Text is not selectable by default on the web

[martinrybak]

Describe the bug
Text cannot be selected for copying. This affects all text elements other than text fields.

To Reproduce

1. Run the /examples/gallery app
2. Navigate to http://localhost:8080/#/material/text
3. Attempt to highlight and select text.

Expected behavior
Text should be selectable and can be copied to the clipboard.

Screenshots

Desktop (please complete the following information):

• OS: mac
• Browser chrome 72.0.3626.121, safari 12.0.3
• Dart Version 2.2.1
• Flutter Web commit SHA f2006dd26c71fe7e9e7e144abbd3add40b4915f9

[dnfield]

See also #5422 - would the framework fix in progress for this be a fix for web? Or is the expectation in web that all text be selectable?

[MaxBittker]

the expectation in web is strongly that all text is selectable, unless the property user-select: none; has been set

[lubritto]

Any update here? We have 7 months since the last post, just an update can help us.

[dnfield]

@yjbanov @mdebbar - is this something that should behave differently for web? This has a fix on the framework side but there Text is not selectable by default.

/cc @ferhatb

[mdebbar]

@dnfield @lubritto In Flutter, text isn't selectable by default. Try using SelectableText to enable selection of text. Please let us know if you face any issues.

[ferhatb]

Hi Dan, are you suggesting adding an api (maybe theme level) that will allow changing the default ?I'm fine with the consistency (default off everywhere). I think web's default makes sense on content heavy sites/docs rather than apps.

[atebitftw]

@dnfield @lubritto In Flutter, text isn't selectable by default. Try using SelectableText to enable selection of text. Please let us know if you face any issues.

With respect @mdebbar, this answer isn't satisfactory. SelectableText doesn't behave as expected in a Web context. Users expect to be able to use ctrl+c or right click on the selected text with their mouse and see "copy" in the context menu. None of this appears to be the case with SelectableText, at least on the beta channel.

[azol]

No way to copy text using SelectableText on dev channel. As for me the issue should be reopened. Web without ability to select/copy is... not what I expect from the web :)

[dnfield]

@azol that sounds like a seperate issue - please file one for that (SelectableText can't be copied on web).

[mdebbar]

@azol @prujohn the issue you are describing is valid, and I can confirm that it isn't fixed on web. Like @dnfield said, it's a separate issue from the closed one.

I created a separate issue for the inability to copy selected text: #47234

[rayliverified]

Inadvertent content and web scraping protection is the best :D
Only copyright infringers and criminals need to copy text! /s

[MaxBittker]

I understand and respect why keeping behavior consistent with other parts of flutter is desirable, but I also think there might be a better compromise to be struck here -

If you go to twitter.com, nytimes.com, github.com, etc, 95+% of text is selectable.

Breaking this assumption will cause some negative emotional reactions towards flutter web apps from users and developers, and that it's worth reconsidering the intended behavior here. Text behavior is a common smell test for "is this a native web experience?".

Even if this behavior stands for the time being, do you think another solution, such as using the Theme to store whether text is selectable by default, could be considered in the future?

[polina-c]

@dnfield @lubritto In Flutter, text isn't selectable by default. Try using SelectableText to enable selection of text. Please let us know if you face any issues.

SelectableText does not help, because it makes the text selectable only within one widget.
Web users expect the text to be selectable across many elements, for example, i selected and copied this text from the previous post:

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Nash0x7E2 mentioned this issue on Jan 18
Copy support on web #49117
Closed
7 of 11 tasks complete

[delCatta]

Any updates on this?

[lock]

This thread has been automatically locked since there has not been any recent activity after it was closed. If you are still experiencing a similar issue, please open a new bug, including the output of flutter doctor -v and a minimal reproduction of the issue.