Usability - less symbols
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Pardon me if I don't know about use cases for this.
VS is amazing but also very complex. Keeping things simple when possible is a great idea.
@vectoradmin You mentioned that node symbols can be customized in a future build. That is great news because I need to decode node symbols all the time to understand what I see and what I get. Debugging often. This also mean we will get a few extra (but very meaningful) icons for cusp, symmetric and smooth nodes.
With and without these extra symbols the start and end points displayed as a arrows just add more symbols and complexity to the user interface and a path. Looks great when you draw one path on a blank paper, but they do not add any value to my work and understanding. Actually if you need this information - path direction - the little arrow displayed when hovering a path in shape editor mode is excellent. Information is more than there, when you need it. It should be hidden otherwise. Path direction is not critical information.
A well known product did this - which is great simplicity - note how the handle is shown fully when adjusting the node, and reduced to half size the rest of the time. And the to start and end node symbols actually represent their type.
And the auto-close...
You can off course make this another preference (adding complexity there) - personally I would just keep the hover pointer in shape editor mode, and do it the Affinity way. Unless I off course know nothing about other workflows.
The moment you work under pressure with complex documents all extra elements in a user interface just push you towards the edge of the cliff.
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@Ingolf This type of snapping will be added (not yet available)
Meanwhile, a workaround could be to enable View -> Guides -> Snap to Points and make sure that in the Snapping panel menu the "Snap to Original" is enabled.
In the next build, the node customization will solve the arrow issue also, by allowing the setting of start/end shapes separately.
