’s worth doing.

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19

That’s no reasons, It’s just an explanation that the developer don’t want this size : “we have 5 size options now, which a little too many”.

All the the posts I read are in favor of going back to 67% - 64 px , and these are well argued by all the people.

(Post edited by author to avoid censorship).

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20

I understand the idea behind the removal, but IMHO, the padding was not the only thing making the 67% worthwhile. The item size itself was visually making a big change. In my personal case, on my screen (2560*1440), one option makes things even bigger than the dock icons (which is ridiculously big for a windowed file manager - I mean, I have only three items in a row when the size of my file manager is a bit bigger than a quarter of my screen) , and the other ones makes them so small that you cannot event get what is on a pdf thumbnail. (To be honest, the fact that the folder “icons” switch to a “simplified” one at this level makes the whole thing looks “cheap” at this size, that could also be part of the problem. On those matters it’s really hard to separate personal tastes and opinions from hard facts)
Just to be clear, Nautilus 43 is a really big step forward and I certainly wouldn’t go back to the previous version (thanks to the gnome team for the incredible work). The missing 67% view is really the only thing i’am not convinced about.

21

Right, making an application for everybody is always hard because it can never please everybody equally.

I mean, I could just replace 48px icons with 64px icons and call it a day! After all, everyone here has expressed personal preference for 64px icons, right?

However, this has a huge bias: only people who prefer 64px over 48px have come to share their opinion. People who prefer 48px are happy and, therefore, have no reason need to search for and find this thread here.

And honestly, I’d expect more people to be displeased by letting 48px go, because that’s the size that can fit the most icons at once. And some people really care more about how many files are shown, rather than their icon sizes.

I personally don’t have a preference. I’d just prefer to make eveybody everywhere happy at the same time. Unfortunately that’s impossible.

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22

Let’s also clarify that version 43 is already out. It’s too late to make visual changes. Only bugfixes are allowed for this version.

For version 44, there is a good chance that the grid view is changing again. Even the icons might change. The design team is hard at work to try and make it awesome. So now is a good time to get involved and contribute towards the end result.

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23

Other than that, for anyone who wants to get back the 64px size without going back to version 42, the only alternative is to build from source after changing this line by replacing 48 with 64: src/nautilus-enums.h · main · GNOME / Files · GitLab

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24

Antonio, I really appreciate the hard work you did. It is not easy to develop a project like Nautilus.

Your clarification honors you, but when you say “Unfortunately that’s impossible” , i will say: How about leaving all the sizes and let the user decide?

It’s not a battle between 48 vs 64. Everyone knows the environment in which they work and will have preferences about it. Give him options, not frustrations. As for the rest, my congratulations for the work done.

1 Like