Highlighting: Single-tap selects a highlight

Currently, when you single-tap on text in a book, it will show/hide the top and bottom toolbars. This request is to change that, so that when you single-tap on text in a book and specifically on a highlight in that book, it will select the entire highlight.

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Mobile App

Features

Done

Prayer List

Logos

Status: Submitted

Comments

Rob Rice

yes this needs to be reversed. i need to be able to click highlighted text and be able to copy the whole thing.

unknown

Have to have this, has made using the iPad version so painful. Been using logos for years and years and now have to go through too many steps.

Melinda Neves

The update for this function doesn’t always work. I agree with the others, it needs to be reversed.

Melinda Neves

I agree with the others, this needs to be reversed. It doesn’t always work!

Melinda Neves

I mean please reverse. ☺️

unknown

Really bummed with this change. Using multiple highlight colors is now a massive pain. Trying to select a highlight and make quick changes or deletions is incredibly cumbersome. This change made my Bible study time almost twice as long and has totally distracted from time in God’s word.

Eric F.

Totally agree with this. As a short-term workaround, if you hold on one of the words in the highlight, it’ll select that word and you can interact with the highlight in the partial modal that comes up.

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Taylor Francis

Please put this back the way it was... It wasn't broke, so don't try to 'fix' it!!!

Mark Barnes (Logos)

We changed this for several reasons, including the difficulty of selecting the correct highlight when highlights overlapped.

The optimal path for editing/deleting highlights is now:
1) Select a word or verse that intersects with the highlight you want to edit. You don't need to select the existing highlight exactly.
2) Near the top of the selection menu, you'll see all the highlights/notes that intersect with your selection. To delete the highlighting or change its color, tap the kebab menu (the three dots) to the right of the card. To edit the note, tap the card itself.

I can see that we're no longer offering an easy way to copy the contents of the highlighted text, which I appreciate could be frustrating. We'll look to add that ability.

I also know that it's an extra tap to delete the highlighting or change the highlighting style. Can you help us understand why that extra tap is so important? Is it because:
a) It wasn't clear that there was a two-tap process, and you were having to use lots more taps (if so, what were you doing instead?
b) You edit/delete highlights very often, so even an extra tap takes a lot longer because you're doing it often. If so, can you help us understand why you edit/delete highlights often.
c) Something else.

unknown

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1331363#Comment_1331363

@Mark Barnes (Logos) it’s not even just that I edit and delete highlights often (I do), but as someone who uses LOTS of different highlighters for different things (inductive study, different colors for different topics, etc) there isn’t a quick way to do that anymore.

I used to be able to swipe across a line of text to highlight it then it was one tap to select the highlight and another to select the color I want. Now I have to navigate multiple menus. It’s a pain and it is adding a significant amount of wasted time to my study flow.

unknown

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1331363#Comment_1331363

@Mark Barnes (Logos) a) Yes, it was not clear to me that it is now a two-tap process, and I was using a longer process, viz., selecting a word, then dragging the bar(s) to select the entire highlight, which was extremely tedious, really a show stopper. b) Now that I think about it, I really only edit/delete highlights often with just one source, the lectionary. I preach from it just about every other day, using the highlights, different colors, emphasis mark-up, etc. After the homily, I delete all of it because I don't want it to influence me the next time I develop a homily from those readings. I will use the two-tap process for a while and see if that extra tap makes a big difference. I imagine it won't be as convenient as before, but probably not a show stopper either.

Mark Barnes (Logos)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1331363#Comment_1331363

@jordan – thanks for the extra information. Am I right in thinking you have "Swipe to Highlight" turned on? (If you're not sure, you can check, by clicking on the three dots menu at the top right of a panel and choosing "View Settings"). If so, you may find it quicker to turn that off, and then:
(1) Select the text you want to highlight.
(2) Tap the highlight style you want to use from the top of the selection menu. You can swipe across to get more styles.

unknown

I’m used to sliding my finger on a word to mark where I stopped. I can’t do that anymore and I don’t agree with the last change of the policy

unknown

Please revert back to the way it was so I can find my starting point with ease, thanks.

unknown

Please revert to the way it was prior to the update. I regularly add additional notes to my highlights and the new workflow is cumbersome and not intuitive. I also second what others have said about copying a highlight. If logos wants to keep a single tap to show/remove the top and bottom banners, a solution could be to let the single tap show/remove the banners only where the banners are or would be. Another option would be to use a shirt up or down swipe to reveal/hide the banners. Removing functionality for power users in order to make a banner move seems excessive.

Miles DeBenedictis

The ability to highlight words, phrases, or portions of verses and then change the color of the highlights on the fly is an essential feature for me. This is something I've used for years within Logos. Please make it possible again!

Robert Kelbe

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1331363#Comment_1331363

@Mark Barnes (Logos)  I appreciate you listening to us, and I really hope you will hear our concerns.

My answer is first b) I edit/delete highlights often. Why do I edit/delete highlights often? I use a highlighting palette I made for marking up books as I read ( https://documents.logos.com/documents/69471fe038b3415ab4376a88b702d3a9/details). Below is what a typical commentary might look like after finish reading it. As you can see , there are basic underlines/bars , stars for important things , exclamation marks for surprising/convicting things , question marks for things I don't understand , X's for things I disagree with. Sometimes , as I am reading , something that was a question mark become clear , and I change it to a simple underline. Other things that were underlined I decide I want to star-underline , etc. Sometimes I realize a highlight is too long for an underline , so I use a sidebar underline instead for the paragraph , and underline a more specific sentence within the broader paragraph. As I read , I change many , many highlights.

My second answer is c) I disagree that it is just one more click to change the highlight. It is at least 5 clicks , with multiple other inconveniences along the way.   I have to click somewhere where the highlight is. I have to scroll down to see the correct highlight (sometimes there are multiple , when I highlight a paragraph with a sidebar , and a sentence within a paragraph with an underline). It's not as easy to see that you have the correct highlight compared to when the highlight automatically selected and you could see it in the resource. The I need to click on the correct highlight , click on the highlighting style , scroll to the desired highlight style , click the desired highlight style , and click done. That is wayyyy more cumbersome than clicking on the highlight , verifying that it is correct , swiping if necessary to a recently used highlight style , and clicking on that highlight style.

By the way , I often had overlapping highlights and it was never an issue. When it was , I would use the method you suggested. The logic seemed to select the smallest highlight that overlapped where you tapped. If I wanted to select the bigger highlight , I would select where the smaller highlight didn't overlap.

Please , please listen to our concerns! I have 54 ,000 highlights. This is a big deal for me , and it was working beautifully for a year.

Robert Kelbe

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1331363#Comment_1331363

@Robert Kelbe

a7a44fb636e18ab0f0ec2f4f54cad7fac3d09d75_Screenshot%202024-03-05%20103302.png

unknown

This feature needs to be reversed. I agree with many of the comments of others. The ability to highlight words , phrases , or portions of verses and then change the color of the highlights on the fly is an essential feature for me. honestly , one of the main features of why I was willing to spend as much money as I have on Logos. This feature set Logos apart from Kindle and other digital resources.
This update has wasted a significant amount of time in my study flow and to my personal devotions (as I just started using logos for that).

I would suggest if there is a need for users to more easily see the menu then add a triple tap for that feature.

I would be grateful if you changed things back to the way that they were.

unknown

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1331379#Comment_1331379

@Miles DeBenedictis I agree with Miles.

unknown

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1331376#Comment_1331376

@Geoff Box I agree with Geoff

Robert Kelbe

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1331363#Comment_1331363

@Mark Barnes (Logos) If you consider implementing the single-click to select highlights, please note this comment of mine from another thread. (*ATTENTION: New Touch Gestures* - Logos Forums):

Maybe Logos can find a way to make both of us happy! One idea: Have different behavior in Bibles vs. Resources , so verses are default-selected in Bibles , whereas highlights are default-selected in Resources. In other words , by priority , verse (in Bibles) > highlight > sentence.

Robert Kelbe

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1331363#Comment_1331363

@Robert Kelbe I see there is a quicker way to get to the highlights than I described. However, it still takes more clicks, and takes time to figure out the correct highlight, and you can’t see the text while editing the highlight style, all of these were much better before.

unknown

I love Logos, but I can't think of a more annoying feature that has ever rolled out in an update.

Highlighting and highlight editing is a feature I use every week in sermon prep, and with that, I have to say that I strongly dislike the new single-tap feature for two main reasons:

1. The new feature makes highlight editing extremely annoying , slow , and cumbersome.
2. The new feature is unnecessarily redundant , as scrolling down accomplishes the same function without the headache.

The new single-tap feature has turned my Logos experience into a frustration , as the interface distracts me from my workflow. Rather than focusing on the text , I am constantly distracted by the clunky experience caused by the update.

I appeal that you either (1) revert to the old system or (2) give an option in settings to turn off the new single-tap feature.

unknown

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1331381#Comment_1331381

@James Maxim To answer this question: b) You edit/delete highlights very often , so even an extra tap takes a lot longer because you're doing it often. If so , can you help us understand why you edit/delete highlights often.

editing and deleting highlights often is the regular part of my study.

I have a system in which I highlight different colors for different uses. I use blue to highlight main points. I use red to highlight where the gospel is being mentioned, I use green to highlight I might paraphrase, I use orange to highlight something I might quote.

In other words, I’m constantly changing the color of the highlight as I’m going through a text and commentary. So having a single tap to quickly switch the color saves significant amounts of time. Also, I will underline certain words in places where I have highlighted, so the need to have a single tap is essential.

Also I resonate with what Matthew has said below. "Rather than focusing on the text, I am constantly distracted by the clunky experience caused by the update.

Thank you for listening.

Lee Kachner

The new tap features prohibited easily changing highlights or copying text.

Tom Vidal

My view is that the UI/UX change that came with version 32 (IOS) works very well. I like the single tap to get the menu elements to return. It was a pain to reliably call up those menu elements under the previous method. The current method presents a very organized and reliable way to get to highlights and notes, and to enable users to modify/delete those highlights and notes. I find the whole thing far more reliable and more efficient. I've read the other comments and as someone who uses notes/highlights extensively, I'm not the criticisms of this design. I say that with no disrespect to the commenters, but only to say I'm honestly not seeing how this UI has created any friction points compared to the immediately preceding design that seemed very inconsistent to me.

unknown

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1331363#Comment_1331363

@Mark Barnes (Logos) In the event that my response reaches you if you’re still watching this thread, I wish to echo the sentiment of all the users here, especially that of @Matthew James Stanghelle : “I love Logos , but I can't think of a more annoying feature that has ever rolled out in an update”. If you hear nothing else , PLEASE understand that , none the less , if you’d like more insight please keep reading for responses to your questions:

Importantly ,

“why is that extra tap is so important?”

Because it’s not just one extra tap; it’s an extra hold , and we can’t easily re-select the passage.

Stands to reason that highlighted text is of great significance to the user by virtue of the fact that it’s highlighted. The user will likely want to do other tasks with the highlighted passage. In response to your questions:

a) it was clear it’s a two tap process. It’s a very discouraging two taps. One includes a hold, and the whole thing feels broken.

b) with the most genuine respect, I’m hesitant to explain why I use highlights at the risk of my approach being assessed as not how the company designed the Bible study process (to which I’d say the single tap is not only helpful for all users, but the toolbar visibility approach in general is beginning to get messy, and I’d encourage the developers to take a fresh read of the Apple HIG (human interface guidelines) and consider adopting a robust approach. This is one of very few areas of software where you can get it right for all users (well, almost all), and give options to users.

c) this is a bold change to force on users, and with no warning. A simple “enable legacy highlight gestures” would have not been difficult to implement as part of this change. To this point I am speaking with experience as an Apple developer.

Not for nothing - trying to figure out if this was something I’d done wrong, or a bug, came at the expense of some outstanding study sessions which I’d gone to great lengths to organize time today for, so to find out that this change was intentional between the support agent who gave me this suggestion-box link and yourself who is asking why we care so much about this, leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth if I’m honest. Now that this is fully expressed, thank you for listening to us all, and God bless.

Gunnar Heiberg

It used to be possible, with a single tap, to select an existing hightlight, now, in ver.32, it is necessary to select a word within the highlight then drag the bars to explicitly select the entire highlight - a sometimes clumsy maneuver on a mobile device.
Please restore this feature.
Thank you.

unknown

Tap on a highlight should interact with the highlight as before.

Tap anywhere OTHER than highlighted text can show/hide menu. Then we can all be happy, right?

unknown

Please roll back this change. Please. The app is now so clunky and troublesome to use that I'm looking for alternatives. I really hate to lose such a significant investment but this destroyed my workflow.

unknown

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1331385#Comment_1331385

@JR Taylor Well, some people have so many highlights that it’s the non highlighted text that stands out. They really just need to revert it until they can address the toolbar visibility properly

unknown

The solution that is presented doesn’t work. Part of the beauty of Logos is its ease of use. Highlighting is a most basic function and now you have made it difficult. I would even describe it as an unmitigated disaster. It is now so annoying that I would consider not recommending the product as a whole.

unknown

As I use often use a wide variety of highlights, I much prefer the old way of selecting highlights using a single tap. The new way takes considerably more time and effort. Please, please consider reverting.

Mark Barnes (Logos)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1331363#Comment_1331363

@Ben last week the status of this suggestion was changed to "In Progress". That means that we'll be releasing an update that will be restoring the old functionality that tapping on a highlight will select it.

Mark Barnes (Logos)

We've heard you all! We'll be releasing an update that restores the old functionality of tapping on a highlight to select it. I'm sorry for the disruption to your workflows. We try not to cause too much disruption, but this particular issue wasn't flagged during our beta process, so we misunderstood how important it was to some of you. But I appreciate your prompt feedback, which will allow us to put it right fairly quickly.

unknown

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1331363#Comment_1331363

@Mark Barnes (Logos) I'm happy to confess that I now realize that all of my intuitions on this matter were wrong. When I used to work in software, the words "We changed this for several reasons" meant "this is how it is forever now ". Thanks for hearing us.

What happens now for the users who were delighted with this change ?

Sam Shelton

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1331390#Comment_1331390

@Mark Barnes (Logos)
Mark ,

What about those of us who were so excited to see this new change that allowed us to easily move between menus?

What about those of us who found the ability to choose between multiple highlights to be a better use than having to figure out how to differentiate between them?

Save for having a way to copy the contents of a highlight, the new change is much more precise than the old way, even if it does take an extra click or two.

Perhaps you could find a way of letting the user choose how they use single-tap, double-tap, and long-press - as choosing just one way only will alienate one group or the other. One of the great advantages of Logos has always been having a number of different ways to do things within the program, with the ability to choose the one that works best for you.

Mark Barnes (Logos)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1331390#Comment_1331390

@Sam Shelton – Long-pressing and double-tapping will still work in the same way they do now. The only behavior we're reverting is what happens when you single-tap on a highlight. In v32, that dismisses the UI. In v33, that will select the highlight.

unknown

Definitely needs to be reversed. There's already a way to see the menus: you tap the top of the screen. This just removed functionality without adding new functionality.

Please reverse this to the prior functionality that selected the entire bible verse with the single tap on it if there was no highlight on that verse.

unknown

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1331376#Comment_1331376

@Geoff B There's already a way to show the menus. You tap the toolbar visible at the top of the screen where it shows the name of the current document.

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unknown

Am I missing something? Lots of talk about needing a way to show the menu bars. There already is one. You tap the small toolbar at the top of the screen that shows the document name. Doing that makes the top and bottom menu bars visible.

I don't know how to do it on Android but that's how it works on iOS.

Sam Shelton

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1331390#Comment_1331390

@Mark Barnes (Logos) Thanks Mark — for listening to Logos users , responding to Logos users , and for trying to make Logos work in a manner that is beneficial to all of us!

Lee Kachner

Please restore the single-tap highlight modifier to the app. One of the greatest features of the app has been the ability to change highlights and markups easily as you study. The current single-tap function of bring the toolbars up is not worth the trade-off.

unknown

Thank you for making the decision to roll back these changes. I really thought I was experiencing some sort of bug.

Sunoop

There has been some recent changes which disabled auto selection of a highlighted text either underlined or colour changed or background changed on the first tap. Now I have to select manually (long press the text to select) and then perform the desired action. Please see if you can bring back thee auto selection on a tap

Mark Barnes (Logos)

@Guru This will be changed back in v33.

Ali Pope

We will be restoring this functionality in an upcoming release.

Ali Pope

We are restoring the single-tap functionality to select a highlight. This will come in an upcoming release.

unknown

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1331390#Comment_1331390

@Mark Barnes (Logos) Mark, please remember these principle in UI design

This one is straight from the Apple HIG, and straying from it got swift opposition as it always will:

• Respond to gestures in ways that are consistent with other apps on the device. People expect most gestures to work the same regardless of their current context. For example , people expect tap to activate or select an object.

• Handle gestures as responsively as possible. Gestures enhance the experience of direct manipulation and provide immediate feedback

If there’s a way , people will find it and cling to it. Long-presses are the least preferred gesture that should never be used to select an object like a highlight that’s in direct view.
Similarly , revealing the menubar by tapping inside a scrolling view is intrusive.

The mindset behind the most recent change is what is most troubling about it

The fact that someone thought this long press on part of the sentence was a better approach to managing highlights indicates the people who work on this app don’t necessarily use it heavily , thus things like verse selection aren’t about to get easier , nor the many inconsistencies such as highlight behavior when the verse number is selected versus without , etc.