[Bug] Replying to self quotes tweet

[Yowlen]

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Expected behavior

Replying to self should just add the reply.

Actual behavior

Instead, it adds a link to the tweet it's replying to, essentially quoting it without notifying the user it's doing so until after it gets sent.

Steps to reproduce

Make a tweet. Reply to the tweet.
Note that this doesn't occur in replies to others, only to replies to self.

Extra info

Android version: 5.1.1

Network type:

• Cellular
• Wi-Fi

App version: 3.4.49

Build variant:

• Google
• F-Droid

Micro-blogging service:

• Twitter
• Fanfou
• GNU Social / StatusNet

App settings:

• Custom API
• Custom consumer key/secrets
• Official keys
• Using Thumbor
• Connected through proxy
• Media preview enabled

[mariotaku]

Have you removed your own @ username? It's a behavior change caused by Twitter's new 140 characters reply.

[Yowlen]

Yes, I've tried with & without usernames in the reply. Same result. And it's probably worth noting that Twitter's mobile site, as well as Twidere 3.4.48 doesn't do this.

[mariotaku]

I've tried replying to self without removing @ username, it sent as a reply without problem, in addition, my own @ username was not appearing in that reply.

[Yowlen]

[mariotaku]

@Yowlen Yeah I know, it's an intended behavior. I'll add an explanation under composing text for that case.

[Yowlen]

But why is it intended? It completely ruins my threading, and doesn't happen on the mobile site or 3.4.48, as I said. I just tested by downgrading to 3.4.48 on F-Droid to be sure. So why the change? And why no way to disable it?

[mariotaku]

@Yowlen Yes it is. Technically speaking new form of reply doesn't contains any @ mentions, all users mentioned before will be mentioned in this reply by default.

The worst thing is, you can't remove original tweet user's mention without losing in_reply_to data anymore, so the only way removing tweet user's @ username without losing context is to use quote tweet.

However, as you can see, existing mentions in a reply doesn't count in 140 characters. Also when you mentioning your self, seems Twitter will automatically remove @ username for you.

[mariotaku]

@Yowlen So, my suggestion is, when replying to your own tweet, there's no need to remove @ mention anymore, since it doesn't count in 140 characters, and doesn't show @ username at the beginning of the tweet actually.

[Yowlen]

I think I understand what you mean now, in which case, this also affects replies to others, should the user choose to remove the user they're replying to from the reply message. Is that correct?

And thanks for tolerating me & explaining it. I get cranky when I don't get enough sleep. XD

[kathakatze]

I totally agree, quoting the tweet instead of simply replying is unexpected and nearly always undesired. This breaks the usual self-reply threading and makes it even more confusing than twitter's new reply style. In most cases I've seen nobody else is involved, so the problem doesn't exist for these tweet/reply chains.

I noticed this earlier when I wanted to add another tweet to the one I had just posted and got exactly what I wanted (a reply to the first tweet, without any mentions), plus an undesired quote.

[mariotaku]

@Yowlen Yep - this affects all replies, Twidere actually uses some magic text parsing method to mimic old style mentions, though Twitter's new reply doesn't use @ mentions at all.

[mariotaku]

@kathakatze When tweet user removed, you'll be able to see a label indicating this reply will be sent as a quote in next version.

[Yowlen]

@mariotaku Thanks again. I suppose this is yet more proof Twitter has no idea what they're doing when it comes to coding. lol

[mariotaku]

@Yowlen I don't know what they are think about, all I can do is trying hard to bring good old Twitter experience back.

[Yowlen]

Haha. Fair enough. Keep up the good work. This app is a godsend - especially for cheap devices like mine. 1GB of RAM means Twitter's official app would eat up way too many resources given its bloat, and the mobile site is clunky and slow, at best - even on lightweight browsers like Lightning.

[kathakatze]

@mariotaku I see. Just tested again with the current beta, I'll have to keep "@​user" and it works as I originally intended. I didn't know you put in that magic, just did the same as always and got confused.

I've been thinking about how to make it a bit more obvious what gets sent and what is just "virtual" text, but didn't come up with an idea.

[Yowlen]

@kathakatze Maybe a little background shading for the affected text? A sort of "highlight" effect using a different shade of grey than the window itself?

[mariotaku]

@Yowlen @kathakatze Made @ mentions a little bit grey. I guess this will help people distinguish.