iPhone Safari Double-Tap To Resize Text Block Width: Where Did It Go?

[boltjames]

Used to be that if you were reading a news article on a website in Safari and there was a block of text that was not filling the width of the screen you could double-tap it to auto-size it to the screen width which made it easier to read. On forums like this in particular, it was a quick way to get at the body of a post without that sidebar making everything smaller.

When done with that block, you could double-tap again and it would pull back and resize the page to its original width.

This is a very handy and much-used feature for me, but it's not working on iOS13.

Any idea how to get it back? Or is there a new gesture that's different than double-tapping now?

 

[C DM]

It likely depends on the site design and whether or not it's a mobile/responsive type of site or not.

 

[boltjames]

It likely depends on the site design and whether or not it's a mobile/reactive type of site or not.

So far, the 5 sites I frequent (all are non-mobile versions) the most that had this functionality for the last 10 years suddenly lost it the moment I upgraded from iOS 12 to iOS 13.

So it appears to be an iOS 13 issue.

 

[C DM]

So far, the 5 sites I frequent (all are non-mobile versions) the most that had this functionality for the last 10 years suddenly lost it the moment I upgraded from iOS 12 to iOS 13.

So it appears to be an iOS 13 issue.

Have you looked into Safari's settings to see if there's anything you can play around with that might get it working the way you like (including experimental features there)?

 

[boltjames]

Have you looked into Safari's settings to see if there's anything you can play around with that might get it working the way you like (including experimental features there)?

Yes, I did, unfortunately nothing there.

This double-tap to zoom text blocks has been a stock standard feature of iOS since it’s original release. It’s never been an on/off feature. It’s just gone now.

 

[Nermal]

I can confirm that it's not working for me either (iPhone 8).

 

[C DM]

Yes, I did, unfortunately nothing there.

This double-tap to zoom text blocks has been a stock standard feature of iOS since it’s original release. It’s never been an on/off feature. It’s just gone now.

I don't use it very often, but from what I recall it hasn't really worked on a variety of sites that I tried in a while (even before iOS 12), which is why I mostly attributed it to site design (being mobile/responsive).

 

[boltjames]

Anyone have any luck today double-tapping text blocks in Safari to have them snap to the screen width like it used to be for the last 10 years?