Using Chrome, Firefox, Brave, Samsungs ‘Internet’ app, and every other browser I’ve used/tried on Android:

I’ll go to select some text on a page by long-pressing on it and it’ll select the word I’m touching as well as expand that selection to a somewhat random amount of additional text (usually not following any structure such as selecting a whole sentence for example).

I’ll then go to adjust that selection by grabbing one of the two tabs on either end of it and the moment I do, the opposite tab jumps to a completely random spot on the page vastly expanding the selection, then the whole page scrolls to an entirely different section; Leaving me holding one end of the selection unable to see what was originally selected. I can’t scroll to where I was, and If I let go and just click copy I’ve now copied 90%of the page to my clipboard… Attempting to modify the selection any further yields the same lack of control and just makes things worse.

This doesn’t happen everywhere, but I get these results far far more often than a successful copy+paste. Like just now trying to copy an address from a local transit guide.

I end up having to drop the paste into a notepad app, reselect the bit I actually wanted (if it even made it into the pile of garbage I was forced to grab) then delete the note once I’m done.

This is fucking stupid and I hate it. Rant over. Thank you for listening.

/edit: I don’t have the power to pin a comment, but [email protected] has a great solution: Use the rectangle select tool in androids ‘Edge Panel’ (must be enabled in settings), then press the ‘T’ button to copy text from the area you’ve selected.

    • Nighed@sffa.communityEnglish
      0·
      1 year ago

      Most of those (ignoring 1) are browser problems, not mobile problems. The browser’s handle it fine on desktops (most of the time)

      I guess it’s mostly the mobile size sites doing extreme styling to get thinfs to fit (partly 2). I guess next time I find a bad site I should try it on a shrunk desktop window.

  • MasterBuilder@lemmy.oneEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    All I can say is that it is kinda cathartic that someone other than me is experiencing this nightmare.

    Also, this pages where it is impossible to select any text at all.

    • Dee@lemmings.worldEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      Also, this pages where it is impossible to select any text at all.

      On android, you can still select text on those pages from the switch apps screen (swipe up from the bottom, hold, then release on Pixels). Found that workaround on accident lol

  • Crowd@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Try using universal copy. It’s an app on the play store that lets you select paragraphs or lines and then modify them (Check the press and hold behavior)

  • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 ℹ️@yiffit.netEnglish
    0·
    1 year ago

    So it’s not just my phone? It is android? I’ve had this shit only on my current phone so I thought it was just the hardware. It’s not just websites or browsers; it’s every fucking app, because the selection thing is handled by the OS.

    By God is it infuriating that something so simple straight up doesn’t fucking work in 2023.