I'm a bit torn on the UX. downloading sounds like it would be used more often than sharing, and both aren't immediate actions. should those be in the media viewer? should we add a vcard preview? 🤔

having the share button there for every media feels like it would get annoying and not used that often.

here's a bit of a random thought dump...

for me, share/download ratio of attachments is 99% share, 1% download. i have no clue what the typical use case is though.

i don't like the new share ux either. but, there's no selection of an individual attachment so it's difficult to add share/download options other than with the attachment itself (ie can't be on menu). except images and videos which already have share and download on the built-in media player activity menu...

... but audio, vcards and all other file types don't use the built-in media player so can't take advantage of the share and download options there.

i really like the ability to share/download from the compose screen rather than having to go through yet another screen to get to those options.

right now (with this pr)

• images and video are share/download from the player screen menu
• audio and non-vcard file types have the new share icon and no download option
• vcards are touch-the-bubble to view externally which typically opens the contacts app or an app picker

for sure, a consistent ui for share and download is best.

if a person has a file manager then sharing is kinda the same as downloading, but better, since one can just share to the file manager and put the file wherever one chooses. unfortunately devices don't tend to have a built in file manager.

vcard preview; probably nice to have. some might find it useful to be able to copy data from, or dial a number from, a vcard without having to add the vcard to their contacts.

2 ideas for a consistent share and download ui for all attachment types;

• swipe attachment left to download, right to share
  [ edit: after some thought, i prefer the swipe option above, the below suggestion is too similar to the normal 'remove something' action ]

• a drag-drop ui kinda like when you remove an app icon from device home screen. start dragging attachment and the background dims and a share icon appears up the top, download icon down the bottom. drop the attachment on either to perform that action with it. i don't know how do-able this is.

------->

more edit: another idea... build a new activity in the app named 'quik save' that accepts any shared files. user flow;

• user selects share option (there is no save option)
• users select to share to 'quik save' - - or other app for a normal share
• quik save pops up a location chooser - same as backup file location chooser - user selects location
• the file is saved into the user chosen location

right now (with this pr)

• images and video are share/download from the player screen menu
• audio and non-vcard file types have the new share icon and no download option
• vcards are touch-the-bubble to view externally which typically opens the contacts app or an app picker

What a mess 😆

I propose something simple like in Beeper and Signal, a long press on the message/file open the menu and you see all the option.

@lascapi thanks for the feedback. atm long press selects message so we'd have to come up with an alternative for message selection. and it would need to be the same on the main conversation screen too, which already has swipe and short touch actions taken for other things.

all these gremlins in the UX. this smells like it needs a rethink instead of duct tape.... 🤔

what if:

long-press message row (but not one of the below): select message
long-press text within message: select text
long-press media: open media context menu

tap message row: nothing
tap text: nothing
tap media: open media preview

media preview has kebab menu top right to show the same media context menu

media context menu includes download, share, forward, open with. (and any other options that may be necessary)

what if:

long-press message row (but not one of the below): select message
long-press text within message: select text
long-press media: open media context menu

tap message row: nothing
tap text: nothing
tap media: open media preview

media preview has kebab menu top right to show the same media context menu

media context menu includes download, share, forward, open with. (and any other options that may be necessary)

I have suggestions but it seems a bit over complicated

Double tap massage row: chosen action
Double tap text: copy all text
Double tap media: save or share

although ugly ui i think this pr should go into 4.0.10-beta. otherwise the next release will have no way to share/download audio and document (ie not image, video, vcard) attachments.

should we open a new issue (pointing back here) to continue and widen the ui discussion to general ui principals that can be consistent across the entire app? ie the double-tap-edit-box-to-start-stt on the compose activity is horrible too.

although ugly ui i think this pr should go into 4.0.10-beta. otherwise the next release will have no way to share/download audio and document (ie not image, video, vcard) attachments.

should we open a new issue (pointing back here) to continue and widen the ui discussion to general ui principals that can be consistent across the entire app? ie the double-tap-edit-box-to-start-stt on the compose activity is horrible too.

Then I'd recommend you or octo to open the issue (or another member/contributer) as most of us don't really know the technical aspects of the app

adding this in, but leaving breadcrumbs for future readers: #266

I see you, DenverCoder9.