The irony here being that text cannot be selected in this post...
I upvoted you. This is really an irony. Hilarious.
Made it for y’all, it’s cool you noticed!
Just let me select text
431–440 of 621 posts
Re: Just let me select text
#432Re: Just let me select text
#433use android/ gemini circle to search
Not portable across different flavors of Android, but yeah, it’s a solution too.
Re: Just let me select text
#434Earlier quoted context omitted.
The example I am answering to was prefaced as being by a web dev, so I am only talking about websites here. For Apps agree, as I can install different ones and pick the language regardless of where I am traveling, etc. And page titles (that go on browser tabs) rarely need selection/translation.
Why do you make a difference between tabs in a native app and in a web app? The optimal UX should be the same.
The essential case where it makes sense for text to be non-selectable is on objects that can be dragged around. You definitely don't want to get the text selected when the user wanted to move its container.
Typically application tabs can be moved or recorded by dragging, and tabs in web pages can't; that would justify a different treatment. But it's because of the different behaviour of the tabs, not the different media
Re: Just let me select text
#435Airbnb hosts that put textual descriptions with the address, and it only lets you copy the full text. Google Messages doesn't let you select OTP out of the text, you literally have to copy paste it to Gmail, then copy the code out. Android has a nice feature though, you can go into multitask view and hit "Select" and select any visible text for copy. Except that WHATSAPP BLOCKS IT FOR BUSINESS ACCOUNTS. You know, the…
>I hate tech so much, it makes me irrationally angry. One moment you're rage-posting on HackerNews, next you're authoring a manifesto on a typewriter in a remote cabin in the woods.
Life goals.
Re: Just let me select text
#436Airbnb hosts that put textual descriptions with the address, and it only lets you copy the full text. Google Messages doesn't let you select OTP out of the text, you literally have to copy paste it to Gmail, then copy the code out. Android has a nice feature though, you can go into multitask view and hit "Select" and select any visible text for copy. Except that WHATSAPP BLOCKS IT FOR BUSINESS ACCOUNTS. You know, the…
Yeah, all these extra steps for something that should've been native in the first place. Ugh.
Re: Just let me select text
#437Ive asked this before with no answer: A browser (say, Firefox) is a "User Agent". Agents are supposed to act on our behalf, and in our best interests when ambiguities are present. So, why are OUR user agents acting on behalf of website operators and their admins and users, and not on our behalf? Having CSS that prevents usability shouldn't be implemented. Or it should be an easy toggle to turn on/off, without having…
I know this is a bad answer, but. Web is a multi-stakeholder environment. Publishers and shitty content farms are stakeholders too. So they find a use for selection toggling in their dirty business and push for it.
But in case of text selection toggling, it has likely appeared because of the need to make interactive elements non-inadvertently-selectable. Because complex UIs.
Re: Just let me select text
#438Windows Powertoys, Text Extractor with: Win + Shift + T
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/text-ext...
Re: Just let me select text
#439Earlier quoted context omitted.
All of those things have some niche use in an element here and there that allows for much better interaction in some kind of site. I'm honestly at a loss with unselectable text, but for example capturing the right mouse button is very useful for applications. Anyway, yes, it should be easy to turn those things off site-wide, like it's easy to zoom.
The one that comes to mind immediately is when you create a draggable element with text it's usually desirable for the user that click-drag moves the element rather than selects the text depending which part you click. Removing the attribute would probably make things worse, as site operators then overlay transparent elements - making everything even worse than when it was just styled as such.
Huh, draggability is a good argument, actually.
Re: Just let me select text
#440Places that prevent selection completely is not something I encounter that often.
What I do experience regularly is places where selection is broken or unnecessarily fiddly. On iOS I find it often easier to screenshot and select in the image.
Screenshot, select, paste is a much smoother workflow than trying to select what I want three times, failing, selecting too much on one end, not enough on the other, copy, paste in Notes, fixing it up, select and finally copy what I wanted in the first place.