Text reflow on Fires

bonacker · 10-01-2017, 07:05 PM

This must have come up before, but a search didn't provide any answers.

On my 7" Fire tablet from '15 and the 8" from '16 none of the browsers I have installed (Chrome, Firefox, Puffin, Dolphin, Opera Mini, UC, and others I've forgotten) as well as the native Fire browser, Silk, reflow the text when a page is enlarged via a stretch gesture. The text never wraps. It looks to me like it must be a problem with the Android or Fire OS, not the browsers. The Fires are presently on 5.3.3. When they were on earlier versions, they had the same problem.

Has anyone been able to make the text wrap when enlarging a page on these devices? If not, why hasn't this significant shortcoming been addressed by Amazon?

Cinisajoy · 10-01-2017, 07:09 PM

You are basically zooming so no text changes. Web pages typically aren't reflowable.
Try changing the text size.

bonacker · 10-01-2017, 07:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Web pages typically aren't reflowable.

That has not been my experience.

I just tested Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and Edge on my Windows desktop machine. When I zoomed a page, all those browsers wrapped the text of each test webpage I went to.

Cinisajoy · 10-01-2017, 08:02 PM

Just tested this page on a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4. Zooming out I lost words.
Using the Chrome browser.
Also the desktop version not the mobile version of the website.

Which leads to the conclusion, it is the device not the website.
Let me check one more thing.

JSWolf · 10-01-2017, 08:05 PM

Different type of zooming. When you zoom with via a stretch gesture, you are zooming the screen, you are not enlarging the text. The contents of the screen remain the same, just the size change.

Cinisajoy · 10-01-2017, 08:08 PM

Just checked. When I went to settings in the browser I readjusted the text scaling and everything went bigger.
Finger stretch still loses words.

bonacker · 10-01-2017, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Different type of zooming. When you zoom with via a stretch gesture, you are zooming the screen, you are not enlarging the text. The contents of the screen remain the same, just the size change.

I see. Thanks. I should have asked you before I installed six browsers.

Cinisajoy · 10-01-2017, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bonacker

I see. Thanks. I should have asked you before I installed six browsers.

If you need the text larger, change the text size. Note: it didn't work on Facebook on the original fire browser.

Purple Lady · 10-06-2017, 08:10 PM

Opera and UC browser can both do text reflow. Don't use the mini versions. Dolphin used to do text reflow but I don't know if it still does. In Opera you need to turn it on in settings along with force zoom.

This is the reason why I don't use either Chrome or Silk browsers.

JSWolf · 10-07-2017, 12:12 PM

Try Firefox.

Purple Lady · 10-07-2017, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Try Firefox.

OP said they already tried Firefox. I don't get text reflow with it either on my tablets. I just installed it again to check and immediately uninstalled. No text reflow, and I didn't see a way in settings to use Google for search instead of Yahoo.

JSWolf · 10-07-2017, 05:57 PM

One advantage of Firefox is you can sync with the desktop Firefox.

Purple Lady · 10-07-2017, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

One advantage of Firefox is you can sync with the desktop Firefox.

But if I can't use Firefox on Android there's nothing to sync with.

Cinisajoy · 10-07-2017, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Purple Lady

But if I can't use Firefox on Android there's nothing to sync with.

I use Chrome across my devices. They all sync.

Purple Lady · 10-07-2017, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

I use Chrome across my devices. They all sync.

I can't use Chrome on Android either. Same problem OP is looking to solve - it doesn't reflow text. I refuse to have to pan back and forth to read text.

10-01-2017, 07:05 PM	#1
bonacker Connoisseur Posts: 58 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2014 Device: Fire HD 10, 11th Gen.	Text reflow on Fires This must have come up before, but a search didn't provide any answers. On my 7" Fire tablet from '15 and the 8" from '16 none of the browsers I have installed (Chrome, Firefox, Puffin, Dolphin, Opera Mini, UC, and others I've forgotten) as well as the native Fire browser, Silk, reflow the text when a page is enlarged via a stretch gesture. The text never wraps. It looks to me like it must be a problem with the Android or Fire OS, not the browsers. The Fires are presently on 5.3.3. When they were on earlier versions, they had the same problem. Has anyone been able to make the text wrap when enlarging a page on these devices? If not, why hasn't this significant shortcoming been addressed by Amazon?

10-01-2017, 07:09 PM	#2
Cinisajoy Just a Yellow Smiley. Posts: 19,161 Karma: 83862859 Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Texas Device: K4, K5, fire, kobo, galaxy	You are basically zooming so no text changes. Web pages typically aren't reflowable. Try changing the text size. Last edited by Cinisajoy; 10-01-2017 at 07:13 PM.

10-01-2017, 08:02 PM	#4
Cinisajoy Just a Yellow Smiley. Posts: 19,161 Karma: 83862859 Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Texas Device: K4, K5, fire, kobo, galaxy	Just tested this page on a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4. Zooming out I lost words. Using the Chrome browser. Also the desktop version not the mobile version of the website. Which leads to the conclusion, it is the device not the website. Let me check one more thing. Last edited by Cinisajoy; 10-01-2017 at 08:05 PM.

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10-01-2017, 08:05 PM	#5
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,189 Karma: 144286760 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Different type of zooming. When you zoom with via a stretch gesture, you are zooming the screen, you are not enlarging the text. The contents of the screen remain the same, just the size change.

10-01-2017, 08:08 PM	#6
Cinisajoy Just a Yellow Smiley. Posts: 19,161 Karma: 83862859 Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Texas Device: K4, K5, fire, kobo, galaxy	Just checked. When I went to settings in the browser I readjusted the text scaling and everything went bigger. Finger stretch still loses words.

10-06-2017, 08:10 PM	#9
Purple Lady Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,698 Karma: 16542228 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Pennsylvania Device: Huawei MediaPad M5, LG V30, Boyue T80S, Nexus 7 LTE, K3 3G, Fire HD8	Opera and UC browser can both do text reflow. Don't use the mini versions. Dolphin used to do text reflow but I don't know if it still does. In Opera you need to turn it on in settings along with force zoom. This is the reason why I don't use either Chrome or Silk browsers.

10-07-2017, 12:12 PM	#10
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,189 Karma: 144286760 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Try Firefox.

10-07-2017, 05:57 PM	#12
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,189 Karma: 144286760 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	One advantage of Firefox is you can sync with the desktop Firefox.

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