Every search bar looks like a URL bar to users • Hacker News Board

Re: Every search bar looks like a URL bar to users

#11

Post by reayn » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 2:16 PM UTC

athenot wrote: post #7

I suspect that's why Apple moved the URL bar to the bottom of the screen in iOS Safari. For better or for worse, it now stands out a lot more from the search boxed within websites.

I personally think the reason was to further reduce the need to move your thumb from the bottom of the screen. The current iteration of safari is the only mobile browser I have ever used where I feel comfortable browsing and switching tabs with only one finger.

It's surprisingly well implemented, though some actions (such as accessing history or site settings) take a couple extra taps.

Re: Every search bar looks like a URL bar to users

#12

Post by phkahler » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 2:16 PM UTC

This is because Google and Microsoft have confused the users by allowing them to type whatever into wherever and they just figure it out. Some would call that good UI - probably myself included - but it teaches bad behavior and makes people dumber by obscuring what things really are.

Re: Every search bar looks like a URL bar to users

#13

Post by anotheraccount9 » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 2:16 PM UTC

buu700 wrote: post #8

vadfa wrote: post #4

What I find more troubling is that amazon allows unmoderated user input to appear as suggestions.

Seems fine as long as no one tells 4chan.

kek

Re: Every search bar looks like a URL bar to users

#14

Post by dylan604 » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 2:16 PM UTC

picture wrote: post #2

Just yesterday I witnessed my friend type a url into the google search bar (on the results page). She found what she was looking for, so I guess that's alright.

This has always perplexed me. The fact that so many people use a search engine for new windows/tabs combined with browsers shrinking the URL bar to near non-existence makes this an obvious thing people will do though. Reminds me of the old AOL keywords. It's all about getting those precious analytics. If the users go to a website directly from typing a URL, 3rd parties loose those metrics.

Re: Every search bar looks like a URL bar to users

#15

Post by marginalia_nu » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 2:17 PM UTC

vadfa wrote: post #4

What I find more troubling is that amazon allows unmoderated user input to appear as suggestions.

I've had a bunch of bots doing oddly specific nonsense searches in my search engine, stuff like casinos, online pharmacies, warez. The bermuda triangle of dodgy internet sites. They are very strange because they are both generic and specific at the same time.

Here is an example:

> skyrim english voice files (and subtitles) latest version

You get no results with my search engine, but interestingly, if you feed that into google, you get some pretty dodgy top results.

It looks like the type of SEO spam nonsense you find on websites, hacked wordpress deployments are often rife with these types of keywords. I think they are trying to manipulate a would-be suggestion algorithm somehow. Problem is I don't do anything with the user input.

Re: Every search bar looks like a URL bar to users

#16

Post by justusthane » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 2:17 PM UTC

Alternatively, "Every URL bar looks like a search bar to users."

Re: Every search bar looks like a URL bar to users

#17

Post by ltbarcly3 » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 2:18 PM UTC

People who don't know anything get confused, but this is going to be older people who are struggling to use computers, the people that call the Microsoft Edge icon "the internet".

Generalizing that "users don't understand" from some autocomplete suggestions does not logically follow.

Re: Every search bar looks like a URL bar to users

#18

Post by Semaphor » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 2:19 PM UTC

reayn wrote: post #11

athenot wrote: post #7

I suspect that's why Apple moved the URL bar to the bottom of the screen in iOS Safari. For better or for worse, it now stands out a lot more from the search boxed within websites.

I personally think the reason was to further reduce the need to move your thumb from the bottom of the screen. The current iteration of safari is the only mobile browser I have ever used where I feel comfortable browsing and switching tabs with only one finger. It's surprisingly well implemented, though some actions (such as accessing history or site settings) take a couple extra taps.

What does it do better than Firefox Mobile? It has all settings, URL bar, and tabs at the bottom as well.

Re: Every search bar looks like a URL bar to users

#19

Post by swayvil » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 2:19 PM UTC

Search bar is superclass of url bar? Just bigger parsing space?

Now we just need to superclass the bar into the whole screen. Rightclick wherever to bring up optionally-context-sensitive addressing/searching. Free ourselves from the tyranny of the browser frame.

Which we have already done to a degree. And it's great.

Re: Every search bar looks like a URL bar to users

#20

Post by zo1 » Thu, Oct 14, 2021, 2:20 PM UTC

justusthane wrote: post #16

Alternatively, "Every URL bar looks like a search bar to users."

Or "Every URL bar is made to look like a search bar". It's been 30+ years and it doesn't seem like we've been able to rethink or enhance the URL bar in any meaningful sense other than throwing search into it.