Posted on 09/03/2026 11:49:09 AM PDT by CaptainPhilFan
Ok look. I have been a daily devotee and frequent supporter of this once-wonderful site for years. Since 1998 FR has had an open tab on all of my desktops for frequent, hourly, reads and commenting.
But. My personal visits are down to a few times a week because life changes and i don't get to my desk too often, and this site has become largely unreadable on cell phone screens.
It gives me a headache trying to read articles and comments.
I believe many others have this opinion and experience. Daily Views are way down and God bless you FReepers trying to keep Jim's Vision alive.
But really, why the Page View change some time ago, and what is needed to fix it?
Is there a reason it's now nearly impossible to read on mobile? Is it a function of my cell phone? Is there a secret to making it how it used to look?
Can this be fixed?
Sincerely, Class of '98
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Nope, my eyes are great. The website changed.
Thanks for playing.
Must be different on different phones. Mine reads fine.
Well, I suppose people watching a web-enabled TV could absolutely do that.
I do not watch TV all day.
It is absolutely the site. It was fine on a cell phone until a few months ago. Some setting changed and the site became unreadable on mobile, depending your mobile screen size, I guess.
Many of us noticed at the same time. Visits and views to the site are down a lot and I’d bet your farm this is the reason why.
Bingo.
Sideways reading and pinching it open takes it from 3 full of text to 2 half lines of text that requires constant up and down and side to side scrolling. Need a joystick at that point.
I need one hand to hold the phone and the other one to hold my drink and smoke. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
I am so very sorry for your troubles.
Go to settings and enable ‘desktop site.’ This will give you more control.
Yeah, it is hard on a phone. Have to turn it vertically and pinch and zoom.... and sometimes push the page left and right. I only do that when I am truly bored and don’t want to go to the desktop in my office.
Not suggesting you spend a bunch of money and it’s certainly not pocket friendly but there are tablets - android and iOS - that you can use as phone and internet. At least with a tablet you can get a 1998 sized computer screen, only flatter. But not as easily mobile as a standard sized phone.
Read the post again.
I went from an 8 inch screen on a Mac SE 30 to an 85 inch TV because eyes fail as we get older. If you are using an iPhone you just need to go into settings and set the print to a larger size.
I have no troubles. Good luck with yours.
No, nothing has changed but your phone. Software updates or new phones may require adjusting the settings on the phone, but FR has remained the same except for crashes becoming extremely rare.
Getting older is not for the faint of heart. I now use an 85 inch TV as my monitor and use a M4 Mac Mini, no Smart TV apps run on my TV, Mac Browser only.
Are you really 4 years younger than I?
Anyway, my android does something odd and I’m pretty sure it’s cookie based.
When I get a new phone FR is tough to read. I set columns and stuff, no avail. Just a few days later it starts sizing correctly. Not the way I want it to size - but it does something.
No it didn't, something you are using has changed or you eyesight is not as good as you think.
When no one else has the problem you are having, maybe you should try looking at your equipment settings, or just keep claiming it is here. Won't require you to do anything.
I only use my cell phone for calls and messages. I use a computer to browse the web.
iPhones have text wrap so I guess you are using an Android of some kind.
I just go to Firefox, where it works fine.
I had to switch to Firefox
The site has changed for me, too, and this is not the first post I have read about the problem. It is a problem and it still exists (at least for me on an android phone). I use Google Chrome and you can click the three dots at the top of the page on the right and select Show reading mode, but it is very inconvenient.
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