Inconsistent scrolling smoothness in beta app

[paulsl]

After hearing reports of "buttery smooth" scrolling in the new beta app, I'm noticing some major quirks and inconsistencies with the smoothness of the scrolling on a 4.0.4 Galaxy Nexus.

If I first open the app into the playlists screen, the scrolling is smooth (though still not as smooth as, say, the Google Music app).

But if I then navigate, using the menu options, to the "what's new" screen and then again to the playlists screen, scrolling is no longer smooth. But then if I hit the hard back button twice to return to the original instance of the playlists screen, scrolling is smooth again.

Seems like the app is getting bogged down by remembering my navigation through the various screens and only runs smooth when it doesn't have anything to remember.

Anyone notice the same thing?

[paulsl]

Can someone with a Galaxy Nexus try this?

First, open the app, then press the back button until you completely exit the app.

Reopen the app (you should be on the playlist screen) and try scrolling up and down (don't do anything else). Scrolling should be fairly smooth.

Now hit the menu button and select "Playlists." You'll find yourself in the same playlist screen again, but now the scrolling up and down is a little laggier than before.

Now hit the back button once, which should send you back to your previous (original) instance of the playlist screen. Scroll up and down again, and the lag is gone.

Conclusion: anytime the app has to remember your navigational history it starts to impact the smoothness of the scrolling.

Can anyone verify this on their device?

[floobmonsrake]

Yes I can confirm this. Looks like a bug that needs to be fixes

[licenced]

Didn't seem to occur on my One X, but maybe the extra cores on the CPU help to mask it. Either way the 'breadcrumb' trail through the app seems to get confused/confusing quite often - you never know where pressing the back button will take you back to, how many times you need to press it to get back to where you want to be or whether it's simply going to exit back to the launcher

[paulsl]

Yes, I hope this gets fixed in the official release. So few apps, even the ones supposedly ICS-optimized, run as smoothly as the best Google apps.

The "breadcrumb trail" issue would certainly be alleviated to an extent if Spotify were to use a tabbing system similar to Google Music, which is not only easier to navigate but requires fewer new windows that the app has to remember. As much of an improvement the beta app is over the original, it's full of small design quirks that seem ill-considered. (Why, for instance, aren't Search and Settings placed in the action bar as they are in every Holo-themed app?)