The design of the MeeGo-Harmattan UI: A closer look
Just like we did with the original MeeGo handset UI deep dive back in June in last year, we’re back again with an up close and personal look at the user interface and usage paradigm running on the lovely N9. For the curious among us, Nokia have provided an extensive consumer facing page to demo the N9 over at swipe.nokia.com and a more technical/developer focused page for those that care for a little more detail and less “shiny”.
UI Model:
The UI model exists in two z-planes with the application view and the lockscreen occupying one z-plane and the home area occupying the other, lower z-plane.
The lockscreen is always the first screen presented to the user when they unlock the device, either through the power button or the magical double tap gesture and is dismissed by either activating on of the notifications by swiping it, or by swiping the entire screen from the edge of the display to the center.
The Swipe!
The swipe gesture as we’ve all been told is the entire idea! It is the over-riding aspect of the user interface and is the one around which the UI was designed. Swipe from the lockscreen to get to the home area, swipe from one area of the home area such as notifications to get to the applications grid, another swipe to get to the multitasking view.
Nokia have also added the “quick-launch swipe” which after a short swipe up from the bottom of the display, a set of 4 application shortcuts (of your choosing) will be readily available. Even better is that there is supposedly an option to close applications using a swipe from the top of the screen all the way down. If true, those are VERY nice and VERY intuitive touches.
Although this is not completely confirmed, the touch-surface on the N9 and as a result, the touchscreen controller in the device might use “first-pixel” sensitivity in order to facilitate the swipe gesture (it’s relatively common knowledge that capacitive touchscreens have nigh-dreadful sensitivity at the edges of the display.
Unless Nokia have significantly extended the display past the active area of the display (likely) or have used specialized technology (aforementioned) the swipe gesture would not be possible.
The Lockscreen and Home Area:
The lock screen, nothing overly exciting about it really. Much like the lockscreen on Windows Phone 7 and iOS shows the time and any notifications, the date and anything else of import. Unlike Windows Phone (to my chagrin) and much like iOS5, The N9 UI displays detailed information on notifications and allows users to go directly from the lockscreen to address the notification of their choice. It’s something so obvious that I simply cannot understand why it hasn’t been done as well before.
A general swipe from the lockscreen, not on any specific notification brings you to either the Home area or the last accessed application.
Home!
The Home area is broken into three main sections, a looped-panorama if you will (much like the Maemo 5 homescreens just vertically oriented instead of horizontally). Unlike the Maemo 5 screens however, the idea of free-form widgets holding tons of information is deprecated for the simplicity of an Applications view, an Events view and a “live” grid of your open applications.
Events:
The events area is supposedly where all your notifications and social networking updates will be aggregated. There are both good and bad points to this. Good that I can easily find and view my twitter feed. Bad that the important parts of my twitter feed and Facebook feeds will be buried in an immense scrolling list with no easy jump feature nor a mention that we’ll be able to prioritise the important people in either feed. Will know more about it when I get the chance to test it out but can only see this being used for a cursory glance at the newest information as opposed to a place where I spend much of my time.
The good/great bit is that tapping on any notification or feed update will take you directly into the application from which the feed was generated. Even better is the fact that all the accounts used to aggregate the information for this events view can all be managed from one centralised settings location. (THANK YOUR RESPECTIVE DEITY!!)
Applications view:
Nothing overly special here, a reorganisable list of your installed applications is what we get, though the ability to create bookmarks and place them in this list, complete with the requisite favicon is a very nice touch indeed. Applications are placed in this list in terms of how recently they’ve been installed, new apps to the bottom, older apps closer to the top. Though you’re free to move em as much as you wanna via a long press on any icon. That long press brings up an “edit” view replete with little “x” marks in the corners of applications which will uninstall the application or in the case of a bookmark, just remove the shortcut.
Multitasking:
This area is probably where the closest resemblance to good old Maemo 5 lies. While you won’t be playing and viewing any videos in this view like some people would do on Maemo 5 (just to brag really), the applications in this view are more or less fully active here. The best example of this being demonstrate is a compass application that updates as the device is turned. Pretty nice that we don’t have to worry about apps not resuming in timely fashion or running when we want ‘em to but let’s hope devs are judicious in when and how these are run. The battery in the N9 ain’t huge guys (Please go easy on it!). Let’s hope that things like the camera won’t be kept/left running indefinitely, (can you say dead battery?), some of us forget to shut these things down in the heat of the moment. Unlike pretty much every implementation of ”cards” or “live-views” the N9 allows us to switch between the larger view of a smaller number of applications or a smaller view of more applications, all accessible by a pinch-to-zoom gesture 
. Nice touch eh?
Apps can also be closed via a long press with the option to close applications one by one or close all. Nokia really appealing to the power/tech-savvy users with all of this.
Status Bar:
Occupying the top 45 pixels on the display in all but full screen applications (mostly media-related ones for obvious reasons) is the Android-esque status bar. Much like Maemo 5 it gives access to quick toggles for bluetooth and WiFi, the ability to change ring-type (vibrate etc), media volume, your Facebook and other cloud services status and information on pending downloads and all the other fun stuff we’ve come to expect at the very tops of our screens. No information on whether things like battery percentages and estimated active usage time will make the cut before release but those are things I’d hope to see make it. In any case, it’s a worthwhile “feature” to include in this next iteration.
Wrap-up:
MeeGo-Harmattan is one of the most colourful, beautiful and most functional (from all indications of course) Operating Systems I’ve ever laid eyes on. It is truly the spiritual successor to Maemo 5 and lives up to and exceeds expectations (not just ours) and it’s painful to think how much better life could have been if this could have been completed by end of 2010. None of us here would know much about or care for Windows Phone 7, though both it and MeeGo-Harmattan do share some of the same design philosophies (head-up, user-centric, unique design, different interaction paradigm, emphasis on swipe gesture).
There’s so much I’ve left out already, including the keyboards(language switches on the fly!) , application updating (without going into the Ovi Store app I might add), the Maemo 5-esque integration with cloud services (Flickr, Gtalk, SIP, Picasa, Facebook with chat, MfE the whole lot) and tons of other little touches that are described in the developer documentation but suffice it to say that there’s going to be lot of talk around this device when it launches and clearly a bit more of a disruption of the current dichotomy dominating the mobile landscape.
I beg, nay, BESEECH Nokia to give serious consideration as to the feasibility of keeping this platform around even if it means minimal devices per year. Windows Phone can be your Android, Nokia; ubiquitous, popular with devs and users but not quite as open as pure Linux or as capable due to intrinsic limitations of the software environments of both. MeeGo-Harmattan (even if you develop it yourselves) could be the antithesis to Apple’s approach yet equally (if not more so) beautiful, user-friendly AND functional.
1 device a year Nokia, replete with a major OS update every 12 months with small bug-fixes in between and you’ll be making a lot of people happy, myself included.
If you haven’t seen already the videos of the N9 in action, not only is there clearly something wrong with you, but you should probably hit up our nigh-hundred of other posts on the device!
Sources:
Category: Nokia
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Sites That Link to this Post
- Conociendo los detalles de la UI de Meego en N9 | PoderPDA | July 1, 2011
- BlackBerry Z10 Review | February 25, 2013
Amen
Yes, Amen brother.
N9 UI screenshot gallery http://mobilesguruji.co.cc/2011/06/27/in-depth-look-at-nokia-new-n9s-meego-os
wow a nice collection.
thanku alot.
Yup, very nice collection, can someone make a wallpaper by combining some of this meego screensnap?
Thanks for sharing that link, even better than what nokia conversations team does with browser using very few screensnap
“Apple takes existing ideas and makes them better”.
I bet we’ll see N9 inspired UI on the iOS 6 or whatever. Blogosphere would be blown away by the magic! This will change everything. Again.
True multitasking. Finally.
pure touch finally
future iphone
1. We hate the faulty home button
2. We hate freezing app
3. We add cydia
Yep MeeGo Harmattan looks beautiful, but how does it compare to the normal MeeGo version?(Which we haven’t seen in action in a long time)?????
I’m sure that Nokia WILL release another Meego phone and software updates, despite saying they will end it, so I wouldn’t worry about that. I just hope they not keeping their BEST technology ONLY for Windows Phone devices..which I think they did would this N9. I mean, the N9 isn’t perfect. Its 12.1mm, its camera isn’t the best, it has a year old CPU/GPU, and some other few flaws. Bluetooth 2.1? The screen, why 3,9″?…thats not bad, but it is odd. Imagine how good Harmattan would look on a slightly larger higher-res screen.Oh well, I’m wishing for HD screens, dual core, and much more for upcoming Windows devices. Thumbs crossed!
AFAIK it’s bluetooth version 4. Secondly the device is very tapered and the device itself actually gets down to 7.9mm at some points. It’s still thin enough IMO.
The year old CPU/GPU combo is irrelevant if the software is optimised for it. Case in point, Windows Phone generally runs smoother than any Android device I’ve ever used on 2008-era silicon. Could it be better? Sure, but it wouldn’t make that much of a difference to the end user. A higher resolution screen would surely be appreciated but it’s actually using the highest resolution AMOLED on the market. ’tis true.
As for Dual core, currently, no OS out there is using them as well as they could/should with em. Honestly speaking, it’s barely used half the time.
Comparing Xperia Arc and SGS2, you can see a huge difference in the web browsing experience thanks to the added horse power.
Dual core or not may not matter to users who use the phone just for average apps and phone functions though additional horse power can allow programers to add more bling into their apps which can improve the user experience.
thats because android is poorly coded. The only way to make it faster is to put a twin turbo in it
Or that could be down to the added clock speed on the SGS2 or differences in the actual browser used, or differences in the skins or programs/processes running that are not user visible.
It’s not a controlled environment so you can’t say quite much about. Further, if applications aren’t written to take explicitly take advantage of the clocks and if the clocks don’t efficiently split the load then it’s a waste really. Not saying that’s case in the use case you described btw.
I’m weighing up the n9 and SGS2 as my next phone.
I kinda prefer the n9 but it is prob going to be more expensive than the SGS2 in Thailand (SGS2 is only about 600 usd here.)
And the SGS2 seems like a lot more power for the buck tbh. You notice it in things like maps where the n9 looks particularly juddery. Only worry with the SGS2 is the battery but then you can buy like 3 replaceable batteries and a charger for under 20 bucks. N9 looks cooler tho.
meh, can’t decide. and a bit of an off topic rant lol
“As for Dual core, currently, no OS out there is using them as well as they could/should with em. Honestly speaking, it’s barely used half the time.”
Well whatever, look at some videos of the SGS2. It runs blazingly fast in everything it does compared to other android phones. Pretty safe to assume the hardware is playing a large role in that
and there are some other dual core android phones. they are laggy. it is all about software.
No, it’s about a combination of both. No good saying an old cpu is fine if the software is optimized for it (Andre.) Yeah it’s fine until you compare it to a newer CPU with software optimized for it.
Obv the only end goal is the user experience. However, in videos I’ve seen the SGS2 faster than the n9, especially in maps, and browsing somewhat.
Obviously newer hardware future proofs the phone as well. Who doesn’t wish their n8 had a 1ghz processor and a bit more ram??
I’m just going to inform you guys,
The N9 supports Flash. Both in the browser and in the videoplayer(we knew that last one).
The Fennec browser that can be downloaded supports Flash and tabs. FULL DESKTOP browsing by the way. The native browser is more concentrated on the mobile part of surfing the web.
I hope that it makes some of you happier.
It certainly plays FLV but the plugin isn’t in the default browser.
As I said, it’s in the Firefox browser. Not the native
http://moconews.net/article/419-a-first-look-at-the-nokia-n9-this-is-not-a-dead-end/
“Not a dead end: The N9 is viewed by some as a dead end because of Nokia’s decision to put the bulk of its attention on Windows Phone in the future, but from the sounds of it, we will likely see echoes of the N9 and the “Nokia stamp” coming up in future Windows products.
Mark Squires, PR manager for Nokia, explained: “We did the alliance after they announced Mango and we’ve jumped on a moving bus. That means the majority of early products will be based on that.” Think here, for example, of the fact that early devices are likely to still feature navigation keys. “However, as we move forward, you will see more of that ‘Nokia stamp’ [as I called it] in those future devices. People right now can only see pieces of the puzzle, they can’t see the whole picture.”
And he also emphasized that the N9 “is the only Meego device this year.” In other words, Squires wouldn’t flat-out say that this would be the only Meego device, ever. Does that mean there could be more beyond 2011? I suspect we’ll have to see how this one sells first.”
Nokia designers are genius
thanks to meego ui team and n9 phone design
hope to see another meego phone from other manufacturers like LG, Samsung, huawei, dell, acer, asus..etc
the original meego ui is not bad!
Go meego comunity, creat or port your exisiting maemo5 apps
“Even better is that there is supposedly an option to close applications using a swipe from the top of the screen all the way down. If true, those are VERY nice and VERY intuitive touches.”
Good good. This is how I suggested apps should be closed as soon as I saw the UI. Strangely, every person that commented here thought it was unnecessary or too complicated
I want the drop down status bar. Quick settings is something Maemo has had since forever. So useful.
I love that multitasking didn’t go the route of vanilla MeeGo with carousel linear cards.
carousel multitasking is so useless on my N8 its not even funny shame Windows phone went that way, then again cant really be surprised that Microsoft copied others.
Funnily enough multitasking a la N9 would work nicely on Windows phone or any phone OS for that matter.
ya, agree. I said this before, if WP7 were gonna copy someone why on earth did they not copy the best? (maemo)
Indeed, it is multitasking done the right way, and I love how they even implemented two different views! I even requested something like that a while ago:
http://www.mobileinfoplanet.com/2011/06/15/my-biggest-gripe-with-webos/
I think Nokia will continue with MeeGo, Elop doesn’t want to promise too much to get hopes up.
In the pre Elop are there where soooooo many promises made with no action whatsoever.
Nokia have been lying for years to loyal Nokia users and Elop hopefully knows that, promising more MeeGo devices will put pressure on Nokia.
One of the reasons why the N9 is so good is because no one had any expectations that the N9 will this good, so the pressure was lifted during development, promising future devices will add pressure.
Right now everyone things the N9 is dead on arrival, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Nokia surprises us.
I think some clever developer might make use of the multitasking live view to replace widget functionality.
Ahh, finally someone spotted the possibility!
It seems that you can actually let your app update the UI while your app is “minimized”. The UI will be updated live in the multitasking view.
The app receives “signals” if the app is in thumbnail mode or fullscreen mode. For example the camera app shows a little camera icon when it’s not active.
Here is lot of:
http://mobilesguruji.co.cc/2011/06/27/in-depth-look-at-nokia-new-n9s-meego-os/6
Getting the N9 for many reasons, but the 2 that makes me really smile: No contract, & imma put this baby on my At&t Unlimited GoPhone plan
From what I have read about the UI and Swipe, it should work equally well for left-handed people as well as right-handed. That is something I have not seen mentioned as many UIs are designed for right-handed.
Nokia N9 ui cant be simpler than now.
that future ui.
Windows 8 tablet ui sucks
+1
Oh imagine “Bubbles” on top of that ….. wow
I have pre-ordered the Nokia N9 today
Nokia didn’t invent the swipe gesture !!!
Nokia with the N9 talk about the swipe gesture like an incredible invention but it’s not !
Me I’m not stupid and I don’t believe anything !
Nokia is clever! they do like Apple, take something that exists and make it better and make it new
There is no way to be more simpler than swipe ui! It is swipe time now, welcome to swipe!
Swipe is simple yet beatiful unlike wp7 ui which is confusing and ugly and outdated
No I’m sorry Swipe gesture it’s not new !!!
And Nokia N9 is just a phone, nothing more…and there are a lot of things more essentials than a phone !
Come back to earth !!!