Thank you for detailing this story, it is useful to understand why people are ending up in Advanced UI. It does seem like desire to access strobes might be one of the main reasons, it’s one of the items listed by ToyKeeper in some extended Simple UIs
I think that is a great idea. One further refinement- how about the inverse, selectively adding things to Simple UI? E.g. have a configuration menu for SimpleUI to allow the addition of those items linked above (Strobe, Aux, etc). Though ToyKeeper can weigh in on the relative complexity implementing that vs various preset menus.
When I delivered one of the flashlights it was the first thing I was asked how to set the strobe mode, it is true it is an obsession for many and I understand it.
In the woods in the dark they have fun in strobe mode. but it is only possible in Advanced UI mode and in advanced mode you have to do 3H and then 2C to get to strobe.
At the end of going to normal mode and strobe mode change the ramp or lock it etc.
It’s rare that I hear anyone say strobe should be easier to access. Usually people want it removed or hidden so they can avoid it.
Simple mode is intended to have only the most important core functions – off, on (adjustable), battery check, and lockout. It might be boring that way, but that is kind of the point.
However, I might try to find a way to fit some alternate UIs in, so people could use a different core interface. So if someone doesn’t like Anduril Simple UI or Anduril Advanced UI, they could use something else… like Olight UI or Zebralight UI or Sofirn UI.
What I am commenting on is the use of people who use the flashlight for leisure.
In my case they all wanted to have strobe mode and I put the flashlights in advanced mode because there is no strobe in Simple mode.
As you say on the second day I gave out Convoy S2+ and S21E and for the younger ones some cheap ones from a Chinese bazaar.
I personally like the candle mode, everything else I don’t use.
But it is true that in simple UI mode it has too much battery check (I never use it) and it lacks a single strobe mode, it even serves as personal security.
But this is my opinion.
Personally for my use, I only buy flashlights with anduril.
Edit:
I have the SC33 and the use is fantastic, smooth ramp that responds immediately.
But I would have liked this model to have anduril and to be able to regulate only the temperature, nothing more.
yes that would indeed be hilarious. Honestly I’d like to more detail on people claiming they accidentally get into Advanced UI via 10H as it seems pretty unlikely. The one story here about it is actually about them purposefully giving lights in Advanced UI mode to access strobes, so getting into accidental menus are shorter patterns than the 10H one.
Even still, I wouldn’t be against minor changes like making the length of time needed to held to be increased by some amount of seconds, if that would appease arguments like this. Though it sounds like the additional modes could be separated more than the current Simple UI
I still like the idea of being able to optionally add things like strobe/aux control to Simple UI or having a couple different basic UI’s to chose between. It indeed seems wasteful to produce 2 different sets of lights with different drivers/firmwares, especially since Anduril is compatible with various drivers now.
People can do all sorts of stupid things by trial and error. I’m not surprised they can accidentally enter advanced mode by repeatedly clicking by slight longer time to simulate a strobe. My 5 year olds does that all the time using my lights with tail switches.
Ah of course, now that definitely makes sense. And even more reason to have some way to access strobes from non-Advanced UI.
Though the point in the manual about it not being safe with regards to brightness/temperature is a bit of a concern. Perhaps a way to set a fixed max brightness/frequency for these additional simple modes.
Or we indeed just do as I want and let the manufacturer build a light NOT handicapped by excessively overengineered software and be done with it.
Edit to clarify, since it has been suggested this could be insulting to @ToyKeeper and the other evelopers; I did not mean Anduril is over engineered in itself. Quite the opposite, I love the software! I simply mean that using complicated software to implement a “Simple” UI, is backwards to my way of thinking, and would hinder such an endeavor.
Then people can choose which product to buy, instead of having to jump hoops to turn features on or off!
I love anduril for customizing everything.
But sometimes it would be nice if NOTHING could be changed.
That’s a weird way to put it, but anyways some of us are interested in the benefits:
Simplifying production means cost savings, some of which would get passed to consumers. It also means they can more quickly move to other designs and updates, since from the timeline it’s clear the 2 versions adds several months to this one light. And they have several designs with community feedback they are working on who I’m sure wouldn’t mind seeing the lights sooner.
I was also considering, I mentioned somewhere but can’t find now, writing a simple UI that’s ultra-simplistic but still based on good design principles, that OEMs can use if they want a simple UI, that’s still based on FSM so a user can simply upgrade to anduril if they want. I think that might be better than just adding a lot of extra code to anduril.
Hey, that’s my EDC UI. The Fenix UI has it’s strengths. For example when using a light in the field, how many times do you change brightness vs turning the light on/off? The hold for on/off and click for mode advance sounds hideous on paper but when you actually use it outside other than play with it like toy, it actually makes sense.
I hold to turn on the light once and I can quickly change brightness by repeated tapping on the switch. I.e. They put the most frequently used function in the simplest gesture. I know my light has 5 brightness levels. I can tap from 1 to 4 times to change to any level I want really quickly. The same can’t be said for a UI where you have to hold the button and wait for the mode advance / ramping timer to do its thing.
A faster and more effective option, hit it against the ground 10 times turn on and hit 10 more times, if it works use, if it doesn’t work, no more setup
In S21E it is horrible it takes a long time to respond and sometimes it doesn’t respond at all.
But I found the fastest option by configuring staggered ramp.
It’s not my unit because I have four S21E’s and they all have the same thing happening in soft ramp mode, it has to be something in the firmware or hardware.
Congratulations, you discovered Convoy’s worst aspect: The UI is really bad and they refuse to listen to the community to do anything about it. It’s also why I stopped buying Convoy’s e-switch lights after the second one.
In my field test none of them enter in advanced mode 10H from UI Simple, playing with the flashlight, I never pass, I think it is almost impossible.
But they wanted to use Strobo mode and I set all flashlights to advanced mode so they could use strobe mode.
This is when chaos happened I assure you they went into modes I thought didn’t exist.
Example:
Power on in previous mode and 1s later it would go to turbo, power off would power on would go back to previous normal mode and 1s later it would go to turbo again.
What mode is that?
I could not get out of that mode and I had to do a reset losing all the configuration ramps temperatures etc. I turned it off and saved it to do it at home.
but it is only possible in Advanced UI mode and in advanced mode you have to do 3H and then 2C to get to strobe.
yes that would indeed be hilarious. Honestly I’d like to more detail on people claiming they accidentally get into Advanced UI via 10H as it seems pretty unlikely. The one story here about it is actually about them purposefully giving lights in Advanced UI mode to access strobes, so getting into accidental menus are shorter patterns than the 10H one.