Media/Devices notification item

[stanleywinston]

what does everyone think about the media/devices smartthings panel in the notification area?

The way I see it is we used to have a smartthings panel there with the ability to add the devices we wanted and directly interact with those devices. For example, if you've got a bluetooth speaker attached you could click and control where the sound was directed or if you've got a samsung watch you could click and open the Galaxy Wearable app.

Now we have a panel with none of those things, just a button to take you to a screen with those things. The only thing it seems to have done is added a step. I can't understand what the thought process behind this is. I can't even see something that has been added to justify removing this functionality. If a button called Media is useful (that does a limited amount of what something like the spotify notification is already doing) then why not have it as a addable button to the old style panel? or give us the ability to add items to this new panel?

Or am I misssing something?

[ryamoo]

It sucks. Such a step backward.
This, and the change to battery usage info, are making me want to go back to Android 9 and stay there.

[TomaszT]

Hi @stanleywinston 

The main idea behind that was to help users orgnize their smart devices.

I assume it would mostly help users who are using IoT.

I have already forwarded similar opinions to the development team and as far as I know it is currently under discission 

[stanleywinston]

I actually thought that the devices page was already there, you just never needed to go to it. let's hope the devs are listening, it would be terrible if the only thing people notice after a the android 10 upgrade is the removal of functionality

[ryamoo]

The extra functionality becomes irrelevant because of the key functionality that has been removed, and that's what people will notice. 

We shouldnt be taken away from the activity we're doing just to change the audio output device. 

To change it, we now have to leave the game we're playing, or the video we're watching. 

That's just bad UX.

[Blup]

Shocked here too how so easy and useful option has been ripped to complicated pages of confusion..