Welcome to our latest design update, Ars 9.0!

More good stuff. Personalization, responsive design, and more...

See full article...

 

[leonwid]

First impression on my iPhone: it sucks.

The screen space is limited and is now not filled with information like the title but with a picture and lots and lots of whitespace.

I really want a quick overview, not scroll continuously.

 

[leonwid]

Neutron view is ok on my iPhone. Titles should have a smaller font. Under that green thingy there’s room for a comment count box.

It wouldn’t look great but at least the information density would be higher than almost 0.

 

[leonwid]

The list looks nice on my iPad. Unfortunately it remembers the Neutron view from my iPhone. I think preferences should be per device, not per account.

Edit: typo.

 

[leonwid]

The new design certainly loads quicker on my aging android phone, but I liked the old layout better. It was more dense with less white space, now the front page just feels like I'm scrolling a social media site.

I think the design philosophy changed from ‘how can we pass on information’ to ‘how can we add space’. I did notice that trend a few years ago but I thought that had passed already.

 

[leonwid]

A bug.
on my iphone I changed the view (to neutron star). At some point ‘preferences saved’ pops up.

some time later I refresh the screen to see if there are new stories. it asks me if I want to resend (huh?), and when I select yes it saves the preferences again.

 

[leonwid]

On my iPad, when I want to read a story I don’t want to click on the title in the Neutron view, see a bit of the article, and then click on another link. I just want to go to the article. It’s easy enough to go back.
By forcing 2 clicks to get to the article you optimize the (for me) uncommon scenario of just reading the first paragraph.

 

[leonwid]

Registered just to say that the new design sucks. All the modes. All of them. Sigh.

If you subscribe you also get the Neutron view. That’s also not great but it does suck less on smaller screens.

 

[leonwid]

Toggles per subject are cool, could we also get one for sources? An option to get rid of Wired in particular.

just wanted to highlight this one. Couldn't agree more.

 

[leonwid]

I just turned my ad blocker back on for Ars and blocked that element. I’ll see if it works (mobile site on Safari).

Safari on iOS has a build in (left in the address bar) ‘Hide distracting items. You can select the ‘Most read’ block and it disappears. And Safari does remember. Unfortunately it does not reclaim the space

 

[leonwid]

I just noticed that if you have just read an article, there is no links to the comments at the bottom.
There is a link at the top, but not the bottom.
Is this reflecting the reality that some of us react before reading the article? (/s)

 

[leonwid]

I’m getting used to the Neutron list on my iPad. I have used Safari’s options to decrease the font size to 75% and it’s pretty decent. Same on my phone. I would love to have a direct link to the comments with a counter visible, perhaps at the right side, but that can wait. When clicking on a title I would also prefer to go to the article instead of making this a 2 step process.

The list view also works fine on iPad. using Safari’s options I remove the ‘most read’ block and reduce to 75%. It still feels a bit too spacey for me, but hey, maybe I’m just old.

The article view on ipad gets the same treatment - 75% font size and removal of the most read at the bottom. I currently have the light view, and oh my god that big black block is an eyesore. And the font is so large that you can’t easily read it anymore as only very few words fit on a line.
Also, the comments are only at the top; I’d also like a link to the comments at the bottom for when you finished reading.
also, the black graphic block at the top is to heavy for when readinb in light mode. It really emphasizes the wasted space on the right and left side of the article.

On my phone article view (at 75%) is nice. The comments link automatically ends up at the bottom, bit above that massive black most read block. You don’t really see it in a normal flow.
List view on a phone is even at 75% a lost cause. I can’t imagine visiting Ars on a phone without a subscription. Maybe through an rss reader?

All in all, there is a bit of work to do, in particular for non-subscribers. And it would be nice if I could use Ars without special browser config. But it is at least useable with neutron view on a phone, and with list view on something bigger.

 

[leonwid]

Email contact was enabled, as was show age! I had definitely turned those off! Thanks, I'd have missed that.

That would be a real issue with European users. Age is personal information and cannot be shared without explicit consent. Might be good for Ars to look at that and maybe restore sensitive settings from a backup.

 

[leonwid]

I don't know if my comment will matter, there are over 1K comments already, but in Firefox, I have an issue with the front page where there is a huge blank space (maybe 4-5 inches at the top) above the menus. I don't have this problem when I load up the website in MS Edge.

It might have already been reported or it might be isolated, I am just making sure this is known.

Are you running an ad blocker?

 

[leonwid]

8.0 was wider and "better", and each article took up a "perfect" amount of vertical space. Not sure why we're being told it's the "same horizontal spacing" now as it was before. The main container, maybe, but everything inside that container has been neutered horizontally and enlarged vertically. Not a fan.

9? Nein!

View attachment 91965

Oh, that is why the spacing in the list has exploded and the images feel too large. The separator line now includes the images, adding a fair bit of whitespace and making the bottom text (author) not aligned with the bottom of the image.
I think 8 is a better use of space, but if not, please align the image bottom with the text. From image to author to comments bubble, it feels like an upward slope instead of rectangular boxes.

 

[leonwid]

Why does the desktop version look like a mobile version? That's preposterous. I have a QHD monitor and the image above the article occupies maybe 40% of the screen width - however, the article is not centered and much narrower - less than 1/3 of the screen. What is this extra margin for?
If I zoom in to get more screen utilization, the text becomes ridiculously large. Really, this is a big downgrade.

You’re using an ad blocker? Because I think that is the space for ads.
For just $2,-/month you could get the experience as intended even if that experience is currently a bit in flux.

 

[leonwid]

Quick question - if we subscribe do we get the old layout back as an option?

No