Reader View + Reader List improvements (mobile app)
Hello. I've been using the Reader View on my mobile for a few months now. Quite intensively, I must add. I mostly use it to read web novels, so I spend quite a bit of time with it every single day.
Over these few months I've encountered a few "wrinkles" that, over time, have grown a bit bothersome for me.
1. The customization bar in Reader View:
1.1. It appears way too easily - an accidental tap or a slight scroll-up, and it'll make an appearance. I'd much rather have it only show up on double tap or even have it hidden in the menu.
1.2. The bar showing up often scrolls my pages a few lines down, forcing me to scroll back. It ruins the reading experience. Again, having it show up on double tap only or have it hidden in the menu would solve this.
1.3. It it unnecessarily tall in the portrait view. It is much smaller in landscape view - that height would be enough for the portrait too.
1.4. It is way too bright. Why the white background? It is way too contrasting if you're reading in the dark mode. And if you're doing night reading, it'll actually hurt your eyes. Shouldn't the bar get "dark" in the dark mode as well?
1.5. No sepia mode in the mobile app. Although I don't use reader view in the desktop version, I did check it out and noticed there is a sepia mode in it. Light mode is way too bright for me, even during the day. I'd much rather use sepia instead.
1.6. No way (that I know of) to make your own "color modes" - while I love the dark mode, the white font is still a bit too bright if you engage in night reading. I'd love to have the ability to change the font color to something gray-ish.
2. Links:
2.1. In Reader View all links should be automatically parsed to open in Reader View as well (if available).
2.2. Desktop/mobile site links - currently both the Reader View and the Reading List treats the mobile and the desktop site versions as separates, so if you used a desktop site link to add the list, even if you viewed the site in mobile mode, when you'll view the link later, you'll still see the "add to reading list" button. Most of mobile versions just add a prefix of "m." at the front of the domain, why not make the Reading List see them as one and the same then?
3. Reading List:
3.1. We should be able to mass delete entries from the Reading List.
3.2. Opening unread entries in New Tabs should mark them as read.
3.3. The Reading List should be searchable - since it prevents us from adding the same page twice, we should be able to find the old entries within it. Scrolling through might seem fine if you have a few entries, even a hundred, but what happens when you have a lot more? It's very difficult to find anything. My reading list has more than 1000 entries. Possibly over 1500. The main cause is the lack of mass delete option. That, plus I read a lot.
3.4. The Reading List should also change color depending on the color mode you're using. Again, a screen with so much white on it hurts eyes at night.
I realize that, most likely, majority of what I'm asking for cannot be handled by normal support staff, and can only be implemented by the developers, but if any of it can be achieved by a normal user, I'd really appreciate your help.
Modified
All Replies (2)
Hi
I am glad you like using Reader View in Firefox for Android, I really like it as well. You are right in saying that much of what you mention is more for the developers, but I think I can help with the light/dark readability type issues you mention.
This section of a support article explains how you can set the text to be white on black. You may also want to try these add-ons:
Dark background and light text
Others may exist, so I recommend you have a read of this article that will walk you through how to find and install add-ons in Firefox for Android.
I hope this helps, but if not, please come back here and we can look into a different solution for you.
I'm well aware that we have themes to choose from in the Reader View. I even mentioned them myself (although I referred to them as "dark/light mode"). What I'm saying, however, is that the white text on black background is still a bit too bright if you want to read with no additional source of light around.
Dark app themes and such are helpful for everyday viewing, but they have no effect on the Reader View itself. Thus, unfortunately, none of it helps me.
I guess I should pass my comments along through the mozilla feedback feature and hope they will get resolved in the future.