Tdesktop: Messages are too narrow on wide screens

[makkarpov]

A recent update that removed two-side layout on wide screens is really nice, but there should be another one that will expand messages to full width, instead of leaving them in a narrow column.

[auchri]

Please search for existing issues before creating new ones.

1587

[telegramdesktop]

This won't be good :( If you make text really wide (for example text will use full screen width on your screenshot) it will be almost impossible to read any multi-line text (when you finish the line, you can't find the beginning of the next line).

[makkarpov]

I haven't experienced any problems on such layouts with, for example, Skype. And anyway, it can be added via a setting, so those who feel uncomfortable with wide messages can turn them off.

[kirsan31]

@telegramdesktop When you post formatted text with ``` it's nearly useless because of very thin message width. All code will mess up with word wrap? For example, I copy text from your source and past it with formatting:

[takahser]

@kirsan31 maybe you should stop producing such long one-liners, it's not really clear readable anyway :)
however, you're not totally wrong, imho it should support at least 80 chars though

[kirsan31]

@takahser Ahhha, this code from telegram's source ;) see url at the screenshot ;)
And, imho, it's not long, at least at my monitor :)

[makkarpov]

@takahser Maybe I should also stop buying wide screens? Why do I need wide screen if Telegram does not use it? It's not one-liners issue, it's Telegram issue.

[nocturnal3d]

I totally agree with @makkarpov and @kirsan31. This would be a great feature for those users used to chat apps like Slack or Hipchat - make text full width.

At our company some of the developers refuse to use Telegram because of exactly this.....too Whatsappy :) and it's a shame since Telegram rocks! and in my opinion is way better than Slack/Hipchat.

[matteomartelli]

I totally agree with @makkarpov. I am constantly using telegram desktop on a wide screen and frequently sending code messages. @telegramdesktop if you are worried about readability I think it might be nice to let the users decide. For example an option that allows users to set the number of linewrap characters and toggle full-width messages would be very useful in my opinion.

Anyway since I can understand this is considered a low priority feature, please consider to change the default number of linewrap characters to 80 or 100, instead of 60 which it seems to be the current default value (or the corresponding text box pixel width).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Characters_per_line#In_programming

[ghost]

+1

[F43nd1r]

Could somebody point me to the sourcefile defining that maximum width? I planned to experiment with different widths, but was unable to find the relevant code.

[matteomartelli]

@F43nd1r this might be the file you are looking for: https://github.com/telegramdesktop/tdesktop/blob/dev/Telegram/SourceFiles/boxes/boxes.style

[F43nd1r]

@matteomartelli I don't think so, I've already checked that file, and none of the widths I think could be relevant have any effect on the chat bubble size if I change them.

[kirsan31]

@F43nd1r there was a PR (rejected :( ) about this. You can check modified files there.

[F43nd1r]

@kirsan31 thanks. Sadly, the code has changed too much, I wasn't able to locate the relevant lines.
As I'm not really a c++ developer, I'll have to hope that the developers will change their mind about this.

Frankly I don't understand why there is no option for this, as there are clearly a lot of users unsatisfied with the current state. The only counterargument I've seen is that it would clutter the options. If that is a problem, hide it in a configuration file.

[tau0]

Maybe It's better idea to add this setting to the theme configuration file.

[afabri]

I would also be glad to see wider messages. After all it is something that the user should be able to configure in a menu, and not something I would have to compile from source.
And THANK YOU, dear telegram developers, for making telegram!!!

[kirsan31]

@F43nd1r if you still interested, you can check my repo, I tried to address this issue (and one more) there...

[F43nd1r]

Sure, I'm still interested. Do you plan to pull these changes into the official version? If not, could you upload binaries somewhere?

[kirsan31]

@F43nd1r

Do you plan to pull these changes into the official version?

No reason to make a PR because:

• The main reason - It will be rejected any way :(
• My fixes are fast and aimed to windows, so not tested on other platforms.

If not, could you upload binaries somewhere?

I have made a release with binary.

[F43nd1r]

Alright, I just tried that release, and does not achieve what I wanted. It doesn't work if adaptive layout is disabled, but I like to have my messages on the other side.

[kirsan31]

Yea, it all depends on adaptive layout. IMHO, on wide screen, messages on 2 sides look very ugly. You can check my changes and try to do as you wish. But with standard layout, it will be _a bit_ harder to achieve...