Too much empty space at the top

[SwimSwim]

While I agree that Android could be called a mess, I don't think there's any bigger mess in the mobile world than WP's Settings menu. And it's not nearly as functional as Android's. The Android Settings menu is at least organized in a logical way. But there is a lot in there which makes it more difficult to be intuitive. And to be fair to Android, the Quick Settings enable quickly toggling the most used settings without even going into the menu. That probably cuts using the Settings menu in half at least.

I agree with that 100%. I hope Windows Phone 8.1 really helps to address this this, and make it more organized like Windows 8.1. Still, even if the settings get reorganized (and for the love of God, I hope they do), I don't think the gutter is major enough to deserve its own toggle.

 

[Paul May]

I think WP would benefit from having collapsible menus. Group them in logical sections and make them collapsible so that you don't have to scroll endlessly through all the settings. The phone could even remember which settings you leave open for next time so they don't auto collapse when you exit. This way it sees what settings you use the most and hides the others until you need them.
One section could just be called Customization in which all those settings can be changed. Anyone not wanting to see those options can essentially leave it collapsed and not worry about that section and not have to scroll through those options in the menu.
Or even allow the user to group the settings for themselves with their relevance of importance to them. Truly make your device an extension of you, settings and all.

 

[neo158]

I think WP would benefit from having collapsible menus. Group them in logical sections and make them collapsible so that you don't have to scroll endlessly through all the settings. The phone could even remember which settings you leave open for next time so they don't auto collapse when you exit. This way it sees what settings you use the most and hides the others until you need them.
One section could just be called Customization in which all those settings can be changed. Anyone not wanting to see those options can essentially leave it collapsed and not worry about that section and not have to scroll through those options in the menu.
Or even allow the user to group the settings for themselves with their relevance of importance to them. Truly make your device an extension of you, settings and all.

I actually like this idea, it would certainly make navigating settings a much better experience.

 

[manicottiK]

The various settings could be grouped and presented as a long list selector (just as the People app groups people by initial). Then, tapping a group header would display a list of all of the groups to let the user quickly scroll to the relevant section of settings. This has the advantage of not creating a new UX metaphor.

 

[Spicymikey]

It is annoying, there should be an option to lock the Tiles up into place.

The Toasts thing probably isn't the main reason. The best one i've heard for the gap being there is so the half tiles at the bottom are a pointer to new users that they can scroll down. Once people know of course, they're stuck with it.

I agree. If any of these reasons are true then I think it's strange logic. To "waste" space at the top ALL the time so that you don't overlap a tile for a FEW SECONDS when a notification displays seems idiotic. Also, the idea that its there so the bottom tiles cutoff for a visual queue seems equally flawed. Once you've had the phone for 30 seconds you get the idea that its a scrolling list. If they wanted to do it for that reason then add a "screen bounce" when you first power it up to let people know it scrolls.

I'm hoping the fix this in 8.1. Actually the best solution is to add a way to set your startup position yourself. Maybe you don't even want the windows button to scroll you back to the top. Maybe there is some middle spot in your list you want to be the "home" position. Add some gesture, etc. that makes Windows remember this particular position as your default home resting position

 

[Mindi B]

The gutter in 8.1 looks awful, it's a total waste of screen real estate, especially when you're on a Lumia 1520 - whats the point of having a large screen when the bezel is doubled by a thick ugly gutter? The tiles should be flush and clean against the bezel to lend a thin and cleaner design.

 

[Kram Sacul]

The margins are there so it looks good when using the light background. If the tiles were flush with the edge of the screen it would just look cramped. I'm not sure how big the margins are on the 1520 but they look equal to the space between the tiles on my 920 and 820. Are they bigger on the 1520?

I can't believe someone made a thread complaining about the space at the top of the screen. No wonder so many of things that I liked in WP were dumbed down or removed in 8.1