Tell HN: Edge has added rounded corners to all web pages

by breadwinner on 8/27/2023, 5:47 PM with 39 comments

Microsoft Edge version 116.0.1938.62 has added rounded corners to all web pages, and there is no way to opt out.

Edge has been interfering with the web application experience from the start, with unwanted hover icons and menus that cannot be disabled by the application. (For example, if you hover over an image, you get Visual Search and Settings icons.) Super annoying.

But this latest change takes the cake. It is ugly. If the page has a scrollbar at document level, the web page will get rounded corner only at the top left, not the top right, thus losing symmetry. For example, go to CNN or Github. If the web page has dark-mode you get a distracting white border around the page, for example on chat.openai.com.

Edge is breaking this cardinal rule: Browser chrome belongs to the browser, but the content area belongs to the application alone. Edge should stay out of the content area, or at least should allow applications to turn off unwanted buttons and menus, thus retaining full control of the application experience.

  • by lolinder on 8/27/2023, 6:27 PM

    A screenshot and explanation of how to turn this off can be found here [0].

    > Edge is breaking this cardinal rule: Browser chrome belongs to the browser, but the content area belongs to the application alone.

    It's funny, for me this is not at all what the web is about. I see CSS styles as at best a suggestion for how the website would like to be rendered, but the browser is fundamentally a user agent that can render stuff however the user likes. If you don't like how Edge renders things, you can always switch to a different browser or change the settings.

    Web applications should be designed with this in mind: control of the client experience is in the hands of the user or the user's agent. When a web application is designed this way, it is natively the most accessible kind of app that can exist, usable with a screen reader, terminal GUI, mobile, desktop, or even a scriptable web driver. In contrast, web apps that obsess over having minute control over every detail of the presentation tend to be clunky, nonresponsive and inaccessible.

    In my mind, the more heterogeneous web browsers are, the more web applications are forced to handle for different configurations, and the better the ecosystem will be overall. For once I think Microsoft is doing something web-related that I actually approve of.

    [0] https://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-edge-will-let-you-disa...

  • by db48x on 8/27/2023, 6:22 PM

    That’s not the rule I want browsers to follow. I want the browser to act as my agent, following my preferences in all things. I set a minimum font size, I control which fonts pages may use, I control when they may run scripts, when they may have videos or sound, what form controls (buttons, text inputs, etc) look like, when they may load content from third–party domains, etc, etc.

    Web application developers should not complain when a web browser changes the look or feel of their application, even if the browser makes super weird choices like putting rounded corners on the viewport. If the user doesn’t like it they’ll tell the browser vender. The web designer doesn’t get a vote.

  • by wkat4242 on 8/28/2023, 12:10 AM

    It also provides this unwanted bullshit like coupon notifications and buy now pay later scams. I know it can be turned off but it should never have been included. Really, I don't know why people still use it. If you want chrome, just use the real thing.

    The only reason I use it is Microsoft lobbied my work to make it the "official" browser. Not sure why they're so proud of their copy of Google's stuff with a thin layer of Microsoft veneer. I don't find it a strong selling point of a software company when they have to admit someone else does a better job.

    Personally I just use Firefox and love it.

  • by davorak on 8/27/2023, 6:32 PM

    > Edge is breaking this cardinal rule: Browser chrome belongs to the browser, but the content area belongs to the application alone.

    I think the end user should have 100% control or access to it. I do not think this would be an issue if this was a niche browser that the user needs to seek out. Or if browser usage was spread across tens of browsers instead of 2-3 or some other form of highly competitive market with users willing to switch at a moments notice.

  • by FridayoLeary on 8/28/2023, 12:57 AM

    So they finally found that "better experience" that comes with using the Edge browser according to Microsoft. Of course the ungrateful masses reject it.

  • by CharlesW on 8/27/2023, 11:37 PM

    > But this latest change takes the cake. It is ugly. If the page has a scrollbar at document level, the web page will get rounded corner only at the top left, not the top right, thus losing symmetry. For example, go to CNN or Github.

    Neither of these pages has rounded corners for me on 116.0.1938.62 on macOS. What platform are you on?

    (To be pedantic: The bottom left corner is rounded when not full-screen because it's a window corner, but that's normal and happens with all browsers.)

  • by tlhunter on 8/27/2023, 11:38 PM

    Doesn't macOS round the corners of application windows, including browsers?

  • by nguyenkien on 8/27/2023, 6:26 PM

    I not support what MS do, but you can actually disable all of this.

    Rounded corner: about:config search for rounded

    Image menu: edge://settings/appearance/hoverMenu

  • by joker_minmax on 8/28/2023, 2:50 PM

    YouTube has now started rounding corners of the video player at full-screen for some users. My friends have shared screenshots of this but I am yet to encounter it outside of mobile where my phone screen is already rounded.

    I seriously thought the round corners trend was dead already. Why are they trying to force it back?

  • by on 8/28/2023, 6:33 AM

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  • by ChrisArchitect on 8/28/2023, 2:17 AM

    This isn't new

  • by svilen_dobrev on 8/28/2023, 9:06 AM

    so is Opera (on linux).. some 3-4px artificial frame-of-theirs that does not come or be controllable by window-manager.

    Why? To look rounded on rounded phones?

    All these "pink-fluffy-unicorn" looks-feels of all recent techie stuff start to make me sick..

  • by steroids33331 on 8/28/2023, 2:37 AM

    i cant fucking take it anymore