The Files app had two layouts (folders inline or in a tree), a back bar
and a permanent warning above the list, a toolbar of ten unlabelled
icons, and a Recent list whose entries did nothing. In the tree layout
folders could not be renamed or deleted at all, and the default view,
default sort and hidden-files settings were ignored.
It now follows the contacts and calendar layout:
- a full-height sidebar with a "+" New menu, My files with the folder
tree, Starred, Recent and Shared with me; folders accept dropped items
- a header with collapsing breadcrumbs (also drop targets), search, sort,
list/grid switch and a details toggle; selecting items swaps it for an
action bar
- list rows open from the name and select from the row, with hover
actions; the grid shows folders as chips and files as cards with
lazy, cached thumbnails
- a details panel for the selection or the current folder, empty-folder
and no-results states, a floating upload card, a dismissible
stability warning, and keyboard navigation with the arrow keys
- touch: tap opens, long-press selects, a "+" button in narrow panes
The tree is built from the listing the store already fetches instead of
one full fetch per folder, so it is current after every change. Recent
files open in their folder, and the settings for view, sort, hidden
files and icons now apply. The inline/sidebar setting is gone.
Add an "Interface layout" setting at the top of Settings > Layout with two
options, Default and Mountain View. Default is the existing layout and stays
the default, so nothing changes unless a user opts in.
Mountain View rearranges the chrome while keeping the theme's colours, icons
and type:
- desktop: a top bar with a wide search field (filters drop from the field),
an apps grid and the account avatar instead of the left app rail; flat
navigation with Starred under Inbox and the rest behind "More"; a Compose
pill; one list toolbar with select-all, refresh, overflow menu, a 1-N of
total range and the batch actions; rows led by a checkbox and a star; an
icon-only message toolbar with Reply / Reply all / Forward under the
message; compose in a docked window; an account popover with per-account
unread counts; j/k cursor, x to select and g-sequences
- phone: rounded search header, compact rows with the star on the preview
line, and Reply / Reply all / Forward at the end of a message instead of
the bottom action bar
It is one setting (`interfaceLayout`), written to a data attribute on <html>
that keys a block of CSS tokens in globals.css, plus a few components gated
on the flag. The mail layout in force is derived (effectiveMailLayout), so
the user's saved mail layout is never rewritten. The setting is listed in
the admin policy tab, and the new strings are translated in all locales.
Includes unit tests and a Playwright smoke test against a running instance
(scripts/mountain-view-smoke/).
Linus Rath
lucamzanon