[whatwg] Geolocation - Browser usability issues with regards to asking user permission

Biju bijumaillist at gmail.com
Wed Apr 6 22:48:25 PDT 2011


On Wed, Apr 6, 2011 at 7:37 PM, Andrew de Andrade
<andrew at deandrade.com.br> wrote:
> 2) The HTML5 specification defines how browsers should implement this
> consistently --> either a bar across the top OR modal dialog box, but
> not both. This isn't ideal either since there are arguments both for

Right now Firefox 4 allow user to put address bar on bottom of page.
Then the pop up will be at bottom.
(All version of Firefox  and SeaMonkey also allow to hide address bar)
If address bar is hidden, Firefox 4 will position the GeoLocation popup
depending on the Tab position.

1. As Firefox USER, I dont want WHATWG to tell Mozilla to stop
allowing customization.
2. As a computer USER, I dont want any modal pop ups in applications.
    or in other words, I want to be on control, not the developer
    and especially absolutely no control for a web developer.
    (please read about CICS programming,
      you could write enterprise level on-line applications
      in a platform which dont allow any modal screens)

Right now  following javascript
  function xyz(){
     navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(function(position)
{alert(position)});
  }
  setTimeout(xyz,2000);
will trigger geoLocation after 2 seconds.
A malicious website can use this now to create annoyances for USER.
What I want from browser vendors is make
navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition
and navigator.geolocation.watchPosition ONLY callable from a CLICK event.
I thought we all learned lesson from window.open popups

I also wanted browser vendors to provide easy option for user to lie
about their location.

Cheers
Biju



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