I’ve noticed a small issue with my email client for quite some time now where composing a new email will have several blank lines by default.
It’s not too much of an issue to simply delete them but hey, maybe no one had pointed this out before! So I filed a bug report only to get this response… basically it’s not a bug, its a feature!
For context, this is the “feature”:
🤮
This reminds me of text editor that leave half a screen of ‘wiggle room’ when scrolling down. Absolutely hate it, and if I can’t turn it off, I won’t use the text editor.
literally unusable
but if they ever change it, it’ll break a number of fortune 500 companies who rely on this behaviour 🤣
Not the end of the world if they trim messages before sending them?
It means you can click a line and type there, no need to press enter a few times first.
Not email, but if I’m taking notes in a text editor I will hold down enter at the start to ensure I can just click and type anywhere.
Now, if that pointless whitespace is being sent, I can imagine it annoying people in long email chains.
I’m not sure why you would need to start an email from halfway down the page? I’m not sure I’m understanding you but I feel like I’m on the verge of having my mind blown about how the other half write emails 🤣 Please explain further, I’m genuinely curious!
For me, I write things from top to bottom. If I want to do a later paragraph then I will simply write it in, then go back to the top and hit enter to create a new line
Mostly top to bottom. But sometimes I write the body of the email, then add all the plesentarys after.
Or even write the email, then work out who it’s ‘to’ on the huge cc list…
Why would anyone want that?
I’d be surprised if anyone did! I have asked them what the use case for this is and will reply back if they answer.
Maybe it’s a technical problem that they’re not interested in fixing. It could be unnecessarily reserving space for a signature, for example
Yes I would say it’s most likely just a technical problem, I just found it funny they didn’t come right out and say that.
My first thought was along those same lines but I do have both my personal signature and the mobile signature disabled in the settings.
Doesn’t seem like that would be described as “expected” though. Unless they mean “expected because we don’t give a shit.”
I suppose there is a difference between “expected” and “intended”.
It means you can click a line and type there, no need to press enter a few times first.
Not email, but if I’m taking notes in a text editor I will hold down enter at the start to ensure I can just click and type anywhere.
Now, if that pointless whitespace is being sent, I can imagine it annoying people in long email chains.
Well, this screenshot is the mobile version. Tapping anywhere in a textbox should bring the focus and start typing. All having extra lines does is make it more likely that the starting insertion point is a line or two below the start.
Even on desktop, I’m not aware of any text box behavior where you need to click on the correct line to bring the focus to the box.
This seems like a quick temporary pseudo-solution that removed an obstacle towards implementing some behaviour. Being temporary, it’s likely to outlive the feature it unblocked.
I have a free account and can’t turn off the mobile signature, which has two blank lines before it. I wonder if turning that setting off just deletes that string, but not the lines.
I have both signature settings turned off and there’s several blank lines.
It’s not a bug just because the software doesn’t conform to your personal preferences. You’re asking for what would be considered an enhancement - not a bug fix.
But
why would several blank lines be the default behavior
I don’t know the reason. I think not having the extra blank lines would be better, but it works just fine as is - even the post admits this much. That’s why it’s an enhancement. It’s possible for software to be functional and consistent and still have room for improvement - that doesn’t mean there is a bug.
It’s not about preference. It’s about what every single other email client does, including their own on different platforms, and this is even fixed in their upcoming beta of this same app.
My point is that someone made the decision for it to do that and that the software works just fine as is. It’s not a bug, it’s just a weird quirk. The fact that they made the enhancement you requested doesn’t make the old behavior buggy. Your post title said “it’s not a bug, it’s a feature!”, but the behavior you reported is not accurately classified as a bug.