UX and Bug Report: NumLock, Dock, Preferences, Background Apps, Tooltips, and App Launcher

[rokokti]

Hello Elementary OS team,

I am writing to report a few bugs and share some feedback regarding the user experience. I have noticed some inconsistent behaviors that affect the daily workflow. Below is a detailed list of the issues I encountered:

1. Inconsistent NumLock Behavior on Login

When I boot the system with NumLock enabled, I can type my numeric password and log in normally. However, once logged into the desktop environment, the system behaves as if NumLock is disabled. I have to manually toggle the NumLock key off and on again for it to actually work within the system.

2. Dock Customization Limitations

The bottom dock lacks basic customization options. Currently, it does not allow me to rearrange the icons to my preferred positions, nor does it provide an intuitive way to enable or disable the icons I frequently use.

3. User Preferences Not Saving

System preferences, such as view modes and sorting orders in the file manager or other apps, are not being saved. Every time I log in or reopen the application, I have to reconfigure these settings, which is quite frustrating.

4. Background Applications Accessibility

Applications that are set to run in the background do not seem to have an accessible system tray icon or background indicator. The only way to interact with them is by opening the application directly from the launcher again.

5. Intrusive Tooltips Blocking Clicks

When hovering over certain elements, a tooltip (description) appears. The issue is that this tooltip blocks mouse clicks on the space immediately below it. If my original intention was to click the area that the tooltip now covers, I am unable to do so. Tooltips should ideally be positioned slightly further away from the cursor so they do not interfere with interaction.

6. Applications Menu (Launcher) Randomly Closing

When clicking on the "Applications" (magnifying glass) icon on the top panel, the menu sometimes opens and immediately closes in a fraction of a second. This forces me to click a second time to actually open it. This behavior happens randomly.

I hope this feedback is helpful for improving the system. Please let me know if you need any logs or further details to reproduce these issues.

Thank you for your hard work on Elementary OS!

[teamcons]

each issue should be filed in the relevant repository. Nobody can track separate issues from a one post.
Some are already filed, so you can emote-react thumbs up to say that you have it too.