@d-healey I think keyboard opening and closing is a great use of this feature! It's a feature lot of synths have, and have had for years. Serum is about 10 years old. And it's done this since the beginning.
I know performers who use VSTs in their live sets appreciate show hide that expands and contracts GUI sizes. For example, Omnisphere can close the presets browser view on the left allowing for the user to magnify the GUI for their live set. Obviously you don't need a robust preset browser while playing out live in a soft synth.
Omnisphere standard view
![Screen Shot 2024-08-07 at 2.48.27 PM.png](/assets/uploads/files/1723067356646-screen-shot-2024-08-07-at-2.48.27-pm-resized.png)
Omnisphere collapsed
![Screen Shot 2024-08-07 at 2.48.35 PM.png](/assets/uploads/files/1723067577213-screen-shot-2024-08-07-at-2.48.35-pm-resized.png)
@clevername27 said in Expandable GUI:
There are also practical concerns. Most people use laptops. Screen real estate is at a premium. Whenever a plugin is open, it will initially be obscuring some part of their DAW. And the last thing anyone wants is for a plugin to suddenly take up even more space. They may have carefully placed your plugin window so it's not stepping on anything — but if it suddenly gets bigger, all bets are off. When your interface expands, it may not even be on the screen.
But lot of synths use this feature to ultimately reduce screen size.
@clevername27 said in Expandable GUI:
Complex interfaces can also affect your sales. Prospective customers may think the plugin with lots of controls, expandable panels and such — is cool. But it's also overwhelming.
A lot of synths use hide/show and expand/contract to make things less complex. Serum does this, I doubt it hurt sales! Keyboard open is 2048x1656 ![Screen Shot 2024-08-07 at 1.15.25 PM.png](/assets/uploads/files/1723066606670-screen-shot-2024-08-07-at-1.15.25-pm-resized.png)
keyboard closed is 2048x1456. ![Screen Shot 2024-08-07 at 2.09.20 PM.png](/assets/uploads/files/1723066635045-screen-shot-2024-08-07-at-2.09.20-pm-resized.png)
@d-healey said in Expandable GUI:
I might also use it to display a macro panel, because in this case the user needs to be able to see both the macro assignments and settings, and the controls on the UI that they are assigning those macros to.
Not sure if you're familiar with this vst, but Spire allows users to show/hide macros. It's a nice feature!
![Screen Shot 2024-08-07 at 2.38.26 PM.png](/assets/uploads/files/1723066742641-screen-shot-2024-08-07-at-2.38.26-pm-resized.png)
macro closed view
![Screen Shot 2024-08-07 at 2.38.39 PM.png](/assets/uploads/files/1723066754072-screen-shot-2024-08-07-at-2.38.39-pm.png)
All that to say, I see why so many users here have wanted this feature! At the end of the day, developers who care about UX and UI will use this update to make better GUI's and smoother experiences for their customers using their products. To assume, as some have in this thread, that it will only lead to poor design and UX is short sighted to some degree IMO.