I like the idea to keep things clean and simple, but it’s not clear if pushing this option is going to set my reading direction from right to left or if it is already right to left and pushing will switch it. Part of the problem is just as a user there are some apps where simplified labels like this are used to describe the current state and others do it to show the next state. So it’s a bit frustrating when you can’t tell from the UI itself and you just have to remember what approach each app takes.
We are considering adding that option to change the reading direction to a whole collection, but we are worried that might look like from that time on, every comic you add to that collection would get that configuration automatically.
But you can select all the comics in a collection, with just two taps, and then use the ··· menu to open the batch actions menu and set the reading direction.
About the copy. The UI standards dictate that a copy on a button should define the action to do when you tap on it (not the current state or anything like that)
The copy we chose define what would happen when you tap on it. Also, we decided to use the word “Set” to empathise that is the direction you’re going to set.
Also, we decided to not put “left to right” / “right to left” in the copy and use the glyph, because it wouldn’t fit when the app is in Spanish.
It’s probably not ideal, but it was a trade-off decision.
If you have any concrete suggestion, we would be more than happy to consider it.
I agree with you that the text for the button should define the action to do instead of the current state. Unfortunately since some other apps and sites don’t follow this it’s helpful to remove ambiguity.
Now in the grand scheme it’s not really a big deal, but since you asked then here’s my suggestion. For all of the other actions the icons are only decorative-- they do not convey any additional information. The action would still be clear even if the icon was not visible. The only one that is different is this reading direction action. As a user looking across these options that’s where the slight ambiguity starts to come in. Is this icon only decorative like the others? Or is it indicating the current direction? Or is it indicating the direction to set? I think it’s better to avoid mixing decorative and informative icons first of all. But the simplest solution to me that keeps the clean and simple aesthetic that you have is to just rephrase it as “Set reading direction to”. That provides both a hint that this icon is not decorative like the others, and that it represents the direction that will be selected. And I’d probably add a small direction arrow over the book cover image, in the bottom right corner when the book is selected, to show the current reading direction.
