Bug 454415

Summary: System Settings Icon View appears to not honour single- vs double-click setting
Product: [Applications] systemsettings Reporter: Wedge009 <wedge009>
Component: iconviewAssignee: Plasma Bugs List <plasma-bugs-null>
Status: RESOLVED INTENTIONAL    
Severity: normal CC: nate
Priority: NOR    
Version First Reported In: 5.24.4   
Target Milestone: ---   
Platform: Kubuntu   
OS: Linux   
Latest Commit: Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description Wedge009 2022-05-26 03:10:43 UTC
I apologise if this has already been reported - I've searched the reports and couldn't find anything matching what I've been experiencing. I also don't know if the issue lies with KDE specifically or with Kubuntu's packages.

SUMMARY
I use System Settings in the 'classic' icon view. Single-click vs double-click to open files and folders appears to be set via Workspace Behaviour -> General Behaviour -> Click Behaviour. (The text is different depending on Plasma version but the functionality appears to be the same.) I can also confirm that the 'SingleClick=false' configuration is added to the [KDE] section under ~/.config/kdeglobals.

Under Kubuntu 20.04, which uses Plasma 5.18, the System Settings icons behave as I expect with respect to click behaviour. However, with a fresh installation of Kubuntu 22.04, which uses Plasma 5.24, icons are always opened with a single-click regardless if I have specified single-click or double-click to open files/folders.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Install Kubuntu 22.04 (default click behaviour seems to be 'double-click to open')
2. Open KDE System Settings
3. Switch to icon view
4. Click once on any icon

OBSERVED RESULT
The System Settings icon opens its function with a single-click

EXPECTED RESULT
The System Settings icon should be selected with a single-click and only open with a double-click, consistent with file/folder behaviour elsewhere.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
KDE Plasma Version: 5.24.4
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.92.0
Qt Version: 5.15.3

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
I grant this isn't a blocker of a bug, but the inconsistency is rather confusing to someone accustomed to double-click to open behaviour, as I am.
Comment 1 Wedge009 2022-05-26 03:29:10 UTC
I don't know if something has changed in recent Plasma versions but I notice the same has happened with adding widgets to the Panel - used to require a double-click, now it happens with a single-click (double-click adds the selected widget twice).
Comment 2 Nate Graham 2022-05-26 16:31:48 UTC
This change was intentional, because the single-click/double-click setting only makes sense when applied to file views, because additional actions can be performed on selected files or folders. This isn't the case for buttons, which always do one and only one thing: execute an action. Therefore it does not make sense for them to have a separate selection state, because unlike files and folders, there isn't anything else you could do with them when they were selected. System Settings' icon grid is basically a two-dimensional toolbar; each icon has no additional actions you could take when they are selected. You wouldn't want to have to double-click on every toolbar button or menu item in every app, would you? Same logic here.
Comment 3 Wedge009 2022-05-26 22:03:54 UTC
Okay, thanks for confirming that it was intentional. A bit unfortunate, though, for someone like me coming from a Windows background where single- vs double-click is consistent throughout. Something to get used to I suppose. A shame it wasn't that way from the start - I was used to double-click for the 'add widgets' functionality so having double-click add two widgets was annoying.
Comment 4 Nate Graham 2022-05-27 12:42:21 UTC
The Add Widgets sidebar also now adds widgets only on single-click, for the same reason. :)

Also worth mentioning that we renamed the setting in System Settings to make it clear that it only applies to files and folders--not all icon views/grids. So from that perspective, it is now quite consistent and comprehensible. You just gotta change your mental conception of what the setting does! :)
Comment 5 Wedge009 2022-05-27 15:46:54 UTC
I understand that the text was changed. It's just that the unfortunate convention in the OS that has desktop monopoly has the convention of being consistent across everything, not just files and directories.

Hence why I said it's a shame it wasn't this way from the start. Otherwise I would have learned this when jumping from Windows to KDE in the first place.
Comment 6 Nate Graham 2022-05-27 16:01:29 UTC
When you use the double-click setting on Windows, does it require that you double-click on toolbar buttons and URLs to activate them? If not, then it isn't really (nonsensically) 100% consistent.

Better late then never, hopefully. :) We generally try to do better than Windows, not copy it and drag in all of its silly behaviors. :)
Comment 7 Wedge009 2022-05-27 16:09:06 UTC
Toolbar buttons and hyperlinks aren't quite the same as Control Panel icons. At any rate, what's done is done, at least I know the introduction of the inconsistency was intentional and not a bug.

'It's not a bug, it's a feature...'
Comment 8 Nate Graham 2022-05-27 16:36:11 UTC
It is a feature, and there's no inconsistency: System Settings icons aren't files or folders, so they always activate on single-click, just like toolbar icons and hyperlinks, which are also not files or folders. :)