I think āsimpleā mode should be more simple. Really basic. Click on, click off, or hold to ramp. Thatās it. After all, that is really the only thing a muggle will be interested in. We flashaholics are so used to fantabulous features, weāve forgotten what it was like to be a muggle. Anything but on/off/change levels is more than they want to absorb.
Not that I loan out my flashlights enough to make it matter to me personally. But I gave away a Nitecore EA41 recently along with a copy of the instructions, and the couple was intimidated by the fact that āitās so complicated, it comes with instructions.ā That really made me stop and think. The EA41 UI is not complicated.
Personally, I think itās getting to a point where we may soon need to add in a feature where we click/hold a certain number and the light projects (in the beam on a white wall) the instruction manual!
The steps arenāt individually-programmable, but they do accelerate up along a curve like what you described. They are spaced evenly along the ramp, but the ramp itself is curved.
The curve shape is different for each light though, calibrated to make it feel similar despite large differences in the underlying hardware. Except, of course, on lights where the manufacturer didnāt bother doing that and just copied firmware from another light. Those end up with weird ramp shapes and sub-par thermal response.
There are lights which work this way. They typically either come with a separate configurator app (which isnāt possible for most Anduril-based lights) or they take a long time to programā¦ like an hour tapping buttons with the manual. Most people never bother configuring those because itās too complicated.
However, a separate UI could be created which allows each step to be whatever the user wants. It could also allow user-defined button mappings similar to the YLP Unicorn. I think Inferion had a good idea there, and really put a lot of functionality into a small space. But if something like that is made, it would be a different UI, not Anduril.
One of the things Iām doing with Anduril2 is to break the code into smaller pieces so itāll be easier to maintain and easier to reuse parts in other UIs. So that may be helpful when attempting to create something more configurable for power users.
Thatās a big part of why I made this thread. Iām hoping to answer the question of āwhat should the simple UI be like?ā
The old muggle mode was just click for on/off and hold to ramp. Or a longer button sequence to exit. Nothing else. But people often said it was too simple, and they wanted to be able to check the battery status or lock the light or configure the ramp so it wasnāt stuck at factory settings.
So for now, thatās basically what the new simple UI is. The currently-enabled functions are:
Ramp:
Click for on/off
Hold to change brightness (or press-release-hold to ramp down)
Double click to go to/from the top level (no turbo)
Battery check (3C)
Lockout (4C)
Long button sequence to go to advanced mode
Even longer button sequence to check the firmware version
Factory reset (hold button a few seconds while inserting battery)
It also respects settings configured in advanced mode, like the smooth/stepped ramp style, manual memory vs automatic memory, and (eventually) floor/ceiling levels. But those require going to advanced mode and back, so they donāt really affect anything for muggle purposes.
Are these the right features to have in simple mode? I donāt know. Thatās what Iām hoping to find out.
Iād remove the lockout. It is not really necessary, and might be a pain for beginners to get out again.
However, the battery check is a very useful feature, and not problematic when activated unintentional.
If lockout is disabled by a power cycle I donāt see the harm of having it there.
I would love to use the simple mode most of the time, and on lights like the ubiquitous FW-series, physical lockout is not an option. Electronic lockout is needed.
Why not? I do it on mine. Yes I understand that it only disconnects the switch and not the actual power; but it prevents accidental activation, which is the goal yes?
Mine needed nearly a full turn to disconnect the switch signal which wasnāt practical when I actually needed to use it. Considering they have been known to randomly turn on at full power when things go wrong, even that doesnāt inspire a lot of confidence in me either TBH.
Off topic but running it without the metal switch cover was 1000x better for me personally. No lockout needed, switch was recessed and took more force to press (but not so much that rapid clicks or holds were difficult) and felt very satisfying and responsive. Once Lume1 is out Iām definitely getting an FW1A and running it like that.
The FW3A (and presumably other related models) has a lot of variability from one light to the next. One of the things which differs is how it responds to having the front half loosened. On some, itāll cut power in a quarter turnā¦ while on others, it must be unscrewed completely off. I have examples of both in my collection.
Soā¦ yeah, sometimes soft lockout is the only option.
Iāve pondered whether lockout should be on 3 clicks instead of 4, to make it faster to enter/exit. Then I guess battcheck would be on 4 clicks. Not sure if thatās how it should be though, or if the current setup is better. However, it would definitely be one of the more difficult changes to get accustomed to. I know weāre breaking backward compatibility here, but swapping those two seems like it would be particularly annoying for anyone who has lights of both the old and new versions. Weād trip over it constantly.
This definitely sounds like a good idea, hoping that I can flash my D4V2 flashlights with this new Anduril.
I can also vouch for a more subtle candle mode, itās a bit too violent at times.
It can also be a bit repetitive, but thatās probably a memory limitation.
Although itās a lot better than many flickering LED candles Iāve seen.
No doubt Anduril is the best flashlight UI made so far, I rarely justify buying a light without it. If so, the light should be pretty special (like Nitecore TUP with the OLED display).
Candle mode could definitely benefit from higher resolution in the brightness rampā¦ and more frames per secondā¦ and some adjustments to the overall algorithm. It also varies from one light to another, since the underlying ramp is different. I try to adjust it to be fairly consistent, but it doesnāt always come out quite right.
About low/med/high/off, thatās possible by using the stepped ramp. Set it to 3 steps. Itāll still have the blinkies and other modes available thoughā¦
ā¦ so thereās also a simple UI, and it inherits the ramp style (smooth/stepped) of the full UI. It just has safer limits and most of the other modes and functions are blocked. The code for that isnāt published yet though; Iām still working on it.