Hellllooo Mozilla Connect! We want to thank those folks (2,852 of you!) who participated in the Firefox User Research survey on feature priorities we posted here last month. If you recall, this survey showed participants multiple sets of 3 random browser features, then had participants pick whether...
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!”
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.
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.)
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.
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.
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.
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!”
Reader Mode is 100% the best way to read a pay wall article. Turn it on, hit refresh.
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.
Reader mode is really useful and I use it daily basis. It removes all the clutter and leaves just the important part.
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.)
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.
Yeah that’s true, or at least I wish I could make FF remember my settings.
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.
I wish Firefox for Android had the option to set reader mode to follow system theme like the desktop version.
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 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.
Use reader mode all the time.