3 ms·

You know devs can already make text not selectable on the web, right?

by fastball 6y ago

selykg 6y ago
Was not aware of that, thanks for letting me know. In either case, it's a dick move and shouldn't be encouraged.
catmanjan 6y ago
Flutter should pick sensible defaults, in this case most agree that text should be selectable
capableweb 6y ago
Flutter: defaults to unselectable Web: defaults to selectable Flutter on Web: defaults to Flutter, not Web
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
SamBam 6y ago
It takes work to make it non-selectable. In Flutter, it defaults to non-selectable. Most of the time a dev isn't thinking "I'd better make this selectable," because they simply aren't going to think of all the reasons someone might select text. They'll think of the obvious-to-them cases, and leave all the other text as unselectable.
- Hixie 6y ago
  It doesn't really default to anything. There's a widget for selectable text and a widget for non-selectable text.
  - CGamesPlay 6y ago
    OK, but the Flutter gallery has zero selectable text, as far as I can see. Seems like a great case of where developer decided "doesn't need selection, let's let the user drag to scroll with their mouse instead".
    - unityByFreedom 6y ago
      Why even make it a 50/50 choice? I hate apps without selectable text and they're everywhere. Translating something becomes a nightmare and that hurts useability. It's like if you made spoiler 50/50. Do you want to see this without clicking? I think we really overlook the thought that had gone into making js, and other open tech.
      - SamBam 6y ago
        Exactly. And I didn't even realize how often I subconsciously select text while I read until I saw the relevant xkcd. [1] I truly think my random clicking on paragraphs that I'm approaching isn't just ADHD but a way of helping my eyes stay on track. It's very disconcerting when the text doesn't select. (As, clearly, all these comments noticed as well -- why were we all trying to select the text? To check if it's Flash-ish, of course, but also we just like things to grab onto while we read.) 1. https://xkcd.com/1271/ https://xkcd.com/1271/
        staz 6y ago
        I would even add this XKCD. https://xkcd.com/1174/ https://xkcd.com/1174/ Or even translating... Try putting their demo website in Google Translate or even try to select the text on an email in their demo webmail app to copy paste it in google translate ....
kroltan 6y ago
Yes but on the web you can use a user-agent that doesn't care about what the site says should be selectable, or at least an extension that overrides the CSS in question.
shawnz 6y ago
I'm not happy about "user-select" not having an easy override. But at least it can be overridden by a user CSS file or a browser extension, which isn't so bad. This is much worse.

You know devs can already make text not selectable on the web, right?

selykg 6y ago

Was not aware of that, thanks for letting me know. In either case, it's a dick move and shouldn't be encouraged.

catmanjan 6y ago

Flutter should pick sensible defaults, in this case most agree that text should be selectable

capableweb 6y ago

Flutter: defaults to unselectable Web: defaults to selectable Flutter on Web: defaults to Flutter, not Web

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

SamBam 6y ago

It takes work to make it non-selectable. In Flutter, it defaults to non-selectable. Most of the time a dev isn't thinking "I'd better make this selectable," because they simply aren't going to think of all the reasons someone might select text. They'll think of the obvious-to-them cases, and leave all the other text as unselectable.

Hixie 6y ago
It doesn't really default to anything. There's a widget for selectable text and a widget for non-selectable text.
- CGamesPlay 6y ago
  OK, but the Flutter gallery has zero selectable text, as far as I can see. Seems like a great case of where developer decided "doesn't need selection, let's let the user drag to scroll with their mouse instead".
  - unityByFreedom 6y ago
    Why even make it a 50/50 choice? I hate apps without selectable text and they're everywhere. Translating something becomes a nightmare and that hurts useability. It's like if you made spoiler 50/50. Do you want to see this without clicking? I think we really overlook the thought that had gone into making js, and other open tech.
    - SamBam 6y ago
      Exactly. And I didn't even realize how often I subconsciously select text while I read until I saw the relevant xkcd. [1] I truly think my random clicking on paragraphs that I'm approaching isn't just ADHD but a way of helping my eyes stay on track. It's very disconcerting when the text doesn't select. (As, clearly, all these comments noticed as well -- why were we all trying to select the text? To check if it's Flash-ish, of course, but also we just like things to grab onto while we read.) 1. https://xkcd.com/1271/ https://xkcd.com/1271/
      - staz 6y ago
        I would even add this XKCD. https://xkcd.com/1174/ https://xkcd.com/1174/ Or even translating... Try putting their demo website in Google Translate or even try to select the text on an email in their demo webmail app to copy paste it in google translate ....

kroltan 6y ago

Yes but on the web you can use a user-agent that doesn't care about what the site says should be selectable, or at least an extension that overrides the CSS in question.

shawnz 6y ago

I'm not happy about "user-select" not having an easy override. But at least it can be overridden by a user CSS file or a browser extension, which isn't so bad. This is much worse.