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Results from the Browser Features Survey
(connect.mozilla.org)
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this post was submitted on 15 Sep 2024
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As expected, nobody cares about "reader mode". Only once in my life has it ever come in handy... It was a website that was so badly designed I swore never to go back to it ever again.
I forget what it was but apparently I wasn't the only one and thus, it must've died a fast death as I haven't seen it ever again (otherwise I'd remember).
Basically, any website that gets users so frustrated that they resort to reader/simplified mode isn't going to last very long. If I had my way I would change the messages:
"This website appears to be total shit. Do you want Firefox to try to fix it so your eyes don't bleed trying to get through it?"
I want an extension that does this, actually! It doesn't need to actually modify the page. Just give me a virtual assistant to comiserate with...
"The people who made this website should have their browser's back button removed entirely as punishment for erecting this horror!"
Whaaat? Reader mode is fantastic! I feel like everyone who knows about it, loves it, it's just that few people know about it.
Edit: ah, it's top 10, so actually one of the most popular features.
I love reader mode. It can force dark mode, a pleasant font and font size, and stop those pop-ups that appear as you scroll. Firefox reader is better than anything I've seen on Chrome.
There is only one caveat to it. If I'm on a forum with table elements, for some reason it only shows the first one or two replies and cuts of the rest. And there are a few edge cases when it doesn't work well, but otherwise reader mode is the best mode of converting an unpleasant or unreadable page into something readable.
I wish Firefox for Android had the option to set reader mode to follow system theme like the desktop version.
Would be nice, but at least you can give it a custom theme colors.
Me, it makes me a bit sad it's so low. Reader Mode is one the really cool features of Firefox, but I understand that consuming web content by reading is rapidly on the decline, as a result of the comparatively low information density of video and audio allowing bigger ad space compared to text.
Plus we know from the last 10-15 years how much reading comprehension has nosedived since the proliferation of video content.
Note that this is the "top 10 features" from the survey. So it's ranked 10 of some larger number, not last place.
Ironic
What reader mode needs is a (possibly crowdsourced) setting to be the default view on a per-site basis. (I say this because my main problem with it is forgetting it exists and failing to toggle it on.)
Yeah that's true, or at least I wish I could make FF remember my settings.
To be fair, I imagine an entire browser just like that for a long time. You have your settings and every website would look the same. A default frontend for everything. No Javascript, just the content.
Ah, yes, the Web as it was intended to be, with semantic markup and separate presentation/styling that the user was not only able, but encouraged by design, to override as he saw fit.
I've spent pretty much my entire adulthood being low-key pissed off about how that got thoroughly and comprehensively fucked as soon as the marketing fuckwads got their hands on the Web.
The current era internet is full of web pages that can be salvaged with reader mode. It is an essential tool for my everyday browsing habits.
Reader mode is really useful and I use it daily basis. It removes all the clutter and leaves just the important part.
Reader Mode is 100% the best way to read a pay wall article. Turn it on, hit refresh.
I use this from time to time, the reader mode is an important feature to me at least and helped me making many sites readable. I think most people are happy with the mode as it is, therefore it was not high in the list for any upgrades. It's not always bad design, but just having a different taste. Lot of people like black background and white text, but to me it bleeds my eyes. If lot of people like it, that the design isn't bad.
Use reader mode all the time.
Reader mode is one of the reasons why I keep going back to Firefox or Firefox forks :). I really love how it just works, and how it also can unlock semi-paywalled (soft-locked) articles.