There is a placeholder button for where flip used to be when playing a game that does nothing

[ijm8710]

[tom-anders]

This was intentional (https://github.com/lichess-org/mobile/commit/2c296c41938d4e5ec5d34c393baed12dc57d92f7) but I agree that it's a bit confusing (at least I got confused the first time I saw it while playing a game)

[ijm8710]

Actually am I reading it right that this is for a next game button for correspondence?

Awfully surprised there would be a perm button that only affects 1 of a ton of variants and is played a lot less than the live variants. Versus a flip button which has use cases for every variant. Or even have anything else there, but why a perm button when 80%+ of the time it'll be null.

Also, chesscom automatically moves to your next game if you have multiple correspondence games once you play a move. Would that not be a much better solution? (Again I may be misinterpreting the commit)

Edit: actually even more confused. Even if you see the next button for correspondence, I still see the placeholder. Am I missing the point of what it is trying to be a placeholder for?

[ijm8710]

This was intentional (https://github.com/lichess-org/mobile/commit/2c296c41938d4e5ec5d34c393baed12dc57d92f7) but I agree that it's a bit confusing (at least I got confused the first time I saw it while playing a game)

Hi Tom any chance to circle back to this. Still a bit confused the purpose of it? Wrote a bit in my reply right above Is it holding space for something to come?

[tom-anders]

I did not create this commit, so I can only guess. But it definitely had nothing to do with correspondence. If I understand correctly, it's just meant as a placeholder to avoid the buttons moving around if the number of buttons changes, e.g. when a game ends

[ijm8710]

Hmmmm, first off I appreciate you getting back @tom-anders, I understand it's just speculation on your part.

To me even just space there vs a button that does nothing would be better (even you admitted you got confused)

But to me, I've never ever had issues with how it was before placeholder in terms of hitting the wrong buttons when they moved.

Might be pointless to me continuing this for one more message but while I felt Veloce appreciate my feedback in past, I feel he's a little overwhelmed by me now, but not sure if it's worth any discussion on this even just briefly. Or if you ever felt it worth sharing with him directly that you found it slightly odd/cinfusing

[ijm8710]

Actually two more things @tom-anders

1. the number of buttons still change even with the placeholder (one extra button in photo 1 vs 2)
2. more importantly there used to be a flip button there. So wouldn't that have served the same purpose in terms of having the buttons in the exact same place with the added benefit of that button having utility?

[tom-anders]

Probably, but again, I did not write that code 🤷 I'm sure you'll get an answer eventually. Like someone already said on discord, Github Issues usually don't get lost or forgotten, it's just a matter of prioritization, especially in a project like this.