6 ms·

It should just work the way that every user assumes it works: apps can’t read it at all, but the user can explicitly paste from it

willis936 6y ago
Right? On what planet should an app be allowed to read or write to the clipboard? The only piece of software that should access the clipboard is the keyboard, and even that I have trouble trusting with all of these predictive services. I’d like to feel more confident that my most used device isn’t loaded up with keyloggers.
- deleuze 6y ago
  Write to clipboard makes sense for "click to copy" functionality. It's a small ergonomic improvement but doesn't seem like the same security risk as reading from the clipboard.
- Denvercoder9 6y ago
  On Android, one of the suggestions when you focus the address bar in Chrome is the URL currently on your clipboard. That's tremendously useful. (It helps that pasting isn't especially ergonomic on Android.)
  - cannedslime 6y ago
    To be honest I hate that they have gimped the address bar on android chrome. Its just one more button press if i need to edit the url, and i think its creepy that they read the clipboard to be frank.
    - Denvercoder9 6y ago
      I replace the address more often than I edit it, so personally I like it. But yes, reception has certainly been mixed.
  - RobLach 6y ago
    "paste and go"
- filleduchaos 6y ago
  > On what planet should an app be allowed to read or write to the clipboard? This will be news to pretty much every clipboard implementation that exists, considering that they all rely on programmatic access. Copying and pasting aren't magic opaque syscalls, they're things that programs implement (or rely on a common library to implement).
  - willis936 6y ago
    Well that should have been fixed years ago, but I would be happy if it was fixed in a way that broke legacy.
- neurostimulant 6y ago
  Many password managers would erase your clipboard content after you pasted your copied password once. Clipboard managers that retain history of your copied text are also useful, though I don't personally use them. Those are the only acceptable use of unrestricted read/write clipboard access in my opinion.
gruez 6y ago
How can this be implemented? You can go with the javascript approach of "you can only read the clipboard contents during an user interaction", but there's nothing preventing the app from reading the clipboard every time you touch the the screen. A lot of sites use a similar exploit to bypass popup blockers. You could make so the user must accept an OS modal before the clipboard contents are released. It's more secure, but it's jarring and slows down the user.
- chrisshroba 6y ago
  I don't think it's jarring to use an OS modal, if that modal is the one that almost every app already uses: [1]. Perhaps this could be the default way of interacting with the clipboard, and then apps that want to be able to read it a different way (e.g. Google Chrome wanting to be able to offer you a "Go To Link You Copied" button) could request an additional permission. [1]: https://cdn4syt-solveyourtech.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/iphone-5-ios-7-copy-and-paste-5.jpg https://cdn4syt-solveyourtech.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uplo...
  - gruez 6y ago
    That's not a modal, that's just a standard widget. I'm not sure how they're implemented in iOS, but they can be subject to clickjacking attacks.
- _visgean 6y ago
  The clipboard should be on the level of virtual keyboard. The app should not see whats in the clipboard before pasting. Don't see much of an issue with implementation.
  - gruez 6y ago
    How would that work with non-text applications? eg. a photo editor. Would the application need to bring up the keyboard just so the user can paste? Screen real estate is also an issue. Mobile keyboards are cramped as it is, adding a paste button would either require it being buried behind another layer, or take up more screen real estate.
BillinghamJ 6y ago
I think the problem is that - currently - the rendering and behaviour of the edit menu (which contains cut/copy/paste) is done within the app's runtime etc. So there's no difference between an app directly retrieving data from the pasteboard and you hitting the paste button. The message about the app retrieving from the pasteboard still appears if you hit the paste button. It would likely need to be moved out to an IPC call to make this possible.

willis936 6y ago

Right? On what planet should an app be allowed to read or write to the clipboard? The only piece of software that should access the clipboard is the keyboard, and even that I have trouble trusting with all of these predictive services. I’d like to feel more confident that my most used device isn’t loaded up with keyloggers.

deleuze 6y ago
Write to clipboard makes sense for "click to copy" functionality. It's a small ergonomic improvement but doesn't seem like the same security risk as reading from the clipboard.
Denvercoder9 6y ago
On Android, one of the suggestions when you focus the address bar in Chrome is the URL currently on your clipboard. That's tremendously useful. (It helps that pasting isn't especially ergonomic on Android.)
- cannedslime 6y ago
  To be honest I hate that they have gimped the address bar on android chrome. Its just one more button press if i need to edit the url, and i think its creepy that they read the clipboard to be frank.
  - Denvercoder9 6y ago
    I replace the address more often than I edit it, so personally I like it. But yes, reception has certainly been mixed.
- RobLach 6y ago
  "paste and go"
filleduchaos 6y ago
> On what planet should an app be allowed to read or write to the clipboard? This will be news to pretty much every clipboard implementation that exists, considering that they all rely on programmatic access. Copying and pasting aren't magic opaque syscalls, they're things that programs implement (or rely on a common library to implement).
- willis936 6y ago
  Well that should have been fixed years ago, but I would be happy if it was fixed in a way that broke legacy.
neurostimulant 6y ago
Many password managers would erase your clipboard content after you pasted your copied password once. Clipboard managers that retain history of your copied text are also useful, though I don't personally use them. Those are the only acceptable use of unrestricted read/write clipboard access in my opinion.

gruez 6y ago

How can this be implemented? You can go with the javascript approach of "you can only read the clipboard contents during an user interaction", but there's nothing preventing the app from reading the clipboard every time you touch the the screen. A lot of sites use a similar exploit to bypass popup blockers. You could make so the user must accept an OS modal before the clipboard contents are released. It's more secure, but it's jarring and slows down the user.

chrisshroba 6y ago
I don't think it's jarring to use an OS modal, if that modal is the one that almost every app already uses: [1]. Perhaps this could be the default way of interacting with the clipboard, and then apps that want to be able to read it a different way (e.g. Google Chrome wanting to be able to offer you a "Go To Link You Copied" button) could request an additional permission. [1]: https://cdn4syt-solveyourtech.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/iphone-5-ios-7-copy-and-paste-5.jpg https://cdn4syt-solveyourtech.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uplo...
- gruez 6y ago
  That's not a modal, that's just a standard widget. I'm not sure how they're implemented in iOS, but they can be subject to clickjacking attacks.
_visgean 6y ago
The clipboard should be on the level of virtual keyboard. The app should not see whats in the clipboard before pasting. Don't see much of an issue with implementation.
- gruez 6y ago
  How would that work with non-text applications? eg. a photo editor. Would the application need to bring up the keyboard just so the user can paste? Screen real estate is also an issue. Mobile keyboards are cramped as it is, adding a paste button would either require it being buried behind another layer, or take up more screen real estate.

BillinghamJ 6y ago

I think the problem is that - currently - the rendering and behaviour of the edit menu (which contains cut/copy/paste) is done within the app's runtime etc. So there's no difference between an app directly retrieving data from the pasteboard and you hitting the paste button. The message about the app retrieving from the pasteboard still appears if you hit the paste button. It would likely need to be moved out to an IPC call to make this possible.