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thunderbird / thunderbird-android

Thunderbird for Android – Open Source Email App for Android (fka K-9 Mail)
https://thunderbird.net/
Apache License 2.0
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Add option to allow changing the font used to display emails #3714

Open Meteor0id opened 5 years ago

Meteor0id commented 5 years ago

Expected behavior

When I receive a string of letters, for example a password reset, I expect to be able to distinguish the letter L form the letter i.

Actual behavior

I can not believe how often I still see this issue, it is 2018! the current font k9 uses on my android phone shows the lower L and the capital i as the same vertical line. It is not possible to distinguish them visually. This is incredibly frustrating, because any computer user has know this issue for over a decade, and it still exists in various softwares

The solution is so simple: give preference to fonts with show a capital i as a capital H rotated 90 degrees. Please consider selecting a different default font for K9, or somehow modifying the letter I on the current font. I know the font is usually supplied by the operating system, and changing fonts can have a range of consequences, but I am sure we can work out a solution for this.

Environment

K-9 Mail version: 5.600

Android version: 7.0 3.18.31

Account type (IMAP, POP3, WebDAV/Exchange): IMAP

Meteor0id commented 5 years ago

Even Github does this on my current device! Using the font "Segoe UI". What is wrong with font designers?! This should have been resolved 20 years ago!

I l

ByteHamster commented 5 years ago

You can select "General preferences" -> "Appearance" -> "Monotype font". This font uses different symbols:

I l 1

Alternatively, with some device vendors, you can change the font for your whole system. That will also change how K9 displays text.

Meteor0id commented 5 years ago

Could K9 not simply pick a different default font, maybe a modified version of the current default font with only the capital letter i changed?

It just seems like something we should abandon, we do so much effort to keep colorblind and poor sighted people on board, but this simple flaw is still in most fonts we use today. In an email client readability matters a lot.

cketti commented 5 years ago

We'll continue to use whatever the system default font is.

I'm not opposed to adding an option to select a particular font. But to me this is a super low priority feature.