Many people have already complained about Google Chrome leaving off the http:// in the URL field (there are certain cases where it does display, that is now the exception though, not the rule), here is my take on why this move was not only wrong, but worse than what we had before.
Initially the complaint was that without the http:// in front copy-paste will be a problem, because other systems use that to detect strings that look like URLs. So Google got clever (this should be the first clue of something bad happening, picking a clever solution over a simple one), when you copy the URL it magically inserts the http:// at the beginning so that it shows up when you paste.
Problem solved right? No, it actually made things worse.
It is not unusual for me to copy just the host name portion of the URL from my browser (Chrome is usually my default browser), but since Chrome silently adds the http:// in the background it is not impossible to copy just the host name. Using this site as an example, copying josephscott.org from the URL results in http://josephscott.org/ when I paste. Not only does it prefix http:// it also adds the trailing slash.
This ends up being super annoying. I’ve looked for options to disable this feature of Chrome and just always show http:// in the URL field and not to mangle copy-paste. So far I haven’t found a way to do this. My work around for now is to copy all but the first character of the host name, type that in manually and then paste the rest of the host name.
Was mangling the copy-paste buffer in the background a clever hack? Yes. Is it better than the simple solution just showing http:// in the URL field? No, not by a long shot.
14 replies on “Chrome, How Being Clever is Worse Than Being Simple”
It is the little things that Google gets wrong like this that make me steer clear of relying on most of the “products” they provide.
This is a clear example of trying to solve a problem that didn’t really exist and creating a much worse one.
In general I find myself liking Chrome more and more. Not that there are several little choices that I would have done differently, but this was a little item that ended up making things significantly worse.
I’m also annoyed by this, but unlike you I feel the clarity of the web address in the bar benefit offset my annoyance. Also, it makes https stand out all the more.
What did drive my bonkers to no end was the time it took to train Chrome to not search when I entered ‘localhost’ in the address bar.
There are plenty of ways to make https stand out more besides stripping http://. I liked the approach of changing the background color of the URL field.
Which Google Chrome does as well. The HTTPS is a secondary, minor benefit to me.
For a regular HTTPS site Chrome now shows a green lock and green text https (the :// are there, but are not green).
I preferred when the background color for the entire URL field changed color. This made it easy to tell at glance what was going on.
Here is my problem with Chrome, I switched to Chrome full time about a year ago when FireFox decided it wanted to take a performance nosedive. FireFox was having BIG issues for me (like crashing multiple times per day). Chrome hasn’t had any big issues, but several of these little issues that are starting to add up to the point where I’m wondering if a switch back to FireFox may be in order.
My biggest issue with Chrome these days is the way it caches pages. I’m unable to do a shift+F5 to get a complete refresh. I have to physically go and delete the cache which is several extra steps. And, when you are tweaking the CSS in a theme, that can take several attempts before it’s ready to go. Each time I have to delete the cache, Chrome dies a little more.
I haven’t run into the caching issue you’ve described yet. While I use Chrome as my main browser, I still prefer Firefox + Firebug for debugging sites. I find the URL thing irritating because it breaks something so simple and fundamental as copy and paste.
Any tool that messes with my text selection and copy-paste gets lumped into the same bucket as M$ Word. It’s almost universal that this type of “help” is more annoying than helpful.
Hi Joseph,
Thought I’d point you to a Chrome extension I just released, which resolved exactly this issue. It’s called “HostCopy”, and will copy to clipboard the hostname only of the page you’re currently browsing.
You can install the extension here:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ebnjnkfienhcidbgmifkjkkidheihcpj
Or read more about it here:
http://chrisiona.com/hostcopy/
If you like it, please feel free to advocate it.
Thanks.
Yeah, I’d still rather just be able to copy it correctly from the URL field instead of having a separate UI item just for coping the host name.
I personally don’t think this as such a big issue, thinking from chrome’s point of view. It makes the address bar looks simpler removing the http:// which always is there. I am quite sure that more than 95% of common users won’t have any issues with this. But yes Chrome should add this into the personalization options giving more control to an advanced user like you.
95% of users probably never copy an address from the address bar.
I’m not convinced that is a great argument for removing the address bar.
I’ve seen this more and more recently and it worries me how much it affects sites when you add new code and styles.
Like John has said above – the caching is insanely aggressive to the point where there is no simple way to refresh the cache.
As a developer – it isn’t the issue of ME not seeing the updates properly, I know they should be there. But how many of my regular visitors are going to see a mangled mess on the homepage?
Eugh!