Issue with the mobile site on Android 4.1.1

April 10, 2013 5:47 AM

I have a new phone (Motorola Droid Razr M), running Android 4.1.1 and I'm using Firefox (looks like 20.0?). When I click the (X New) link to enter a thread rather than the X Comments / X Answers, nothing happens. If I press and hold, I can cut and then paste the link into the browser, but just tapping it to enter the thread and jump to the latest comment/answer doesn't work. This is also true of the favorite + and the flag !.

I'm a moderately competent user of technology, but that's all, so please let me know if I haven't described the problem with enough detail to be useful. If it's just a user problem or a mobile Firefox problem or a phone setting problem, I'll just muddle through, but I thought I'd mention it, in case it's a metafilter issue.

Thanks!

posted by crush-onastick to Bugs at 5:47 AM (16 comments total)

Thanks for the report. I just installed Firefox 20 on a Galaxy Nexus running Android 4.2.2 and everything is working as expected. I'm not sure what settings could be causing a problem for you. The x new link is just a standard link, flags and favorites use JavaScript.

Does anything happen when you click the links? Does the link get highlighted or show an underline as you tap, for example? Have you tried the default Android browser? I'm wondering if you see the same behavior across the board on your phone or if it's just Firefox.

Does the Skip to Menu link at the top of the page work for you?
posted by pb (staff) at 6:50 AM on April 10, 2013

Tapping the link (e.g., the words "(X new)") highlights them in orange but doesn't open the thread. Tapping and holding pulls up a menu (that looks like this) and I can cut and paste the link to access the thread at the jump point.

The skip to menu seems to work fine. It also all works fine in the Chrome browser on the phone.

I would not discount the theory that I'm somehow doing things wrong. The FF browser seems wonky on this phone.
posted by crush-onastick at 7:14 AM on April 10, 2013

Does the Open Link in New Tab option work for you?
posted by pb (staff) at 7:27 AM on April 10, 2013

Yes, it does.
posted by crush-onastick at 7:42 AM on April 10, 2013

My theory (after playing with Android Firefox for five minutes) is that it handles taps in a different way from other browsers. I think there are three tap states: quick tap, medium tap, long tap. A quick tap will work as expected, a medium tap will highlight a link only, and a long tap will bring up the context menu with the copy and new tab options. Other browsers do not have the medium tap. You either tap or hold, there's nothing else.

So try tapping faster. I'm wondering if you're tapping too long on the new x links for whatever reason and you're getting stuck at the medium tap. I don't think there's anything technically wrong with the links and JavaScript is working fine for you. It seems like a tap issue.
posted by pb (staff) at 7:51 AM on April 10, 2013

Okay, thanks. I'll try adjusting to the new phone a bit longer before throwing up my hands in despair of ever reading metafilter on the bus again.
posted by crush-onastick at 7:53 AM on April 10, 2013

I think there are three tap states: quick tap, medium tap, long tap

I'd try puttin' in a long tap, tyin' up your white tie, and brushin' off your tails.

If that doesn't work: try dudin' up your shirt front, puttin' in the shirt studs, polishin' your nails.

Try steppin' out, my dear, to breathe an atmosphere that simply reeks with class. And I trust that you'll excuse my dust when I step on the gas, for I'll be there - puttin' in a long tap, mussin' up my white tie, dancin' in my tails! Also, I'll be drunk.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 8:40 AM on April 10, 2013 [6 favorites]

quidnunc, that appears to be the secret, as i just favorited that on my phone, on the CTA.
posted by crush-onastick at 10:57 AM on April 10, 2013 [2 favorites]

And they said my commentary was annoying, irrelevant nonsense! Take that, "public opinion!"
posted by the quidnunc kid at 11:02 AM on April 10, 2013 [8 favorites]

As is often the case, I am ready to punch public opinion in the face if it ever takes tangible form. Tangible form with a face.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:04 PM on April 10, 2013

So, Mike, I guess this another in the con column on this phone--I had to ask metatalk how to make it do what it's supposed. Namely, serve up ask.metafilter on the CTA.
posted by crush-onastick at 1:21 PM on April 10, 2013

And they said my commentary was annoying, irrelevant nonsense! Take that, "public opinion!"

The reasons to vote #1 quidnunc kid are mushrooming!
posted by ersatz at 1:59 PM on April 10, 2013

Frankly I blame the new Ventra system.
posted by shakespeherian at 2:42 PM on April 10, 2013 [1 favorite]

shakespeherian: "Frankly I blame the new Ventra system."

Man, you really don't like that coffee maker, do you?
posted by boo_radley at 3:02 PM on April 10, 2013 [1 favorite]

Okay, I'm going to be that user who shares a bit of anecdata that I think might be related, but almost certainly isn't.

Occasionally, when I tap the "Post" or "Preview" button in iOS Safari or Android Firefox, it loses the rectangular styling and reverts to a disabled-looking button with rounded edges (like I might expect if I was being prevented from double-submitting a form), and it doesn't submit. If I tap it again – with purpose – it'll usually submit.

Could there be some sort of conflict between a CSS pseudoclass and the "tap" events, or with the mechanism through which the mobile browsers translate taps into normal events? For example, a ":active" pseudoclass that ever-so-slightly repositions the element and prevents the "click" event from firing?
posted by Riki tiki at 6:19 PM on April 10, 2013

Yesterday I made a change to address that very problem. Let me know if you're still seeing it.
posted by pb (staff) at 8:50 PM on April 10, 2013 [1 favorite]