Single most anything thing about kit kat. While chrome performs well it makes using any other browser impossible

Two notes:

1) Correction to original bug report: With wide viewport on (not off), user must scroll side-to-side to read content. With wide viewport off (not on), page renders badly and often makes content unreadable.

2) WebSettings.LayoutAlgorithm.TEXT_AUTOSIZING does not solve this problem. For one, it makes web pages look like a ransom note with seemingly random font changes. Secondly, it makes some text bigger while other text looks to be about 3pt. See reddit.com for example of this.

(No comment was entered for this change.)

I just upgraded (or should I say downgraded) to KitKat and was wondering why wide viewport was not working until I found out it was removed. But why?
Going back to JB until this is fixed

Hello,
for comment #1. Can you please use setLoadWithOverviewMode set to true and see if it makes a difference? If not, can you please share the source code with us or tell us what specific app you are having trouble with. We have tried dolphin browser which uses webview and we did not see an issue.

(No comment was entered for this change.)

setLoadWithOverviewMode does not fix the issue for me. This happens in all KitKat WebView-based browsers that I have tried including the open source ones: Tint, Zirco, Lightning. I would not use Dolphin because of http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1319529

I have attached 3 screenshots to help describe the issue:

1) KitKat with wide viewport off. Would be perfect except for issues like this where content is squeezed and made invisible.

2) KitKat with wide viewport on and regardless of LayoutAlgorithm.TEXT_AUTOSIZING and setLoadWithOverviewMode settings. User must scroll left to right to view text. This screenshot was with TEXT_AUTOSIZING, so note the big differences in text size: why is the gray text in parentheses so small? This is a separate issue from the bug I am reporting though.

3) All versions of Android before KitKat with wide viewport on, LayoutAlgorithm.NARROW_COLUMNS set, and regardless of setLoadWithOverviewMode. Even though text may be zoomed in quite a lot, the text wraps so that user does not have to scroll left to right.

	1 KK no wide viewport.png 584 KB   View   Download

	2 KK wide viewport.png 313 KB   View   Download

	3 pre KitKat.png 91.8 KB   View   Download

Why is this marked Priority = Small? This bug is a major platform-wide usability regression.

Also, can't applications work around this themselves by shipping a subclassed / patched version of the affected class? 

@ #8: They seem to mark everything priority small by default.

A subclass does not change the superclass so, no, that will not work. Patching is a different story. I know that a few people are working on forks of Chromium and believe me I am watching those projects.

This is a very bad regression because it means that I can't browse the internet on my brand new phone in 2013. Very disappointed.

Thanks for the detailed bug report, however per http://developer.android.com/guide/webapps/migrating.html#Columns this is considered WAI. 

Some of the reasons Chrome uses text autosizing are outlined in https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/forum/#!msg/blink-dev/gX9DE3SAohI/YrN2y-7mmYsJ .

re #8:
If you wish to emulate the pre-KK behavior it is possible but requires you control the content (see http://stackoverflow.com/a/20000193/2977376).

This is a serious and annoying bug, the usability of my phone dropped by 30%. I now have to scroll side way to ready anything ... how did this bug slip through, please fire the executive who signed off. 

Unbelievable that they removed this feature. I won't consider using Chrome until it supports this feature but now no other browser can offer it either. Way to go Google! How do I get back to 4.3?

I'm wondering if this has anything to do with Apple's lawsuit against Samsung for using text reflow. How Apple can claim the rights to something that browsers have been doing since day one is a mystery to me. You would think there would be enough prior art to invalidate that straight away!

Please consider making the old behavior possible in some way. I understand that you are trying to make things better but the current behavior is broken for me, plain and simple. I have no way to change the formatting of the websites I visit and am now forced to scroll sideways all the time. A better transition path is needed.

Good one #11, but a simple "these aren't the droids you're looking for" would have sufficed. That's what I'm telling my users.

this one problem is very annoying. I have been with Android since the very first DROID by Motorola and Verizon and would rather not switch platforms because of this issue. Please fix this issue quickly.

This forcing KitKit to chrome, and killing the perfectly functional AOSP
Browser was total Platform Lock BS.

Google is starting to smell like Microsoft these days.

This is WAI.

I've attached a screenshot of reddit.com with:

setUseWideViewPort(true)
setLoadWithOverviewMode(true)

Which looks like it matches up with the way Reddit intended the site to be viewed judging by it's viewport of:

<meta name="viewport" content="width=1024">

Following that the next thing to do is enable zooming:

// Enable pinch to zoom without the zoom buttons
webSettings.setBuiltInZoomControls(true);

if(Build.VERSION.SDK_INT > Build.VERSION_CODES.HONEYCOMB) {
        // Hide the zoom controls for HONEYCOMB+ if you want to
        webSettings.setDisplayZoomControls(false);
}

	Reddit Wide Viewport.png 496 KB   View   Download

I also tested reddit.com with your code.
The problem happens when you zoom in to a level where you can read the text comfortably. When you do this, the lines are not wrapped and you need to scroll from left to right to read each line, which is very annoying for the user.
This could be achieved with previous webview with NARROW_COLUMNS.
Is there a way to emulate this wrapping / reflow behavior with chromium?

Are you google people purposely pretending not to understand the problem? Is this some diversionary tactic to avoid acknowledging that you've broken something?

One more time just in case you really don't understand. We are talking about TEXT WRAPPING. In the old browser when you zoom a page to a legible size, the text reflows so that you don't have to scroll from side to side. Saying that it "works as intended" is saying "yes, we removed a vital feature for no reason, too bad".

Yes, it is obvious. Google is probably trying to pressure web developers into creating mobile friendly websites instead of relying on text wrapping.  It is very annoying going to a new version of android and losing features. Back on gingerbread I had flash (amazon prime videos) and text wrapping. Now I have neither. Wonder what we lose next

Fix this or give us a proper working AOSP browser in return. 

It is a scandal, the Nexus 5 is 50% worse for browsing the web.

I was thinking that perhaps Android could replace my laptop. I guess that idea is ludicrous if it can't even render a webpage legibly. I'm going to have to go crawling back to Ubuntu and ask that it forgive my wandering eye. Really, honey, it was just a fling. That other OS means nothing to me!

Even this page does not perform as intended, simply double tap the comment column to expand it, and watch the left column overlay the comments.

But that is probably an artifact of whatever JavaScript they use to keep that block in view. 

But, if you have severe visual limitations, and need really large text, that floating block begins to obscure everything else.

Please, developers, consider not just how you perceive things should work, but how your uses may NEED them to work to survive.

Can the comitter PLEASE prioritize this issue up? This is definitely NOT a small issue. I'm using a Wiki app which is not usable now. What else can be done to start a bigger wave towards Google in this case? 

can anyone answer this question. Is this just an issue with the Nexus 5 or is this going to happen to any phone that gets upgraded to 4.4?

Re #32: It is an issue on my Nexus 7 (2012).

Re #32: It happens on every Android 4.4 device

Wow!  Unbelievable. Thanks for the info.  Was just going to switch to a Note 3, but that sounds like it will not help either once the 4.4 update hits.  Was just reading my android news off the android news app -- used to be so easy and now it takes forever to get through one article because of this problem.  

Would rooting the phone and putting on CM or another 4.4 ROM fix the issue?

#21 What exactly is the point of your post? Your screenshot shows that the text is so small as to be unreadable.

You guys keep saying "this is WAI", "this is WAI" but stop waving the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) in our faces and explain the real WHY.

People with poor eyesight are telling you that KitKat is basically unusable. The screenshots in post #7 clearly show the problem.

You've already got the antitrust issues based on this issue: https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=62799 Do you think waving WAI around will save Google from lawsuits brought forward based on the Americans with Disabilities Act?

It would seem that with this change, Google has decided that it is only interested in targeting people with good eyesight. Or maybe the people that work on this code are all young and literally don't see the problem. The AOSP browser was working just fine for me. What good is increased Javascript performance if I'm having a hard time reading the damn webpage? You call this progress? 

I now regret buying a Nexus 5 at least a little bit because of this behavior. 

Its been weeks since this glaring error was released, why hasnt it been fixed? Has there even been a comment from anyone on the development team saying how it slipped through and why it isnt fixed yet?

WAI? Realy? 
Would you please shed more light on the "I" part of the WAI?

Dude, "Works As Intended" not web accessibility.

(I too can't understand why a broken stock browser is considered WAI.)

Who knows what they're really talking about. WAI or WAI, it doesn't change reality.

I've been using my Nexus 4 with Kit Kat some more. Okay, I'm starting to come around. Most sites display pretty good. Much less zooming than I used to have to do. Some sites still aren't on board yet but I'm seeing fewer of those all of the time. Chrome is actually quite usable now. Other browsers work well also if the wide viewport is turned off. But in all honesty, I'm liking Chrome. Still, if you should have to zoom in, you have scroll back an forth to read the text. Not the way to read a page.

UC Browser works properly

UC Browser does indeed work properly. Well, it's a little rough in places, but it auto-flows text brilliantly. Could someone perhaps explain how it is able to do this when the likes of Firefox and Dolphin can't and Chrome won't? I notice that it's only the 'phone' version of UC that does this - the 'HD Tablet' version can't reflow either. Mine's a Nexus 7 2. Thanks Gabe - I can get back to reading the web!

I would not use UC Browser because of the insane permission requirements. Anyway, based on the size of the download, they may be working with their own WebView. Another possibility is that in sending all of your traffic through their servers they manipulate the HTML.

The response to this bug is not unexpected. Google used to be a shining light for the "Hacker Ethic", but increasingly I see shenanigans. Maybe these developers are pressured and deep down they know better. If so, I understand, but don't pretend you don't know what text wrap is. And if you're going to throw around TLAs then at least have the courtesy to explain them.

WAI == What An Insult

This is really a serious issue. It impacts almost all the HTML based eBook readers as the reflow is one of the most important functions for HTML based reader. All the users and developers get suffered. I spent almost all the thanks giving holiday trying to find a work around. My app start getting many complains and 1 ratings because of this issue. Google, please take a serious look at this issue.

While UC browser works, its not a good idea to trust your web activities to a proprietary browser by an unknown company. Remember, a "free app" that is closed source and still manages to make money = they are collecting and selling your data.

Yeah i am a bit suspicious of uc browser as well and generally don't like
it much so while I am reading my news pages with it (text reflow is a MUST
HAVE feature) I still have chrome for other uses.  Must say I was in danger
of being a Google fanboi but this issue and the widespread dumbing down of
android that is Kit Kat has all but cured me.
I didn't expect to regret my decision to wait for the nexus 5

I sold my Nexus 5 because of this issue. Nightmare, Google, shame on you.

Thanks to Wugfresh I've gone back to Jellybean on my N7. Firing up my usual sites in Dolphin was a joy. I guess I'll sit this one out until Google figure out what WAI means. I have no illusions that they ever will (see Microsoft, who are nowadays clueless about UI), so in a couple of years when it comes time to update the tablet hopefully something else will have come along. It's been educational... cheers!

I have to say that the broken AOSP browser really is a no go for me. I will be looking at windows devices in the near future if this isn't fixed. The address bar doesn't hide, no flash(which will still a major part of the web despite being phased out), and no text wrapping. Chrome would be an OK browser if it had text wrapping, flash support and the AOSP browser's quick controls. Please give us a working AOSP browser for 4.4+!!!!!

Has anyone put the new cyanogen 4.4 Tom on to see if it fixed this problem? 

A workaround is available. Instructions here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2510676

There is no workaround in the thread posted above. That is an Aosp browser, with pie controls working. Text reflow still does not work. I'm not sure if this is another plot to force mobile sites upon the Web, but Google needs to stop it. Mobile sites are terrible, and most users would prefer a full site as long as zoom and reflow work properly, so that side scrolling is not needed. Listen to the people Google. 

When you have many people returning phones because of the browser, that is a major problem. 

I'm still holding off on 4.4 until something is done. but my quick question is in 4.4 does Gmail still reflow with a double tap? 


I did notice on my older tab that I did screw up and update. instead of pitch to zoom you can do the double tap but hold the 2nd tap and slide up and down to zoom in and out like the need Google maps went too. which I hate there too 

Pinch to zoom, followed by a quick double tap to reflow in Gmail still works thankfully. Why they would remove it from Web browsing blows my mind. I sent a hangout message to Eric Schmidt and Sundar Pichai, doubt it will do anything, but can't hurt. 

TextReflow works good only on "Opera Beta"

Good news: Just installed the 4.4.2 Update - and text wrap is back again! 

On my Nexus 5 (4.4.2 stock) it is still not working...
Tried on Chrome, Chrome Beta, Next Browser andò Opera.

I'm not seeing it either. Tint or Naked browsers. Chrome never had it.

I tried it with my Nexus 7 on the wiki app Wikilin, where text wrapping did not work before with 4.4. So something must have been changed. 

At post #62 - which browser? Of AOSP Browser wraps text on 4.4.2 as it used to do till 4.3 that's the best news of a day. Please confirm.

At post #63 - Opera is wrapping text correctly on 4.4 and 4.4.1. I don't know about 4.4.2 as I don't have it yet. Though Opera drains battery like there's no tomorrow.
Other browser which wraps text good on KitKat is Dolphin but only with Dolphin Jetpack enabled. It's battery friendly but it does not rendered xda forum correctly - it covers while page or parts of it with grey semi transparent layer which sometimes disorders and sometimes not. I reported it to Dolphin developers, they are supposed to be working on fixing it, but last two updates of Dolphin jetpack did not do any good about it.

@#66: Of what Opera version (there are a lot in Play Store) are you speaking about?

Pretty much all Opera browsers except mini have wonderful text reflow.

I guess the wikilin app also uses WebView, but I don't know. Just see its lost capability of wrapping is back again. It does not work in Chrome and Firefox, but in Dolphin. 

It's called: Opera browser for Android
18.0.1290.67495
5th Dec.2013

UC Browser correctly does Text reflow on zoom. Chrome does not KK 4.4.2
Nexus 5 - Can I return my phone because of this? or maybe I can flash to a
4.3 ROM?

Neither Opera nor Dolphin works as far as I can see.  Text gets bigger and goes off both sides of the screen.  All double tapping does is make it smaller again to fit the screen -- then the print is too small to read once more.  Pretty useless.   

UC browser does work.  However, that does not help with apps that I use often like android news or similar apps.  

I am still on 4.4 as I have not received any update yet on either of my Nexus 5 phones.  

Again, has anyone tired rooting the phone and putting on CM or any other 4.4 ROM to see if text wrapping still works the way it is supposed to work? 

Thanks.

Dolphin with Jetpack works with 4.4.2 

Dolphin's Jetpack is an old webkit-based Android WebView that has been compiled by Dolphin.

UC Browser, as stated above in #48, uses the same kind of old WebView and/or they modify pages while sending traffic through their servers.

Similarly, some Opera versions have their own rendering engine and also proxy traffic, where it is modified.

None of this relates to this bug report other than to note that some developers are not using the WebView component included as part of Android. Here is the bug report requesting access to legacy WebView in Android:
https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=62293

Incidentally, if you are a user considering Dolphin see: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1319529
For UC Browser, note the comically intrusive permission requirements.

>> #21 mattga...@chromium.org
>>This is WAI..
So What? I understand the WAI is the initiative to help people with disabilities to access the web content better. I am wondering how does the android webview team at google can define the "better API" for disability people? Or you guys think the people with disabilities have better eye sight?
 

Hardly a "small"issue nor is it WAI unless you never browse the internet on your smart phone.  Which if is the case why are you here? 

Huge issue that needs to be fixed.

They have not explained what they mean by "This is WAI". They probably mean "Working As Intended" and not the "Web Accessibility Initiative", but who knows?

Regardless, I do not think that anyone experiencing issue cares about reasons or excuses for why text wrap is broken.

I just dont understand why google removed this feature.

There are a lot of web pages that does not have proper mobile version. Old school table layouts, fixed width colums, small fonts, etc. I have good eyes, but I think text reflow is the most important usability feature for a mobile browser. Nobody want to scroll horizontally while reading an article, but now I have to choose: small unreadable text OR horizontal scrolling. 

Temporary fix. I am on 4.4.1 Cataclysm rom. Running Dolphin with Jetpack also installed. Reflow works on many websites (with a few exceptions). No double tapping though. Pinch to desired size, and wait a few seconds. It reflows sometimes, if it doesn't, try a slightly different zoom level. 

I say temporary because dolphin is a bloated battery hog (not as bad as chrome though), and also collects and sells browsing history. 

I also agree Reflow is THE most important feature in a mobile browser. Stop trying to impose your "mobile version master plan" on the people, Google, and let us browse the way we want. 

Could someone be kind enough to point me in the right direction for what Google considers is 'proper mobile version'. Just sending me to a perfectly formed 'google-approved' mobile site would suffice as I'll read the source code and go from there. It's just that with so many apparently different opinions on how to make the perfect site it's difficult to know what the best one is meant to be.

In any case, from where I'm squinting, such a scheme would obviously include a feature to reflow text after the user has set it to any.size.they.like. Just like it used to.

Finally all this talk of WAI is off base. The new paradigm (and not just with Google) is surely BAI ('broken as intended').

Google, why would you take away text reflow? It has to be one of the main reasons many of us preferred the AOSP browser. Try using it yourself and then ask "why did we do this?"

New webview is a nightmare for the game developers. html5 canvas is not hardware accelerated and hence, rendering performance is extremely poor. Apparently, Google had killed html5 game development with this release. Please star these bugs in a hope that it will be fixed by google.

https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=239864
https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=315111

This seems like a step backwards..

Stupid regression is stupid

I'll let this photo explain.

	44042578[1].jpg 112 KB   View   Download

this tap and slide zoom is horrible. even in maps. bring back zoom buttons. going down this one finger slide to zoom is painfully bad. and "^^^ is right, Google you should feel bad. 

Interestingly, no one from the press is interested in what, is for many, a debilitating design decision by Google. 

Even this page is unusable in 4.4.2 when rendered by Chrome. 

With the zoom set above 50% it renderes oddly and the input boxes can become unselectsble.

Blackberry has an awesome browser, WTF?

Its sad when Blackberry, poster child for poor execution of goals, can do something better then you (Google) can.

My Blackberry Playbook is a web usability Dream compared to my Nexus 5.

My new Dell Venue auto-updated a few days ago from 4.2.x to 4.3.  This also broke text re-flow in Dolphin; my usability on this tablet just went out the window!  WAI now sucks!!!

Accessibility text scaling doesn't work for me. on xda forums some fonts are large, while some are still small. On livejournal.com everything is still small ignoring the text scaling settings at all.

I am having the same exact problem as above. Browsing has become useless.

Any chance of an update on this? Thanks

WTF, Google???

This is really AWFUL!!

Before I updated to 4.4., my Nexus 7 (2013) was a joy to use for browsing the web.

Now it's - in this regard - a POS; text wrap doesn't work anymore (an absolute STANDARD feature on mobile devices doesn't work anymore! Imagine that!!), and rendering / pinch to zoom / clicking links have become unbelievable LAGGY! Luckily I have a Xperia Tablet Z which works properly.

PLEASE fix this issue IMMEDIATELY! It's offensive against Android users!!!

Does Google want to test how far it can go without consequences? Is that one of a series of tests for the worldwide dictatorship of US IT corporations?

this isn't going to be fixed. Google doesn't want our business anymore.  

my nexus 7 13' will be the last Google os I buy. Samsung will have its own os soon. and I will jump ship 

I know I'm using a lot less Android these days. I've found that I'm okay with that, though.

As a result of the spammy comments, I'm unstarring this issue.

I am extremely frustrated by this issue. I have a Nexus 7 (2012) and eagerly bought a Nexus 5 and I tell everyone to go Google for their next phone. I can't believe I'm honestly wishing I had gone with iOS devices now. 

I'm finding Google is terribly slow at fixing really basic user issues, or just ignores them completely. 

Text reflow is the only thing that makes a mobile browser usable!  Had to switch to Opera, seems to be the only browser that text flow works on these days.  Please fix!

Google, i'm sure there's a really strong reason for all of this, but even so, what's the hurry of rushing a major update if it f@C%s up one of the basics??

PLEASE, fix this, please!!

Priority-Small Really? Priority-Blocking would be less out of place.

Very annoying behavior of KitKat/Chrome makes me send my Nexus back. For people with bad eye sight it's not usable anymore. Esp. as envies in Email-apps do not text wrap anymore.

This will probably never be fixed just like the awful POST download bug reported years ago: https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=1780

I have confirmed this on all browsers except for Opera. It also occurs in certain emails. I work at a large university in disability services. Due to this issue I cannot recommend Android to my visually impaired students.

In Dolphin browser you can change the text size to larger and it will flow properly at that size. Does that help? For some reason zooming breaks the text flow in KitKat.

I agree, please fix it!

Sticking with 4.3 on my Nexus 4, web browsing in 4.4 is terrible. Text reflow, inverted rendering and SCROLLING SMOOTHLY (come on Google, it's 2014) are all broken in Android 4.4. At least *try* to optimize Chromium for mobile. Get your act together, Google.

Why does Google insists it is WAI? Breaking most of websites at once is INTENDED? A lot of people want old behaviour back, many sites became unreadable and it is WAI... Come on! This is a serious bug, which affects both WebView and Chrome! I hope to see it fixed soon.

Well say

GOOGLE , FIX IT!!!

Text reflow is needed BADLY. please Google someone implement this function. Also inverted color is needed too. Web browsing at night is far too bright, even with the screen brightness set to minimum. Why were these features not added back to chrome? The point is to have feature parity and move forward, not regress and move backwards. I just can't see a situation where this decision was thought as a good one. Its so obviously needed for mobile browsing.

(No comment was entered for this change.)

so you break a feature and mark it "working as intended" clap clap clap, absolutely useless.

"Status: WorkingAsIntended" What's that suppose to mean??

If it's working as intended then please "un"intend your intention, because it poorly, very poorly intended!

It's intended to you, not to the end user! But I guess you'r the ones who know... came on!!

Status: Broken As Intended.
Presumably Google sells more advertising that way. When reason fails, follow the money...

LOL.  "As intended"... means it moves users off Chrome to Opera or other browsers that support it.  I'm happy enough with Opera not to be concerned anymore.  But if Opera can do it well, and K9 mail can do it well, what's up with Google?  All I can think is it's a patent infringement and they are steering clear.... but it would be nice to know if they plan on a fix, so other browsers could support it too.

We are not planning to do any change in this regard. See the comments above and this link:
 http://developer.android.com/guide/webapps/migrating.html#Columns

Are you kidding me?
If this is working as intended please reconsider your meaning of "working".

Really, shame on you Google.

horrible... what do I do with my 7 now. I can just never update it? 


ridiculous

How can you not plan "to do any change in this regard"???? This is a major
issue! Is there a reason for this? Is it a patent problem?

There may be few people complaining in forums or directly to you about this,
but I can guarantee you that a lot of us felling we're going backwards. You
had the upper hand in internet navigation with this, now in KK you're just
as good as anyone else when it could be so much better. Please fix it,
change your mind. This doesn't make sense at all.

Regards;
Ant�nio P. Cunha

-----Mensagem original-----
De: android@googlecode.com [mailto:android@googlecode.com] 
Enviada: segunda-feira, 13 de janeiro de 2014 16:35
Para: cunhaad@gmail.com
Assunto: Re:  Issue 62378  in android: KitKat WebView text wrap no longer
works

Project Member #120 sgu...@android.com:

"We are not planning to do any change in this regard. See the comments above and this link:
 http://developer.android.com/guide/webapps/migrating.html#Columns"

"TEXT_AUTOSIZING boosts font size of paragraphs based on heuristics to make the text readable when viewing a wide-viewport.."

And what if the user find the text too small even with this "smart" algorithm? Why don't you let the users decide? Make text reflow optional, and problem solved. This TEXT_AUTOSIZING concept is simply bad. I hate it. There are a lot of web pages which are now unusable/unreadable for me. The whole browsing experience is a pain compared to the previous versions. After pinch-zooming to a comfortable text size I have to scroll _horizontally_ to read. Do you really think it is good? I think it's a bad joke...

This is potentially the stupidest most arrogant thing google has ever done

This decision by Google is the equivalent of giving every browser but Google Chrome a lobotomy, or as taking them from mature adulthood back to thumb sucking infancy. This wouldn't be quite as bad if Chrome was not terrible and the new webview extremely poor. Trying to own something by anticompetitive behavior rather than by competing on merit always results in an inferior product. This is Google's "Windows Vista" moment.
 
You see Google needed the hooks in software to incorporate the new features of Google Now in KitKat and therefore needed a new webview to accomplish that.  But, when they finished Kitkat, their new webview was not quite ready, was a kind of half baked creation.  Therefore, they knew that if they left legacy webview in place, absolutely no one would use the new Chrome based on their new webview engine, because it is so inferior to the many browsers that used the old webview, particularly for the vision impaired/elderly population.
 
From what I understand the following is what is broken in KitKat webview:

• text wrap no longer works
• cannot upload files
• cannot save passwords
• cannot force enable zoom
• no inverted rendering
• cannot play Flash videos (broken in 4.3 too)

So one can see that if all of the above did not work in Chrome, then Google in order to have Chrome survive, had to break all of the above in every other browser too.

"working as intended"? are you joking?
now please try to review your wrong intentions and fix this, asap.
thank you.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/01/15/kitkat_text_trap_no_wrap/

Come on Google - be a man and admit you got it wrong and fix it. 

"WorkingAsIntended" is the status of this bug.  What is the intent?

When I found out about this a while ago I shook my head. What could possibly compel you, beyond a massive lawsuit or losing a drunken bet, to remove one of the most useful features in any mobile browser? Text reflow is an absolute must have feature on a lot of sites that either have no mobile site or a very poor one that forces you to use the desktop version.

Is it intended to cause people to resort to scrolling back and forth to view a page? Is it intended to make people use an actual magnifying glass to read a page on their phones? I've used Windows Phone 7, 7.5 and 8 as well as iOS and none of them have text reflow in the browser. It's an awful experience. Have any of your engineers and people responsible for this tried using it for any length of time? I'm betting you haven't or this would not have happened.

Just to say:fuck you google!

Next device will not be android powered anymore.

http://review.cyanogenmod.org/#/c/56054/

One commenter in The Register article linked above states the reason that Google "intended" to break text wrap is because it makes advertisements more visible.

Google devs, if you don't stand up for what is right, if you don't live by the Hacker Ethic, then what's the point of it all?

It seems that Dolphin has updated its browser or otherwise worked some magic so text reflow now works again on 4.4.

This is a terrible decision, I can't use my nexus 5  default browser or the gmail app to read email, I have poor eyesight and you have just killed the best feature of android off. Back to getting my mum to read to me!

#135 Dolphin now includes legacy WebView with KitKat version of browser as stated in their release notes. Too bad that app lives to phone home your data.

Since this bug is "intended", solutions:
-figure out how to include 5MB+ legacy WebView with your app. Don't forget the never-ending security ramifications!
-use a "ROM" like CM that has a working WebView and developers WITH A SOUL

Status:  WorkingAsIntended  
Priority-Small 
Closed:  Jan 13  

The above only shows it's been done on purpose. 
When company starts to think that they can do anyting and nend customers to their will, not takeing into account what the customers realy want, this is when the fall begins.
Since November 1st 2013 Chrome is uninstalled from my Nexus 5 and it will not come back any soon or ever if Google does not show comon sense.

This is just ridiculous. I am one of the first ones who bought an Android device, the good old HTC Hero when it first was launched.

Ever since I appreciated the superior browsing experience.

Now I don't and can't see and reason for why to stick with Android.

If the textsizing would work consistent I would be eine with it. But it just doesn't. 

What a retrograde step!

Why institute such an idiotic step when utilising the internet is one of the more important functions of a large screen phone?

Plain stupid, no other way to describe it.

I'd really appreciate having the text in my browser be readable please.

Yes, some of us can read, given the chance.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/01/15/kitkat_text_trap_no_wrap

http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/01/28/bug-watch-text-reflow-removed-from-webviews-in-kitkat-probably-not-coming-back/

http://imageshack.com/a/img546/6007/0wbf.png

wth were you thinking? 

	reflow jellybean vs kitkat gmail.png 116 KB   View   Download

Wow! are we watching the slow motion metaphorical jumping of the shark here? It's like we now have the benevolent dictators from the softies and the fruits poisoning the dev teams. You know, the kind of asshats that respond to consumer concern complaints with if you want an xbone that works offline get an xbox 360 or mice should only have one button and try to convince themselves that they know whats best for EVERYONE. That's right bugs are now "features" in android.

http://imageshack.com/a/img585/9343/9fls.jpg

	jumping the shark.jpg 23.8 KB   View   Download

Why ruin something that worked?

Still no solution, no answer?? REVERT!

NOW!!

why isn't this on all the tech blogs?  please forward this to any and all tech blogs.  

Reading websites in kk is abominable. This very site and threads like this one are always a pain to read. When I zoom in far enough to have readable text, the text from the upper left hand side zooms and floats over the commentary text. This happens on googles code site? Floating toolbars from so many websites get so large that there is barely a small space to be able to read the content that I am visiting the site for... Unacceptable.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/01/28/bug-watch-text-reflow-removed-from-webviews-in-kitkat-probably-not-coming-back/

http://androidflagship.com/5005-text-reflow-feature-removed-webviews-kitkat

http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/1wemgn/bug_watch_text_reflow_removed_from_webviews_in/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/01/15/kitkat_text_trap_no_wrap/

Updated my HTC One to kitkat over the weekend and now reading e-mails in the Yahoo Mail app is a pain.  But at least text wraps when viewing the mail site in Chrome.  Was that the point?  This needs to be fixed ASAP!

Back to Opera Classic, which uses Opera's own rendering engine (the newer Opera uses same layout engine as Chrome).
Text reflow works great when zooming in that browser!

 (The 'single column mode' which you can enable from the settings, is only useful for zooming and reflowing text files (.txt); otherwise changes website layouts too much to be useful.)

Wow.  Google is the new Apple.  Time to start looking for a new OS.  And more services to replace Google.  Nice knowing you Google.  It was good while it lasted.

"Upgrade" to Chromium-based WebView is a major step back. No text reflow, scrollTo() rarely works, zoomOut() is broken, setInitialScale() is broken, standard find dialog inexplicably causes text size to change, showFindDialog() is deprecated (we are now all supposed to roll our own because you see, it's so hard that Google can't do it).  I wonder if people who brought us this "upgrade" are deliberately sabotaging ecosystem around webview and all the apps that rely on it or are simply incompetent?

Working as intended?? Do you so called 'engineers' actually browse the web on kitkat? Did you use the browser BEFORE kitkat? In which universe is the kitkat browser 'working'?? You need to make an option for the old webkit browser in kitkat at least, in 'typical' android fashion, freedom no? Or perhaps that's not so much on the agenda anymore?

You can't reason with these people. Many have tried. Wankers, basically.

Please fix text wrap. No longer functions after upgrading to kit Kat today.

Come on Google your OS has been great up until now. You've also been great at listening to consumers for the most part. We all feel you should reconsider this idea and bring back text wrap. Without it, browsing the web or even using your very own email apps is a major headache

This issue shows that even unbelievable things can happen, and last for a very long time. Is Google really telling its users that text wrap/reflow, in any web browser, will never be supported again at the Android OS level??

I thought this feature only is worth to use an Android phone over an iphone. Now it is gone! Hard to believe. There can be no argument to justify such a stupid move. I still hope 4.4.3 will fix it, otherwise I will definitely get rid of my Nexus 5...

If i had known of this major BUG i wouldnt have bought a Nexus 7.

A major step back for Android. 

I've reverted my device back to pre google breaking text reflow so I can still use the web browser. And I won't be upgrading till this is fixed, and if not fixed I'll be moving to a different OS.

When will this be fixed google??? Fix this please!! Put again text wrap!!

I like Opera and Chrome but I'm using Opera because of the text wrap issue.

Text wrap was a very useful feature. It should be fixed ASAP. 

Please bring text wrap back. 

My http://jidanni.org/ uses no CSS and is supposed to wrap but doesn't on chrome/IPad.

Please bring text wrap back. 

Please fix.  Remaining on 4.3.  For those with poor eyesight, this was a terrible choice

Please fix this. It's a travesty. Even worse than the bug itself is the attitude of indifference shown to your users when they say a behavior is broken.

^this

Google: Please undo the removal of text reflow.  As of now, KitKat is a cursed upgrade, or should I say a DOWNGRADE!!!

Google! Aren't these complaints enough to address this issue?? how many complaints is it gonna take? I KNOW this isn't the only place people have complained about the lack of text wrapping with kitkat! 

Google what the fuck happened to being an open platform? Why do you slowly take things away?

Just to make you folks at Google aware of the obvious, the unprofessional and shallow attempt to force people to chrome is shallow and beneath you. What is the point of making a big fuss of trying to convince sites to have compatibility with mobile devices if you insist on hamstringing almost all browsers but your own or those with the chrome engine? Might as well get an ithing at this rate. Open source my foot...

tell me, how many complains will it take?? you're shooting yourself on the foot!

The loss of word wrap is a complete and utter disaster,especially for the visually impaired, kitkat.... Its a downgrade not a upgrade, just hoping someone at xda manages to create a custom ROM with this feature returned or Google put it back, whoever is making the decisions at Google regarding android features, releases and code changes should be taken out into a dark secluded field at night and shot!

HTC One m8 with htc sense 6.0 based on KitKat has text resize working perfectly in their own browser... how is it possible?

This simple issue is being complained everywhere by almost every android user. Except very little people who made this obvious mistake are still trying to argue this is a improvement. Don't let responsive design buzzword mislead your decision. Customer's voice are the most important for your decision. Sometime admit a mistake can save a product. Don't let this simple mistake kill the wonderful android platform. 

Guys, if Google doesnt wants people to used stock browser - use Dolphin Browser. 
Whats the problem? The problem is that KitKat 4.4.2 has many other bugs. Its really worse than JB. Thats really sad..

UC browser permissions are fine. It doesn't even use half of the permissions it requests.  It's rough around the edges but it's clearly the best browser on 4.4.2 if you want reflow. Opera is a close second. 

Samsung Galaxy Tab 3.  This was given to me for my work with Federal Codes of Regulation, period.  I strongly agree @13. Fire Executives who signed-off. Mandatory unpaid Overtime until this 21st Century travesty is remedied.

People talking about using Dolphin or UC are crazy. "Does not use permissions"?? Whatever.

Now that Vic Gundotra is out at Google can the Android devs please get back on track with the whole "don't be evil" thing? And if Google would stop colluding with the other big tech companies to keep wages lower, that'd be nice too. Shame on you guys.

Status:  	WorkingAsIntended

Seriously? It's intended to be broken?

Astounding. Utterly, completely, astounding. I'll not buy a new smartphone until this problem is fixed.

"Working as intended"? How does that make you any better than Apple?

staying on jelly bean until this thing is fixed. And if it's not fixed by the time I need a new phone, it will not be a google phone. Take that to the bank google.

Yet another absurd decision from google. They killed android chrome with their stupid changes and now they kill every other browser so they will all suck.

I'm 59 with very bad eyesight. I just bought a Moto G and was dismayed at finding the AOSP browser missing. Honestly, I need text reflow to be able to read most web pages. I do hope this silly issue is resolved soon. 

Pay an Apple Developer Key and get in serious business

Hello Google, the people have spoken. Give us back text reflow on KitKat.

Thank you.

Mr. Nexus user since the Nexus One.

Opera rocks. The only reason I liked text wrap was because Dolphin used it. I can't seem to get Dolphin to wrap on CM11. Chrome never did it when I zoomed and double-tapped. Opera on CM11 works perfectly fine. Thanks to the Opera team. Shame on Google!

The text reflow problem affects my browsing and my email reader.  The email reader used to reflow text on most emails.  Not I have to scroll left to right to browse and to read emails.

I used to love my Verizon Note 3.  Now I hardly use it.  I just powered it off this morning and I'm going back to my company issued Sprint S3.  I'll only use my Note 3 now when I need Google maps (a couple of times a month).

I'm stopping by Verizon and reducing my data plan to the minimum.  I'd cancel my service but I still need Verizon data for Google maps.  I have to have Google maps a couple of times a month and Sprint data just isn't reliable where I need the maps.

I didn't read all the posts above so maybe Google explained, but how can they justify intentionally making a good product a bad product?  I used to always look forward to getting the latest new phone.  Now there is really no point in getting a new phone if I can't use it for the web.

They have offered no justification. It's just "working as intended" or "broken as intended" :anger:

Dolphin has a plugin called Compact Page that makes text readable.  Apparently it sends a web page through a Google filter service called GWT.  No such add on for Firefox.  Given their history, Google will likely end GWT service if customers like it.  "Do more evil"

Who would have thought that a small change to the OS would cause me to abandon it?  At least 50% of the time I spend on my android phone is using an internet browser (Naked Browser Pro, plug plug).  Removing this feature really turns the internet browsing experience into a convoluted mess of trying different zoom levels, orientations, and horizontal scrolling.  Therefore, half the time I'm using the android OS, I'm persistently annoyed and irritated.  I'm reverting to 4.3 Jelly Bean.  I regret updating my ROM to KitKat.

All I can say is, if this is a feature that is "not likely to come back" like many articles have stated, then I am not likely to come back either.

I implore Google to please find a solution to re-enable reflow text on zoom.

Just one more user disgusted by this change. Browsing used to work just fine; now it is broken. Sad days.

This is just insane. There are many people with eye problems that need to have the ability to text wrap to make it easier to read some web pages on their phone and removing this feature is not only annoying but is irresponsible. Google, fix this immediately! 

This is the only thing that I hate my Nexus 5. Even with my old Xperia Mini with a very small display it more comfortable to browsing web pages than with Nexus.

Kitkat is effectively GARBAGE because of this issue.  If there was a way to downgrade back to jellybean on my Galaxy Note 3 I would do it, but now I'm trapped in this mess.  At least there's Opera for android which uses its own web rendering engine so will wrap / reflow, but I have not found an email client that will do it yet.  

Google you killed the BEST most significant differentiating feature that made android so great vs Ios.  

Great work...
 

Is it not fixed in 4.4.3? Unbelievable! Just fuck you Google. I have invested on you for years and you left me in the freezing cold... 

How is this not covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_with_Disabilities_Act_of_1990#Title_IV.E2.80.94Telecommunications

Perhaps the way to fight this is legally. As an older person with older eyes I simply cannot see well enough to use KK browsing anymore. I do use Opera Beta and Opera Classic when possible but in their current state there is simply web sites I cannot read.

@207 I'm using Android 4.3 on my Galaxy S3 and gmail app doesn't wrap text anymore, so no reason to downgrade.

This is an insane decision. 

I only just discovered it while auditioning smartphones for a long overdue upgrade from an ancient Android phone. Horizontal scrolling is a deal breaker to the entire Android ecosystem. There isn't a screen sharp enough or a processor fast enough or a battery efficient enough to make it worth dealing with horizontal scroll. 

The oldest and dumbest of the smartphones are still good enough as phones. If the newer ones can't zoom and flow web pages, email, text generally, then they can gather dust as far as I'm concerned. 

I long to see Google laid low. 

What Google allows itself here is more than impertinent. It's vulgar and indecent. On the one hand they boast themselves to help disabled people to deal with Android, on the other hand they castrate Android for that very special and important function for exact these people. It's a slap in the face and mockery to every visually impaired. It's an arrogant way of abuse of power and monopoly and at least, dicrimination.
Forcing your will to the people. Sitting on your throne saying: "works as intended", not caring what is intended by the people. Check out Sense of ownership, sense of responsibility. Boooh....

Thanks for 4.4.4 Google. It's nice to see some webview changes :) 

Unfortunately you decided to ignore countless users and couldn't be bothered to fix this issue while you were at it.

C.ck Sm.kers

Can anybody confirm if this bug is still in Android L?

It's not a bug, wallnutboy. It's a bad design decision by Google.

Yes. this bug still in Android L

So annoying. Google really is the new apple. Assholes that force their stupid ideas in everyone.

It's strange how such a small sounding feature makes an enourmous difference in browsing experience. I'm now using Opera mobile, and just its text reflow (which, admittedly, you have to first turn on in the settings) makes it far superiour to chrome on android. It's very weird Google can't see this.

Google, this thread will not die unless you get us text reflow back... you might kill it, but it will spawn somewhere else. 

Please, listen to your users!

Thanks!

This is very annoying. How can you regress? Bring back the reflow

Does anyone know why Google won't turn it back on? Clearly there must be some reason. It'd better be a good one, because how the hell you're supposed to pan a 4.7 inch screen display back and forth to read text because you have to grow the text size enough to be readable. Not cool, especially if you're not 16 and your eyesight might not be so hot any more.

So what's the reason Google ?

I noticed this issue when testing my app's WebView on KitKat and noticed SINGLE_COLUMN & NARROW_COLUMN no longer work. It seems this still happens on Android L.

With a bug this huge, some dev must have created their own WebView forks to fix this by now... no? Anyone know how to fix this on the app-side? I wasn't able to find a solution for this so far.

Are you fucking people blind?

This isn't a bug, Google did this by DESIGN. Not that it makes it any better, but you'all need to open your eyes and read the thread.

I think that the only way that we can get this fixed is if those of us with seeing difficulties file disability violation complaints with the ftc.

The text reflow implementation in Android was by far its best feature for me when I switched from my iPhone.  Those of us who aren't lucky enough to have perfect vision really struggle to read anything effectively with Chrome on 4.4.  It's sad to see Google not caring about its users or accessibility on their devices.  Inverted rendering is equally as important for me as I would have it on 90% of the time since reading white on black is much easier on the eyes.

The HTC M8 stock browser (in Sense 6) seems to support all these goodies even though it's running 4.4.  Opera also offers great text reflow but no inverted browsing.

Just like the other folks here, I really hope that Google re-consider this decision and consider those with visual impairments.

WOW!!!  I got the fix!!!  Delete the Gmail app and use the mail app that comes with the phone, and uninstall Chrome and switch to the Dolphin browser.  Whew, that was a close one...

Has anyone brought this issue to the consumer advocates/network media? Sometimes bad publicity is the best way to pressure big corporations to correct their mistake.

I need the text reflow on my Galaxy S4, why do they remove this main feature in KK 4.4, I don't get it...
I want to use the stock browser because of the Quick Control (Pie control) that are so usefull, why do the others browsers miss this feature ? 

If "Text Reflow" is a lost cause on Kit Kat, OK fine whatever.

^ Then "at least" please give us this feature back with Android L.  


For me this is a dealbreaker, and I've gone back to Jelly Bean because of this.  

TBH I'd rather use IOS and have this, then Kit Kat and not have it.  


Also IMO 3rd party browers like Opera and Dolphin just don't cut it like AOSP Browser for Android used to.

Please Google, put the Text Reflow feature back in Android L... 

It's not just browsers, even Evernote has been affected. You are inconveniencing your users, Google. It makes any new tablet useless for anyone who wants to pinch-zoom notes in Evernote while giving a presentation!

This is a HUGE problem. There's a programmer somewhere who can un-fix it.

I tried Opera, doesn't work. I tried Dolphin, doesn't work. Is there any browser that will reflow the text?

이것은 매우 심각한 문제입니다.
구글이 지금의 정책을 바꾸지 않는다면 나는 구글의 제품을 구매하지 않을 것입니다.
samsung galaxy note 2는 kitkat임에도 예외적으로 auto fit이 가능합니다.

I don't understand why remove text reflow from android when Chrome for the desktop does it when you zoom a webpage.

This is horrible. This is crazy. This is a robbery. We took for granted the text reflow and forced zoom in our apps and now it's gone without even warning or an explanation. Is Google gone nuts?? I am returning the Galaxy S5 I bought only for this reason and will stay on my S3 with text reflow and forced zoom. I also sold the Galaxy Tab 3 which had upgraded to 4.4 and purchased a new one with Jelly Bean.

It's really crazy, as if cars tomorrow had no brakes for no reason and nobody was warned.

I switched to android (Note 2) because ios doesn't support zoom and wrap. I have avoided Kitkat for the very same reason. Now that Apple has a phablet (iphone 6 plus) the lack of text wrap or reflow in android makes switching back to ios (unified ecosystem, Apple pay, iEverything) an easy decision. The ability to read email and web content is the primary reason the business/eterprise community uses smartphones. 

Bottom line: google's "WorkingAsIntended" tips the scale back to Apple and ios

A very bizarre choice for Google to deactivate text wrap, I think text wrap is really important , it is definitely worth downgrading to a previous android firmware just for that .
It's a an essential feature of android browsers against other operating systems.