Drive Previews, Tag Chips, and Faster List↔Grid
Previews that land sooner, tags that filter smarter, and a list/grid toggle that stops jumping.
1) Drive previews: sooner, safer
- Parallel fetch with short deadline. We request preview URLs and content metadata in parallel; if a preview misses the deadline, a crisp type glyph renders instantly and the preview swaps in later.
- Cache keys that make sense.
fileId:modified:size prevents stale thumbs and avoids over-fetch.
- Fail gracefully. If a preview URL expires or fails, we retry once with backoff; otherwise we stay on the glyph—no flicker.
Tech: Google Drive v3 via REST + URLSession (no GTLR), tokens in Keychain, MIME + modified date for cache busting.
2) Tag chips: clearer states, fewer clicks
- Tap = add/remove, Option/Alt-tap (or long-press) = isolate.
- Three visual states (default / active ● / isolated ◎), not color-only—icons + contrast.
- Keyboard: press
t to focus chips; use arrow keys; Space toggles; Enter isolates.
Why it’s calmer: you see exactly what’s filtering, and you can isolate a single tag without hunting in a sidebar.
3) List ↔ Grid: faster and steady
- Per-section persistence. Projects can default to List; Resources can default to Grid; your picks stick via
UserDefaults.
- No layout jump. We normalize row heights and thumbnail placeholders so the header and chip row don’t jitter during toggles.
- Scroll position remembered across toggles within the same section.
Tiny wins that matter
- Progressive disclosure. Modified date and type inline; size/path appear on hover/focus.
- Focus rings you can see. Keyboard navigation is obvious and consistent.
- Touch targets. Chips and toggles are 44pt minimum.
Try it
- Toggle list↔grid in Resources; notice no header jump.
- Tap a couple of tags, then isolate one with Option/Alt.
- Open a large image folder—the first row should render fast with clean fallbacks.
What’s next
- Recents ranking v2 (boost multi-touch files over 48 hours).
- PDF inline preview (first page, cached).
- Session stacks (auto-bundle your last 60–90 minutes of files).
Internal & External Links
Update / Version Box
LifeOS — Dev Log #3
- Build:
0.1.0-dev (Swift 6, Xcode 16)
- Shipped: faster Drive previews, clearer tag chips, steadier list↔grid
- Known limits: giant PDFs still skip preview on slow networks
- Next: Recents ranking v2 + first-page PDF preview
Signature
— Rev. Brian Scott O’Keefe
“Less friction, more flow.”
English