I just upgraded to blocs 6 from blocs 5 today. Although I am enjoying the numerous improvements, the new preview mode is frustrating me a little bit. Firstly, I’ll say though I love that you can simulate the viewport of various devices.
in blocs 5 when I select preview mode, what will display is the size screen I was on in the main screen I was editing. This is very useful for quickly checking things on various sizes. XS opens the XS preview, SM view opens the SM preview, MD opens the MD preview, LG opens the LG preview. Simple and quick. In blocs 6, the first thing I notice is that it no longer does does this. Instead it opens up whatever it was open last in preview mode, no matter what I have in view on the main screen.
in blocs 5 when in preview mode, I could quickly switch between various sizes by using key commands CMD+1, CMD+2, CMD+3, CMD+4 (I even attached these commands to a macro-list on a knob of a tourbox controller to switch between sizes even quicker but that’s for another discussion). This was also great as it correlated to the window I was working on, those same key commands could be used between switching views in the main editor. In Blocs 6 these key commands do not seem to do anything in preview mode at all. I would really like to bring this functionality back, or be able to assign these key commands to various preview sizes to quickly switch between things again.
I even think it might be good to bring back the preview of the various editing sizes XS, MD, SM, XS as they correlated to the main window and gave a good general idea of where we are at in the preview.
The new viewport upgrades are great, but I would really like to have this functionality brought back for my workflow which was so blazing fast for previewing with key commands.
I must admit, when I first used Blocs 6, I thought the same thing. The main reason why is because you have 4 different breakpoints you need to design for:
And when using the new Preview, you can’t fit 4 devices on screen at once, unless you shrink everything to be too small to see.
Another benefit to the legacy way of doing it is that it’s more focused and less distracting. Because when using the new way, I want to have at least two views present at once (a computer display and an iPhone display), and when you want to just preview a particular breakpoint, the other breakpoint views are a bit distracting. Meaning, when I’m in MD view, I want an MD preview a lot of the time, nothing else. But I don’t want to go and click that “+” icon to add a new display and then delete the old each time I preview a given breakpoint.
Honestly, if there was a way to “Use Legacy Preview,” it would please a lot of people. Having a choice is good because there are times the legacy way of doing it is fast and efficient, but there are times when you want to have the new functionality too. Having both would be truly fantastic.
Therefore, this post may best be served by being converted into a WISH LIST request.
I fully agree with the loss of some preview features from Blocs 5.
I share above comments and, in my case, what I used most in Blocs 5 preview, is the little handle on the right which allows to drag the window from full screen to smaller in seconds, showing how elements reflow on the page.
It did take me a while to get used to seeing multiple windows but when I go back to Blocs 5, I really miss the preview in Blocs 6 !!!
Honestly - stick with it and you will LOVE it !
Not sure if there is a legacy mode @Norm could bring in where people could switch between the 2…that could be a step back…but I guess also pleasing both crowds.
Sorry Adie, I don’t like it either.
Slows things down, is confusing…doesn’t respond as I would hope it would.
Would much prefer the way it worked in B5.
The handle on the right in the LG breakpoint was incredibly useful in seeing how the design ‘flows from one breakpoint to another’.
I also found it helpful to use Command 1~4 to quickly switch between breakpoints in Preview mode.
In summary, I’m generally happy with the Blocs 6 preview. It’s more flexible and obviously more advanced than Blocs 5. However, the two things I mentioned above were definitely better in Blocs 5. Additionally, the performance is suffering a bit (even with just a few preview devices added), but that’s understandable.
I eagerly anticipate another moment of magic from @Norm to address these issues while preserving the fantastic features of the new, incredible preview mode for Blocs 6.
I really like the new preview. I can check all four views/breakpoints at the same time on my wide screen monitor. Cool!
Adding some views labeled LG/MD/SM/XS might help though.
Really love the new preview. it gives me a good assumption in an early stage of a project. later on I have to fire up the simulator over safari anyway or use the airdrop functionality.
I only miss the lg window with the right side handle:
another request would be to detach the preview window so we can drag it to a second window.
Aaah, and one more thing: a memory function for the manager windows like in all the other apps. so they can stay where I put them.
awesome, thanks for chiming in on this! Some of that older functionality in the new preview mode sounds fantastic. One little detail I forgot to mention on the thread might be worth mentioning:
not only did the breakpoints correlate with the preview mode you got (LG opens to LG preview, SM opens to the SM preview, etc.)
but ALSO, the preview mode would correlate with editor you came back to. For example, in my workflow when I was workin in LG I could open the preview to that, I see everything looks good, but now I want to check out the other views real quick so while in preview mode I press cmd+4 to show the XS preview. Let’s say I see a problem there (in XS preview). So I then close the preview and I am immediately in XS breakpoint view, not the LG I started with. That was a really cool functionality I would love to get back, made it possible to work on quick adjustments, and prevented confusion and extra steps moving around breakpoints to get to the breakpoint editor I need.
I used to develop using the builtin (legacy Blocs 5) preview, and then launch Solis preview (close to the Blocs 6 preview) when nearing completion, checking details.
