A bug which affected only left handed users • Hacker News Board

Re: A bug which affected only left handed users

#51

Post by DOGMATICA » Thu, Jul 09, 2026, 3:38 AM UTC

robin_reala wrote: post #19

recursive wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a man with typically sized hands. I can barely do anything one-handed on a phone. Phones are so big they basically require two-handed operation for me. Like you, I typically hold it in my left hand, so I can use my right hand to tap stuff.

There’s at least 3 of us still on iPhone 13 Minis, and I plan to keep it going until Apple caves and makes a sensibly sized phone again.

god, I have a 12 mini and I don't know what I'm going to do when it dies. my attempts at finding a vaguely modern name-brand android phone that's a similar size have concluded in zero phones and a sense of overwhelming dread

Re: A bug which affected only left handed users

#52

Post by ianburrell » Thu, Jul 09, 2026, 4:01 AM UTC

what wrote: post #49

naikrovek wrote: post #40

As a lefty, his tongue in cheek derision toward lefties still pisses me off genuinely. I’m old enough to have been smacked around by a teacher as a kid for writing with my left hand. Right-handed bias is EVERYWHERE. Everywhere. Right-handed people will never notice it until they look for it, and even then it’s hard to see. So yeah I am sure the ribbing is nothing more than “a sensible chuckle” for right-handed people…

Can you elaborate on this “right handed bias”? I can’t think of anything other than a can opener where it might matter?

Anything that isn't symmetrical. Mice and keyboards. Circular saws. Tape measures. Box cutters. Folding knives. Garden tools. Those are just ones that impacted me recently.

Some have lefty versions but there is less selection. I recently found a left-handed weeding sickle and it is the best thing. Most of them are just annoying. I can do most things with right hand but then have to switch hands instead of the natural motion. But there are a few that are dangerous.

Re: A bug which affected only left handed users

#53

Post by kevin_thibedeau » Thu, Jul 09, 2026, 4:12 AM UTC

csande17 wrote: post #50

what wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you elaborate on this “right handed bias”? I can’t think of anything other than a can opener where it might matter?

Scissors are the other big one; most of them are designed so that when to try to use them with your left hand, you end up pushing the blades apart slightly so they don't cut as well (or at all). With that being said, self-deprecating jokes about how left-handedness is an affront to God are definitely a prominent feature of lefty culture. (Edit: I guess formal place-setting is another area of society that assumes righ…

I prefer right-handed scissors because you can see the cut line better when using them left-handed. It does take some technique to keep the blades shearing.

Re: A bug which affected only left handed users

#54

Post by kevin_thibedeau » Thu, Jul 09, 2026, 4:15 AM UTC

ianburrell wrote: post #52

what wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you elaborate on this “right handed bias”? I can’t think of anything other than a can opener where it might matter?

Anything that isn't symmetrical. Mice and keyboards. Circular saws. Tape measures. Box cutters. Folding knives. Garden tools. Those are just ones that impacted me recently. Some have lefty versions but there is less selection. I recently found a left-handed weeding sickle and it is the best thing. Most of them are just annoying. I can do most things with right hand but then have to switch hands instead of the natural…

Measuring cups are a peeve of mine. They almost always have the handle on the right for US customary units. I had hopes of finding one biased for righty metric / lefty US in Canada but they haven't fully committed to the change yet.

Re: A bug which affected only left handed users

#55

Post by paulmooreparks » Thu, Jul 09, 2026, 4:25 AM UTC

I'm right-handed, and I hold my phone in my left hand and scroll my phone with my left thumb.

Re: A bug which affected only left handed users

#56

Post by Gunax » Thu, Jul 09, 2026, 4:31 AM UTC

The worst curse put upon us is XNA games engine, which was unable to distinguish primary from secondary clicks. So players who swapped mouse buttons at the OS level were out of luck.

Most developers assumed that left click = primary click, but that's only true about 95% of the time.

Terraria, among others, still has this bug.

Re: A bug which affected only left handed users

#57

Post by qingcharles » Thu, Jul 09, 2026, 5:00 AM UTC

mikestew wrote: post #42

w-ll wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Will the do a batter replacement for a 13mini? i just cracked my last new-in-box fore battery issues.

If you have Apple Care, I assume Apple will. They’ve done it before, but not on something this old. If not, there’s always DIY or 3rd-party.

They will still do it if it's below 80% on Apple Care, or $119 if you just want to do it out of plan.

Re: A bug which affected only left handed users

#58

Post by pmontra » Thu, Jul 09, 2026, 5:03 AM UTC

paulmooreparks wrote: post #55

I'm right-handed, and I hold my phone in my left hand and scroll my phone with my left thumb.

It makes sense to use the left hand as phone holder to be free to use the right hand to do some other activity, example: I will have my breakfast while reading HN.

However I usually keep my phone with my right hand and scroll with my right thumb. Furthermore I am writing this comment by swiping with my right thumb. I can swipe with my left thumb but I'm not as accurate.

Re: A bug which affected only left handed users

#59

Post by gambiting » Thu, Jul 09, 2026, 6:50 AM UTC

DOGMATICA wrote: post #51

robin_reala wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s at least 3 of us still on iPhone 13 Minis, and I plan to keep it going until Apple caves and makes a sensibly sized phone again.

god, I have a 12 mini and I don't know what I'm going to do when it dies. my attempts at finding a vaguely modern name-brand android phone that's a similar size have concluded in zero phones and a sense of overwhelming dread

Vivo X300 and Oppo X9S Pro are both very compact(6.3") and still pack great cameras and insane battery life thanks to the Silicone carbide batteries.

Re: A bug which affected only left handed users

#60

Post by gambiting » Thu, Jul 09, 2026, 6:53 AM UTC

naikrovek wrote: post #40

As a lefty, his tongue in cheek derision toward lefties still pisses me off genuinely. I’m old enough to have been smacked around by a teacher as a kid for writing with my left hand. Right-handed bias is EVERYWHERE. Everywhere. Right-handed people will never notice it until they look for it, and even then it’s hard to see. So yeah I am sure the ribbing is nothing more than “a sensible chuckle” for right-handed people…

But you just called yourself a southpaw - what is that, if not self derision?

And anyway, it reads more like making fun out of the almost religious belief that left handed people don't exist held not by the writer but by developers of wordpress.