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iPhone XR XR font size

A

aldo82

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 8, 2011
676
554
Hi folks,

Been reading some comments about the font being small on the XR being small and display zoom not making a huge amount of difference .I'd be interested to hear more about this .How does it compare to the max? Does display zoom and dynamic font size help at all?

I have a vision impairment and need decent size font .I've been using android for the last several years and am considering coming back to the iPhone but the small font size (especially in the browser) is worrying for me .I like the 3 finger accessibility zoom on iOS but it's not something I would want to have to us all the time
 
WAM2 said:
You can change the font size in the display or accessibility settings.
Click to expand...
Thank .does that change safari though? I know it's possible to pinch to zoom but if the font is really small then it results in lots of side to side scrolling
 
No it definitely doesn’t work in Safari and one of the reasons I returned the X was no Zoom view that si find so necessary these days.
 
Newtons Apple said:
I find double tapping on the screen zooms in perfectly for reading smaller text in Safari.
Click to expand...
It sometimes helps, but not that often. One example is this forum, double tapping does nothing in portrait, only in landscape. Another instance that zoomed view helps is for text in some emails when once again dynamic font size has no effect.
 
Lyn2012 said:
It sometimes helps, but not that often. One example is this forum, double tapping does nothing in portrait, only in landscape. Another instance that zoomed view helps is for text in some emails when once again dynamic font size has no effect.
Click to expand...
If double tapping doesn't do anything then the zoom gesture usually can, at least in Safari.
 
Safari fonts can be microscopic even on a Plus iPhone. It depends on the website. Some pages are compatible with "Reader View" (like Ars Technica) while others aren't. Web forums never support Reader View, so they're always microscopic —

But there is a JavaScript workaround that's easy to implement to zoom just the text and not the graphics (just like a normal browser) without having to pinch & zoom the whole page and scroll back & forth. (Which is really lame). Also many websites prevent you from pinch zooming anyway- so you're locked into microscopic fonts -- But there's a JavaScript workaround for that too!

All these JavaScript text resizing options should be a native part of Safari - but Apple wants everyone to suffer, so they don't do it.

Below are some screen shots of this thread at different text zooms. You can see that the text flows to the edge and doesn't require scrolling or any zooming.

The links below tell you how to set up a JavaScript text zoom bookmark and how to disable zoom lock on webpages.

http://www.andadapt.com/howto-change-the-font-size-in-safari-on-the-ipad-and-iphone/

https://ios.gadgethacks.com/how-to/re-enable-zoom-for-websites-block-safari-for-your-iphone-0156489/

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Many thanks for the detailed reply, that's really appreciated. On Android I have the browser font size set to 130% plus I can set to allow zoom on any page even if the website tries to block it. I'm interested in coming back to the iPhone but the safari font size worries me and this thread backs up the worrying is worth it although it's good to know there are work arounds. On Android I have the font pretty big:
 

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WAM2 said:
You can change the font size in the display or accessibility settings.
Click to expand...
aldo82 said:
Thank .does that change safari though? I know it's possible to pinch to zoom but if the font is really small then it results in lots of side to side scrolling
Click to expand...
M33-1 said:
No, it does not. It only affects the text in certain apps, but not safari. Web page text will still be the same even if you turn the text size to max.
Click to expand...
If you change the display settings to Zoomed Display, it increases the font size in Safari.

Actually, it changes everything. It basically turns the XR display into an XS display, just bigger.
 
Any chance anyone could share a screenshot showing the difference between safari on normal mode and with display zoom? Would be interested to see how much it helps .
 
Last edited by a moderator:
aldo82 said:
Yes, I'm registered visually impaired. Thanks for your help
[doublepost=1540677175][/doublepost]Any chance anyone could share a screenshot showing the difference between safari on normal mode and with display zoom? Would be interested to see how much it helps .
Click to expand...

Perfect Browser sells a pro app that allows you to increase the font although it’s a bit pricey, has Adblock and other features too. If you download the free version you can see what the increased fonts would look like on a page before purchasing but it’s not usable unless you upgrade to Pro I believe.

I have been asking Apple for font increases in Safari for years to no avail. :(
 
Thanks for sharing.. useful info
now i see it said:
Safari fonts can be microscopic even on a Plus iPhone. It depends on the website. Some pages are compatible with "Reader View" (like Ars Technica) while others aren't. Web forums never support Reader View, so they're always microscopic —

But there is a JavaScript workaround that's easy to implement to zoom just the text and not the graphics (just like a normal browser) without having to pinch & zoom the whole page and scroll back & forth. (Which is really lame). Also many websites prevent you from pinch zooming anyway- so you're locked into microscopic fonts -- But there's a JavaScript workaround for that too!

All these JavaScript text resizing options should be a native part of Safari - but Apple wants everyone to suffer, so they don't do it.

Below are some screen shots of this thread at different text zooms. You can see that the text flows to the edge and doesn't require scrolling or any zooming.

The links below tell you how to set up a JavaScript text zoom bookmark and how to disable zoom lock on webpages.

http://www.andadapt.com/howto-change-the-font-size-in-safari-on-the-ipad-and-iphone/

https://ios.gadgethacks.com/how-to/re-enable-zoom-for-websites-block-safari-for-your-iphone-0156489/

View attachment 798734 View attachment 798735 View attachment 798736 View attachment 798737 View attachment 798738
Click to expand...
 
Does anyone have any feedback as to how the font size compares between the XR and the Max?
 
aldo82 said:
Does anyone have any feedback as to how the font size compares between the XR and the Max?
Click to expand...
We already know it’s a bit smaller because the screen is smaller despite showing the same amount of info.

The Max screen is 896 screen points vertically and about 5.87” tall = 153 points per inch (which is 1/3 of 458 ppi).

The XR screen is 896 screen points vertically and about 5.5” tall = 163 points per inch (which is 1/2 of 326 ppi).

The larger the points per inch number, the smaller the text.
 
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EugW said:
If you change the display settings to Zoomed Display, it increases the font size in Safari.

Actually, it changes everything. It basically turns the XR display into an XS display, just bigger.
Click to expand...

Interestingly, I put both my 6s and new XR into zoom display, and the fonts on this site are a little larger on the 6s than on the XR. Any idea why?

The one thing I was hoping in moving to a larger screen was having larger fonts for reading. Unless I'm missing a setting somewhere, it's not happening.
 
Broadus said:
Interestingly, I put both my 6s and new XR into zoom display, and the fonts on this site are a little larger on the 6s than on the XR. Any idea why?

The one thing I was hoping in moving to a larger screen was having larger fonts for reading. Unless I'm missing a setting somewhere, it's not happening.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I'm interested in the larger screen iPhones but a concern I have is that font size is small and seems that way given your comment
 
aldo82 said:
Interesting. I'm interested in the larger screen iPhones but a concern I have is that font size is small and seems that way given your comment
Click to expand...

It's not a big difference but a noticeable one. Unfortunately, it's the reverse of what I expected. I thought the XR would have larger fonts. Perhaps it has something to do with aspect ratio or the screen points that EugW refers to.
 
Broadus said:
Interestingly, I put both my 6s and new XR into zoom display, and the fonts on this site are a little larger on the 6s than on the XR. Any idea why?

The one thing I was hoping in moving to a larger screen was having larger fonts for reading. Unless I'm missing a setting somewhere, it's not happening.
Click to expand...
Yes, the explanation is below.

The iPhone 6s' Zoomed Display mode turns it into a giant iPhone 5.
The iPhone 6s Plus Zoomed Display mode turns it into a giant iPhone 6s.
The iPhone XR Zoomed Display mode turns it into a big iPhone XS.
The iPhone XS Max Zoomed Display mode turns it into a giant iPhone XS.

Remember, the smaller the points per inch, the bigger the fonts:

Screen height of 6s is 4.1". iPhone 5 vertical screen points is 568, so Zoomed Display is 138 points per inch.
Screen height of Plus is 4.8". iPhone 6s vertical screen points is 667, so Zoomed Display is 139 points per inch.
Screen height of XR is 5.5". iPhone XS vertical screen points is 812, so Zoomed Display is 148 points per inch.
Screen height of XS Max is 5.9". iPhone XS vertical screen points is 812, so Zoomed Display is 138 points per inch.

So for Zoomed Display mode:

5/SE: No Zoomed Display
6/7/8: 138
Plus: 139
XR: 148
XS: No Zoomed Display
XS Max: 138

For Standard Display mode:

5/SE: 163
6/7/8: 163
XR: 163
Plus: 154
XS: 153
XS Max: 153

This means that the 6/7/8, Plus, and Max all have about the same font sizes in Zoomed Display mode with the points per inch at about 138-139.

In native mode, the 5, 6/7/8, and XR are all the same at 163, and the Plus, XS, and XS Max are all about the same at 153-154.

The XR's Zoomed Display Mode is the odd one out at 148, a medium font size. This actually works out well for my wife. She wants bigger than native 163, but doesn't really need as big as 138, so 148 is good. In truth, that's only a little bit bigger than the native font sizes of the Plus, XS, and Max.
 
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I will admit it’s a pain in the butt. I don’t like using zoom but in the case of using Safari, I have too. It not that big of a deal though! I can live with it.
 
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