Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Just let me select text

aartaka.me

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

301–310 of 621 posts

Re: Just let me select text

#301

Post by topspin »

zelphirkalt wrote: post #260

I have a habit of selecting and highlighting text on computer screens, while reading. I have no issues tracking lines usually, but somehow I still select and highlight. Maybe it is just easier to track lines this way. When I see some web page, that prevents this, then that website gets a -50 reputation score out of 100 in my book. So if the site is perfect in every other way (almost no site is) then -50 still makes i…

Same habit. Can't remember when it started. I've caused myself problems doing this.

Some PDF datasheets somehow prevent selection. Deeply annoying. You just know there is some fool calling that shot, thinking their protecting something precious.

Re: Just let me select text

#302

Post by tcoppola »

jama211 wrote: post #297

Just a small note, the ocr stuff they needed to do to get the translation is a step further than needed, the screenshot could just be uploaded directly into the google translate app.

Well, sure, but that's not too efficient. A screenshot is a couple MB at least while the text is a KB or so.

Re: Just let me select text

#304

Post by al_borland »

bapak wrote: post #274
cosmojg wrote: post #225

I must admit, one of my favorite recent-ish Android[1] features is that all text is made selectable in the app switcher using on-device OCR. Regardless of the app[2], you can just swipe up and start selecting text. [1] ...at least on the Google Pixel. [2] ...unless it's a banking app and it blocks permissions for screenshots and similar things.

Same for iOS, just not immediately possible. In iOS the new screenshot UI makes it a little easier, before it would need at least 3 taps and a couple of seconds to make it selectable

The OCR in iOS and macOS has been a game changer for me. It seems like such a small thing, but it changes how I work in a big way.

If someone is sharing a webpage, I don’t need to ask for the link anymore. Just take a screenshot and click it. I do this multiple times every day.

Re: Just let me select text

#305

Post by prmph »

kulahan wrote: post #239
moralestapia wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are people these days so dense (i.e. stupid) they couldn't figure out it was a joke by the author?

I recently read something that stated we've never really had more than 30% of students in the US at a level of mathematical understanding where they can tell that 3/4ths and 0.75 are the same thing, conceptually. I cannot stop thinking about this; it honestly explains so much.

Indeed, one thing I keep in mind is that almost all progress, social, technical, political, etc. are wrought by an exceedingly small proportion of people. These are usually the people derided as deviant, nonconforming, abnormal.

Left to the vast majority of "normal" people who want to half-ass everything, there'd be absolutely no progress whatsoever, and what is more, society might actually fall apart.

Re: Just let me select text

#306

Post by indymike »

I get a kick out of it when a product manager comes suggesting we diable text selection. "oh, you want to disable the single most usable and powerful interoperability feature in our product?"

"Yeah. Do we really want people leaving our app with their data?"

By leaving, do you mean kicking it off the phone or switching to another app and getting something done?

"Oh, yeah, they are just getting something done. But not in our app. So they are leaving."

I think the problem here is not becoming the Hotel California.

Re: Just let me select text

#307

Post by muxator »

will_pseudonym wrote: post #279
zelphirkalt wrote: post #260

I have a habit of selecting and highlighting text on computer screens, while reading. I have no issues tracking lines usually, but somehow I still select and highlight. Maybe it is just easier to track lines this way. When I see some web page, that prevents this, then that website gets a -50 reputation score out of 100 in my book. So if the site is perfect in every other way (almost no site is) then -50 still makes i…

> I have a habit of selecting and highlighting text on computer screens, while reading. "There are dozens of us!"

Hi, fellow compulsive selectors! Thanks, I am no longer feeling alone!

Re: Just let me select text

#308

Post by zem »

baby_souffle wrote: post #259
spullara wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

on Mac/iOS you can just take a screenshot and then select out of the image.

Google pixel devices have had this for years. It's one of the few things that keeps me glued to this platform. Just push the button to go to the task switch view and as long as the window preview thumbnail isn't blanked out, I can just get the phone to OCR any part of the screen in real time.

whoa, didn't know I could do that! thanks for the tip.

Re: Just let me select text

#309

Post by whatamidoingyo »

zelphirkalt wrote: post #260

I have a habit of selecting and highlighting text on computer screens, while reading. I have no issues tracking lines usually, but somehow I still select and highlight. Maybe it is just easier to track lines this way. When I see some web page, that prevents this, then that website gets a -50 reputation score out of 100 in my book. So if the site is perfect in every other way (almost no site is) then -50 still makes i…

Same here. I was doing it while reading your comment. I imagine there are dozens of other people doing it as well, haha.

Re: Just let me select text

#310

Post by spankalee »

catapart wrote: post #21

As a web dev, I fully agree with this, but with a huge exception: clickable text. Anything that is meant to be read as content should absolutely, without fail, be selectable and copyable (assuming appropriate permissions). But stuff like tab headers, buttons, or even text-sparse tiles - things meant for the user to click on - can, and usually should , prevent text selection. It is super annoying to be clicking back a…

This would be a mistake, a common one though.

Instead of disallowing selection on the text with CSS, call `event.preventDefault()` in the click handler. This keeps a click that you handle from triggering the built-in text selection path, but you can still click-and-drag to select text.

Post reply on HN