Bug 463834 - Show window's titlebar when touching top screen edge with an "Exit Full Screen" button on it, so there's a visible way to escape from KWin-forced fullscreen mode for apps without a UI to do so
Summary: Show window's titlebar when touching top screen edge with an "Exit Full Scree...
Status: CONFIRMED
Alias: None
Product: kwin
Classification: Plasma
Component: general (other bugs)
Version First Reported In: unspecified
Platform: Other Linux
: NOR normal
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: KWin default assignee
URL:
Keywords: usability
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2023-01-04 14:26 UTC by Andres Betts
Modified: 2023-01-04 15:47 UTC (History)
3 users (show)

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Description Andres Betts 2023-01-04 14:26:55 UTC 
Issues:

- Using fullscreen removes window toolbar
- Hovering at any edge of the screen does not reveal any panels or window borders
- There is no apparent graphical way to undo fullscreen (There are ways to bring back the taskbar and use drag to move the window around. However, they are not discoverable)
- The warning message for fullscreen windows does not show "how" to undo fullscreen mode.
- Undoing fullscreen does not return the window to a manageable size. It does not show, nor reveal, the window borders.
- Fullscreen disables hot corner effects like Overview.

Suggestions:
- Fullscreen should reveal helper UI elements like taskbar, window border by default. They can be set to temporarily appear when touching screen edges with the mouse.
- Maybe a temporary OSD should be shown when a window goes fullscreen to indicate how to undo the action.
- Undoing fullscreen should return the window size to a manageable size that reveals taskbar and window decorations.
- Fullscreen windows, should show a fullscreen button in their toolbar to graphically undo the action.
- Fullscreen windows should allow for effects like Overview to still work. This can be a shortcut for not staying trapped in fullscreen windows.
Comment 1 Puspam Adak 2023-01-04 14:54:18 UTC 
There are 2 points which I can't agree upon:
> - Undoing fullscreen does not return the window to a manageable size. It does not show, nor reveal, the window borders.
What do you mean by manageable? The window gets to it's previous position & size when full-screen is restored.

> - Fullscreen windows should allow for effects like Overview to still work. This can be a shortcut for not staying trapped in fullscreen windows.
To my observation, effects still do work with keyboard shortcuts.
Comment 2 Nate Graham 2023-01-04 15:16:41 UTC 
One issue per bug report, please.

> - There is no apparent graphical way to undo fullscreen (There are ways to bring back the taskbar and use drag to move the window around. However, they are not discoverable)
It's up to apps to add this themselves. What KWin could do is add an "exit full screen" button to the window titlebar, if it were made to appear when touching the top of the screen, as you suggest.

> - The warning message for fullscreen windows does not show "how" to undo fullscreen mode.
It does. The message box says:
"use the window operations menu [], activated using the Window Operations Menu (Alt+F3) keyboard shortcut."

> - Undoing fullscreen does not return the window to a manageable size. It does not show, nor reveal, the window borders.
This works for me, and seems more like an app bug than a design decision or a KWin bug. It needs its own bug report; can you file one, and be specific about which apps are affected?

> - Fullscreen disables hot corner effects like Overview.
This is user-configurable; see System Settings > Workspace Behavior > Screen Edges > Behavior: [ ] Remain active when windows are fullscreen. It was disabled by default to avoid interfering with full-screen games.


The only actionable thing I see here is to make the window titlebar appear when touching the top screen edge, and put an "Exit Full Screen" button on it. That seems reasonable to me.

However it's possible that this won't be feasible, since it could interfere with full-screen game windows. You don't want a window titlebar to appear in a game when the pointer touches the top screen edge. And there may not be able to detect "I'm a game, don't do that".
Comment 3 Nicolas Fella 2023-01-04 15:27:52 UTC 
This seems to be about what happens when manually making a window fullscreen (window icon > More Actions > Fullscreen), not about windows entering fullscreen themselves (like fullscreen videos in a browser), right?
Comment 4 Nate Graham 2023-01-04 15:33:02 UTC 
Correct.
Comment 5 Nicolas Fella 2023-01-04 15:37:10 UTC 
We can't really expect apps that do not provide a way to enter fullscreen to have a way to exit fullscreen after kwin forced them into it
Comment 6 Nate Graham 2023-01-04 15:47:37 UTC 
Right, the idea is to have KWin provide some visible way of doing it, per the title.

But, if this would interfere with full-screen games, it's probably not feasible. :(