Sign-in on Android should trim trailing space on username

LegacyUser

JT said: When signing into FamilySearch on Android (Samsung Galaxy S9+) Chrome, the phone remembers my username once I start typing it. So I tap that username which automatically advances the cursor to the password field which I type manually.
This usually fails. Then I tap the end of the username and notice a space between my username and the cursor. So I delete that space and reenter my password. That then works.

But most people won't think of doing that and give up.

So engineering, please trim any trailing spaces from usernames when processing a login.

Note that though I normally use the Family Tree app, if I tap a FamilySearch link on another app such as Facebook, it is now taking me to Chrome, not the Family Tree app.

Thank You in advance.
JT

LegacyUser

David Newton said: Now THAT is a very good suggestion!

Android does indeed automatically stick a trailing space when you use the auto word-completion the system offers. Glitches very definitely can occur, and most people would be stumped.

BTW in order to sort out the app starting v the web browser there is an equivalent of the Windows file and protocol association in the settings. The default was changed about 6-9 months ago to start the app. This was done in such a way that it was very awkward to reverse. It's found under Set as Default in the settings for the Android app.

LegacyUser

Jordi Kloosterboer said: When using chrome on my Andriod phone, my username and password are already in there and I just have to tap sign in. However, If I delete my username field, the prompt for my username comes up and when I tap it, it does not add an extra space. But I agree that the username should be trimmed to take away trailing spaces like for FS IDs. I don't think you can have a space as a part of your username, so it should be good.

LegacyUser

Alan E. Brown said: Jon Thomas,

The issue you are reporting is a valid issue. However, it really has nothing to do with Android, since you are using FamilySearch.org. The experience you are reporting will happen on any browser (from an iPhone, Android, Mac, PC, etc.). I just wanted to clarify that so that others who read this discussion don't assume it has anything to do with Android.

I would note that the Android Family Tree app does indeed trim any spaces from the username, so you won't have this problem when using the app.

LegacyUser

Alan E. Brown said: David Newton,

I'd like to clarify the side issue you raised:

"BTW in order to sort out the app starting v the web browser there is an equivalent of the Windows file and protocol association in the settings. The default was changed about 6-9 months ago to start the app. This was done in such a way that it was very awkward to reverse. It's found under Set as Default in the settings for the Android app."

First of all, the default was definitely never changed to start the app. That is contrary to the way Android works, and we couldn't make it work that way even if we wanted to. Here's how it works:

An application can register with the Android system to handle certain URLs. So, for example, the Android Family Tree app is registered to handle a URL like https://www.familysearch.org/tree/per... (that's the URL that shows a Tree person's details/profile page). The Family Tree app started handling these URLs in the latter part of 2018.

An app's setting for handling links has three possible states: Open in this app, Ask every time, and Don't open in this app. The first one means that following a handled link will always go into the app with no prompt; the second one means that you will be asked each time if you want to use your browser or the app; the third one means that you will go straight to the browser (to the FamilySearch.org site, in this case).

When an app that handles URLs is first installed, the default will be always be "Ask every time." It is then up to the user to decide. When they first hit a link that the app handles, the Android system will prompt them with a question that looks like:

"Open www.familysearch.org links with Family Tree" with options "JUST ONCE" or "SET TO ALWAYS OPEN" (the wording may be somewhat different with different versions of Android or different manufacturers, but that's the gist of it). There will also be an option to open your browser.

If you choose "JUST ONCE" then you'll keep getting asked every time you follow a handled link. But if you choose "SET TO ALWAYS OPEN" then you will not be asked again -- of the three options I mentioned above, you have just selected "Open in this app."

If you want to change that preference, then you do need to go into Settings > Apps > Family Tree > Open by Default (again, this wording and the steps will be different on different versions or manufacturers). There you can choose a different one of the three states.

I'll certainly agree that it is somewhat awkward to change this setting, but that's not something that Android allows us to change within the app. You, the user, have all control over this setting.

LegacyUser

David Newton said: "First of all, the default was definitely never changed to start the app. That is contrary to the way Android works, and we couldn't make it work that way even if we wanted to."

Well isn't that weird. The behaviour of your own application, plus the release notes for the release which made the change kinda, sorta directly contradict what you just said. Unfortunately I can't seem to find those old release notes since the old Android what's new get replaced when a new version is released.

The release notes explicitly said that the way FSFT URLs got handled by default was changing. The app became the default URL handler and there was no way inside the app to alter that setting, plus there was no indication of how to actually change it. I did eventually find where to change the settings to restore the previous (correct) behaviour, but it was a right pain in the neck.

Your app never even tried to open FSFT person profile pages before that version. After that version it automatically opened them in the app, rather than the previous and desired behaviour of opening them in the web browser.

Why did I want to open things on the web site? Features on the web site that have never made it into the Android app such as adding an unconnected person.

Incidentally one of the highest development priorities for the app should be chasing down those few remaining missing features so that full feature parity can be achieved with the website. Oh and you also need to fix the new source attachment process. Either it should be used for all source attachment or it should not be enabled. Having two completely different source attachment UIs within the same app is confusing for many users (although not for me personally) and is bad design practice. Furthermore that new source attachment UI is producing entries where places are not standardised and it is also making really stupid attachment suggestions sometimes. This is often manifested when attaching marriage sources. The source will have father of the bride and father of the groom to attach. Unfortunately the suggested attachment profiles can easily be the SON of the bride/groom, not the father and due to the UI design of the new attachment system it is very easy to miss that this has happened.

Things like editing facts during the attachment process are a great improvement over the older UI. However the drawbacks outlined above are serious enough that they come very close to outweighing the good new features.

LegacyUser

Alan E. Brown said: David Newton,

Thanks for the details; they help me better understand the points you are making.

This is a good conversation, but as we discuss Android Family Tree app, we're going quite a bit off track in a topic where the original post has nothing to do with the app. I'll address the point regarding opening links in the app here, but if you want to discuss the other topics, please open new discussions. There are at least two distinct additional topics you have raised -- the development priorities for the app, and how the new source linker works. I'm happy to respond, but I don't want to confuse readers of this topic any more than we already have.

I think the point of confusion on the app opening links is the word "default". You are absolutely correct that the app never tried to handle FSFT URLs until that version was released, sometime in October 2018. At that point the app did become a registered handler for those URLs, but it did not become the DEFAULT handler. As required by the Android platform, users who followed a registered URL were then prompted to decide if they wanted the app to handle the URL or the browser. Each user gets to decide if they want the app or the browser to be the default handler (or to be prompted to decide every time a link is followed).

I assure you that you were prompted to make that decision at least once. You can satisfy yourself that this is true by installing the app on a device that has never had the app (unfortunately you can't experience this by uninstalling the app and reinstalling, since Android will still restore your settings from your last installation). Then follow a registered link (such as the link to a person's profile page) on your device. If you were no longer prompted to follow links and taken automatically into the app, it was because you chose "ALWAYS OPEN" or something like that in response to the system asking you whether you wanted the link to take you to the app. If you instead choose the browser, and then choose "ALWAYS OPEN" for the browser, following links will always take you to the browser and never prompt you again.

I certainly agree that some people find these prompts to be a bit confusing, but the Android system controls what they look like, and how you get to the place in Settings to change your setting for whether you are prompted. We have no say in how that looks.

Finally, you make a good point referencing the What's New message. For version 2.5.3, the relevant What's New item was "Tapping on a FamilySearch link will now take you to the Family Tree app, rather than your browser." In an attempt to be brief, the author of the What's New message on this topic left out two important details: that you would be prompted, and that you still could follow links into your browser. As you well know, that statement is not correct, since it is possible for you to set the Setting so that following links will always take you to the browser. I apologize for the confusion that terse message may have caused.