Accessibility: Zoom focus shifts

[falcon-Z]

Distribution (run cat /etc/os-release):

NAME="Pop!_OS"
VERSION="22.04 LTS"
ID=pop
ID_LIKE="ubuntu debian"
PRETTY_NAME="Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS"
VERSION_ID="22.04"
HOME_URL="https://pop.system76.com"
SUPPORT_URL="https://support.system76.com"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://github.com/pop-os/pop/issues"
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://system76.com/privacy"
VERSION_CODENAME=jammy
UBUNTU_CODENAME=jammy
LOGO=distributor-logo-pop-os

Related Application and/or Package Version (run apt policy $PACKAGE NAME):

Settings -> Accessibility -> Zoom

Issue/Bug Description:

When Zoomed In say at 3X or more. Zoom focus tends to shift away unexpectedly for example in one instance when trying to read notifications placing the cursor to the side of the widget the focus unexpectedly shifts to center of the widget, and this happens without any movement from the cursor.
I suspect this happens when zoomed in such that a widget becomes larger than the size of the screen magnifier automatically tries to direct focus to center of the widget and it has unintended consequences which makes it hard for someone with visual impairment use their system reliably.

Steps to reproduce (if you know):

1. Turn on Zoom under Settings -> Accessibility -> Zoom
2. Zoom in at 3x or plus levels
3. Set Preference "Magnifier cursor pushes content around" Which should ensure that focus dont move around unless intentionally pushed away using cursor.
4. start using the system as useual and you may observe the focus shifting away unintentionally

Some places to observe

1. Click on Date and time on top bar
2. position cursor and magnifier cursor to the left
3. leave mouse unattended for a few seconds
4. you could see the focus unexpectedly moving to the center of widget

Same behavior can be observed in other places like in Settings app, Pop store and more

Expected behavior:

Magnifier focus to remain still until user intentionally moves focus as implied by the setting "magnifier cursor pushes content around"

Other Notes:
I tried disabling magnifier carrat tracking through command line using Gsettings but, it has no effect

[n3m0-22]

I was able to reproduce this behavior.

Screencast.from.03-08-2023.07.16.28.AM.webm

Output of journalctl -f while this happens:

log.txt

I have also tested this with pop-shell disabled, but the behavior is still the same. After a bit of research I see that there have been other issues with gnome-shell zoom that may be related.

https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-shell/-/issues/5557

https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-shell/-/issues/5509

[leviport]

This doesn't have anything to do with pop-shell's "Mouse cursor follows active window" setting, does it?

[n3m0-22]

I tested with pop-shell enabled and Mouse cursor follows active window turned off and the problem is still there.

[leviport]

Gotcha, thanks for testing that. Sounds like the behavior might be coming from upstream then.