Buttons to jump down not working

October 2, 2017 10:54 AM

When I click the jump to end of thread on any page it turns green and doesn't do anything. Also the jump to comments on the popular post page.

This is on Chrome 61.0.3163.98, on Samsung S8 running Android 7.0.0

posted by Uncle to Bugs at 10:54 AM (27 comments total)

Heya, not sure what's going on there though it might sound familiar to someone else. Can you provide any further details—is this on Ask specifically (with the greenness) or all parts of the site? How recently did it start happening?
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:56 AM on October 2, 2017

Experienced this on my Samsung S6 as well. Also, same version of Chrome and Android.

I noticed it on regular blue threads.
posted by Fizz at 10:58 AM on October 2, 2017

I noticed it this morning when I was working out and trying to jump down during one of the political megathreads.

I thought it was my connection and then forgot about it.
posted by Fizz at 11:00 AM on October 2, 2017

The arrow is literally a link to an anchor on the page, likewise the jump to new comments link, which is why the cause of the bug doesn't make much sense to me at all.

Also, I can safely say that on our side, this hasn't changed in years.
posted by frimble (staff) at 11:08 AM on October 2, 2017

Noticed this yesterday on my Alcatel tablet, in Chrome. I assumed it was because I was in a mega thread, but will test further when I get home today.
posted by nubs at 11:17 AM on October 2, 2017

Huh, I didn't even know this button existed until minutes ago, so I can't give a past baseline against which behavior might have changed. I just tried it for the first time ever on my phone and it worked - once. But since then it's been entirely unresponsive on a variety of pages (meaning not even with a change of color, so somewhat different from OP). If I press and hold, I can see that the URL+anchor as what it is pointed at (specifically in the case of threads, the #sidebar anchor rather than the #bottom-of-content anchor on desktop), but for whatever reason clicking on it does not cause the page to actually reload with the anchor appended to the URL. (If I hard enter the URL with that anchor, it brings me where I'd expect it to.)

Whereas clicking on a comment time stamp still behaves as expected, even though it looks like an identically constructed URL+anchor format? I mean, I can see that has some different magic behind it, with the arrow it adds and all, but would my phone know that BEFORE loading the link?

Android 6.0, same Chrome build as OP.
posted by solotoro at 11:28 AM on October 2, 2017

I noticed this earlier on my phone using Chrome. (Lg g5, android 7.0 Nougat, chrome version whatever is up to date.)

Wondering if this is not a droid chrome issue like maybe a browser update screwed this up.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 11:56 AM on October 2, 2017

Just checked. Chrome is same version as Uncle.
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 12:02 PM on October 2, 2017

I feel dense, but where is this link on a page?
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 12:36 PM on October 2, 2017

Oh, ok, found it. It doesn't show up in the Classic Plain theme.
posted by sandettie light vessel automatic at 12:42 PM on October 2, 2017

I just checked on Chrome 61.0.3163.98 on my Android 7.1.1 device and the arrow buttons didn't work on a regular tap.

When I long-pressed and selected "Open in new tab" it opened the page in a new tab at the location of the anchor specified in the link.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 12:48 PM on October 2, 2017

I was having some weird issues with linking to a specific place in the thread - not this, but somehting similar - and discovered it was somehow related to an adblocker I was using (ublock - which I reluctantly gave up as a result). What's the one you're using?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:20 PM on October 2, 2017

I can confirm that the behavior of this button has definitely changed for me recently, as well. Maybe over the weekend or sometime Friday; it was a busy few days and not much MeFi for me.

Additional details: I've used the "jump down" button in the megathreads for months and it's been a lifesaver. Well... sanity saver. Oh, I should mention I'm almost never logged in on mobile. Chrome on Android, always the current-est version for a plain vanilla Nexus phone. As of the last few days, nothing happens when I click it. I've taken to searching the page for "1999" because that's in the copyright notice in the footer. Currently I'm on Chrome 61.0.3163.98, Android 7.1.2.

Possibly relevant observations: I noticed this morning that the page would also not jump down to an anchor that I'd clicked and then reloaded the page. Like, I click the timestamp of the latest comment, then hit reload to get new comments... it would simply NOT auto-scroll to that location. I verified that it was in my URL and it was not a deleted comment. Also, I've noticed that sometimes the ads take a really, really long time to load in the last few weeks. Like, way longer than the page text. Does either Javascript or intra-page anchor navigation wait to start until the page is fully loaded? If so, that would be irritating.

Happy to clarify or provide more details, either in-thread or via MeMail.
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 1:37 PM on October 2, 2017

Noticed that this morning on my phone (Android 5.0.2, Chrome 61.0.3163.98). Now the bizarre thing: it does not work on Windows 10 when using Chrome (61.0.3163.100) in the "Developer tools" responsive mode, but it works when using the similar feature available in Firefox. So it looks like a Chrome problem, not a Chrome + Android problem.
posted by elgilito at 1:58 PM on October 2, 2017

Same issue here, jump down button doesn't work. Nexus 5x, Android 7.1.2, Chrome 61.0.3163.98
posted by Gorgik at 1:58 PM on October 2, 2017

Same here for the last week or so, Samsung Galaxy S8+, Android 7.0, Chrome 61.0.3163.98. It works as normal using the Samsung browser that's pre-installed on the phone so definitely a Chrome problem.
posted by mireille at 3:16 PM on October 2, 2017

Hah! I just sent a contact letter to the mods about this, but didn't care enough to continue following up. So weird.
posted by Literaryhero at 4:36 PM on October 2, 2017

Android 7.1.1, same Chrome version as the others. I seem to recall seeing a notification that Chrome updated over the weekend, and I suspect that is the problem.

Just tested with the button at the bottom for jumping to the top of the thread and it also doesn't work; I'll go see if I can get a different browser running on this and test it there too.
posted by nubs at 7:07 PM on October 2, 2017

Buttons work with the Firefox browser on Android, so I think this is a Chrome issue.
posted by nubs at 7:11 PM on October 2, 2017

Can confirm that it's not responsive on my Nexus 5x Android (7.1.2) on Chrome (61.0.3163.98). Looks like I clicked it and that it's just depressed down and doesn't go anywhere.

Same thing happens with the up arrow.
posted by sockermom at 8:39 PM on October 2, 2017

Same here, SamsungS8, Chrome Beta most recent version.
I also have the same issue noted by a couple of people above, clicking on a timestamp doesnt do anything in the mobile browser.
posted by kev23f at 9:54 AM on October 3, 2017

Oddly, timestamps work fine for me. The arrows do not, though.
posted by Literaryhero at 4:25 PM on October 3, 2017

Can confirm the issue, but when I saw the #sidebar anchor still exists I figured it was my og Moto X being old. Glad to hear that's one less thing in the "Get a New Phone Already" column.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 10:24 AM on October 4, 2017

Until tonight, I didn't know there *was* a jump button! Thanks, MetaTalk!
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:30 PM on October 4, 2017 [1 favorite]

I don't see any buttons anywhere, up or down. Running Firefox. Also don't know what an anchor is or does or where to find it.
posted by MovableBookLady at 6:09 PM on October 5, 2017

In my experience, this has been happening for months in the megathreads, using Chrome on iPhone (current and most-recent version) and occasionally in Safari.
posted by samthemander at 5:18 PM on October 9, 2017

Update: I just tried with an older version of Chrome on an older Android phone. It was a locked-down hotel freebie so I can't check the exact versions of either - sorry. The jump-down button there worked just fine. This would seem to confirm it's a Chrome thing.

Any suggestions based on that? Is there any way to request features / fixes from Google that is not just yelling into the void?
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 6:44 PM on October 11, 2017