Auto-Snapping Cursor Behavior in Bear 2.0.4

Hello! I’m not quite sure if this is a bug, but this auto-snapping cursor behavior was not present in Bear 1. I’d prefer if this behavior could be removed or at least optionally disabled.

I’m not sure if I’m explaining this well, so I’ve recorded my screen to show what I mean.

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Agree. It makes me feel “clumsy” as a user

I don’t understand why this is a problem. What would you prefer it to do?

If you use the delete key to get back at end of prevous line the i expect actually what your video shows

I’d prefer it if the app didn’t take control of the cursor movement without my input. It feels unnatural and uncomfortable. I’d prefer to have the same level of control over the cursor that I have with a computer mouse.

To illustrate, imagine you’re using a computer mouse and the cursor starts moving without you moving the mouse. That would feel really weird, wouldn’t it?

That’s the way the app controls the cursor. It feels like I’m not in control and it’s not a comfortable experience. I hope this makes sense.


Edit

Oh, and in case you didn’t know. In iOS, you can move the text cursor around freely on the screen by holding down the space bar on your keyboard.

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Isn’t this just normal iOS 16 or whatever behavior where it shows a preview of where the text cursor is going to land? It just shows where the text cursor will be dropped when you lift your finger, and the cursor itself is still moving freely, probably hidden under your finger.

You can notice this behavior in Apple Notes and even in this text box I’m typing this reply in, in Safari. I don’t think the devs can turn this on or off, it’s just how every text box is on iOS.

From what I remember, this auto-snapping behavior of the floating cursor was not present in Bear 1. This behavior is not present in other apps as well (see fourth video below).


Here are a few more examples to illustrate what I mean.

In this first video, you can see the preview cursor (grey vertical line) that shows where the cursor will be if you lift your finger off the screen. This preview is only shown when the floating cursor (red vertical line) is not directly over any specific location in the text.

In this second video, you can see how the floating cursor (red vertical line) is used to precisely position the cursor within the text. Notice that the preview cursor (grey vertical line) is absent when making these precise adjustments.

This third video shows the current floating cursor behavior in Bear 2.

This video shows the preferred floating cursor behavior (now a yellow vertical line) in the Apple Notes app.

Here is some additional floating cursor documentation from Apple for developers.

(this was a quick search of Apple’s documentation, so these links probably don’t cover everything)

This looks like totally normal iOS snapping behaviour to me, unless I am completely missing what you’re pointing out

For example:

Bear 2 Auto-Snapping Behavior

The floating cursor (red vertical line) teleports to the beginning of the line directly below the current line.

Apple Notes Non Auto-Snapping Behavior

The floating cursor (yellow vertical line) does not teleport anywhere. The user must manually move the floating cursor to the desired position.

The second video seems more natural to me because it gives the user complete control over the cursor. However, judging by this thread’s responses, this might not be a big concern for many people.

This third video shows the current floating cursor behavior in Bear 2.

For me, B2.0 works like the Apple Notes video and just about every other app also. I tested this on 16.5.1 and 16.6 RC, and the red text cursor definitely doesn’t move on its own like I think yours does.

Interesting - bear 2 doesn’t behave for me this way. It behaves like apple notes

and @BearlyUnderstanding I agree. I just tested this on iOS17 and iPadOS 17 and the cursor movement you describe works the same between Apple Notes and Bear 2 - for me.

Hmmm, seems like my iPhone XR might be the issue then. Ever since iOS 16, I’ve had a few app and system glitches. Oh well :/ But thanks so much for the help, everyone!

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In my experience, A huge portion of these caret issues come from the Smart Punctuation preference in General > Keyboard. Can you check if this is the case for you too?

I disabled the preference, but sadly still the same behavior.

ok, thanks for the follow-up. Can you please tell me the iOS release you are currently running? Also, can your please try to update to 2.0.6 if haven’t already?

iOS version is 16.5.1 and Bear is 2.0.6 (11855). All the same behavior.