Bummed by iOS’s erratic text selection in Safari? Try this simple trick

iOS Text Selection iPhone screenshot 001

Sometimes it feels like I’m wrestling with iOS’s text-selection featureĀ in Safari instead of it making my life easier. Increasingly, certain webpages either wouldn’t let me copy body text at all or would leave me struggling trying to make a precise selection.

More often than not, zooming doesn’tĀ prove much of a help. This issue is particularly infuriating whenĀ trying to highlight a URL. But don’t worry, this is where iDownloadBlog’sĀ how-to series comes to the rescue!

Here’s a simple trick which helpsĀ override this behavior, letting you highlight and copy text on webpages thatĀ don’t necessarily play nicely with iOS’s text-selection feature.

The answer to your text woes is Safari’s Reader Mode.

InĀ Reader Mode, Safari scrapes the page and disregards all ads, navigation, toolbars and other parts of web code that isĀ cluttering the webpage at hand. What you’re left with is pure body text, presented in a distraction-free environment.

How to select webpage text in Safari’s Reader Mode

1) Launch Safari on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad.

2) Navigate to a webpage that has been giving you a hard time selecting text on, and then enter the browser’sĀ Reader Mode.

iOS Text Selection teaser 001

To do so, just tap the icon in the lefthand side of Safari’s Smart Search field at the top of the interface (hint: it looks like fourĀ horizontal lines, resemblingĀ a passage in a book).

3) Now select textĀ likeĀ you normally would.

iOS Text Selection iPhone screenshot 002

And that’s it, ladies and gentlemen.

ThisĀ method does not always work as intended as web code can confuse even Safari’s Reader Mode. Still, you should definitelyĀ memorize this handy trick becauseĀ Reader Mode mayĀ help resolve manyĀ of the scenarios when iOS’s text-selection is erratical or wouldn’t let you select text onĀ webpages.

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Want to share some of your own favorite Safari tricks with our audience? Simply post them in comments for everyone to see.

What’s going on here?

Apple is partiallyĀ to blame because this issue is non-existent in desktop Safari.

I say partiallyĀ becauseĀ this isn’t entirely Apple’s problem to solve given that some web developers create complex layouts which may clash with iOS’s text-selection feature, preventing your from selecting individual characters or words with precision.

Need help? Ask iDB!

Got stuck? Not sure how to do certain things on your AppleĀ device? Let us know atĀ help@iDownloadBlog.comĀ and aĀ future tutorial might provide a solution.

Shoot usĀ your how-to suggestionsĀ atĀ tips@iDownloadBlog.com.

Source: Via Reddit