Message Reader — Compose Rewrite — Message Reader doesn't take into account the user's preferred system font size

[kimariterikishi]

Checklist

• I have used the search function to see if someone else has already submitted the same bug report.
• I will describe the problem with as much detail as possible.

App

Thunderbird for Android

App version

16.1 (20)

Where did you get the app from?

F-Droid

Android version

15 (not custom)

Device model

moto g54 5G (XT2343-6)

Steps to reproduce

It's actually very difficult for me to read incoming emails because the font size is about 8pt.
http://hpaa.com/css1/fontsizes.asp

The screen is 6 inches.

I’ve been using the K-9 Mail app for a long time, also from the F-Droid store, and I didn’t have this problem there before (though I have had it for a while now). I recently started using the Thunderbird app (since the two are basically the same).

What I type in the reply field follows the Android font settings very well, meaning it can be changed. Incoming content, whether text or HTML, doesn’t follow the Android font settings at all.

I thought -and I read this in one of the bug reports here- that the font size setting had been disabled because some users were seeing fonts that were too large. But this is the other extreme, unfortunately.

Expected behavior

I also use the Thunderbird email client on the desktop version (on Linux). There, I was able to adjust the font size of incoming emails using this option... by setting the default font size:

Open the Configuration Editor (about:config)

Edit > Preferences > Advanced > Configuration Editor

Agree to proceed with caution...

Search for the term “size,” then look for this setting in the results:

font.minimum-size.x-unicode

Set the new value to 16

Open the Fonts and Encoding settings

Edit > Preferences > Appearance > Formatting > Advanced

Set the new value for Fixed-width characters to 16 as well

Click the OK button to apply the settings.

The new setting in the Configuration Editor involves changing the values of font.size.variable*.

We need to incorporate this solution into the Android app somehow, specifically by setting a default font size that is legible and acceptable to users.

Actual behavior

I'm really struggling with the correspondence; I'm trying to read the tiny print with my eyes wide open.

K-9 Mail behaves the same way. 16.1 (39033)

https://f-droid.org/hu/packages/com.fsck.k9/

Logs

No response

[paulle]

Yes for me it's difficult too to read incoming mails because of small font size.
Even worse when you are answering a mail and have another look at the mail you are answering it's a tiny, for me nearly unreadable font.
Android 16, thunderbird 17

[rafaeltonholo]

Hello! Thank you for taking the time to report this issue. I’m sorry to hear that you’re having difficulty.

To better understand your experience, could you clarify what you mean by "It's actually very difficult for me to read incoming emails"? Are you referring to the Message Reader or the Message List?

If the issue is within the Message Reader, have you tried using the pinch-to-zoom function?

Additionally, the app has a setting (Settings > General Settings > Display > Messages > Auto-fit messages) that is enabled by default. This setting shrinks messages to fit the screen. If you turn it off, the Message Reader will display the email at its original size, but please note that this may add scroll bars since there might not be enough space to show the entire email.

[paulle]

Thank you for your help.
The tiny are in the message.
Deactivating the autofit function didn't help very much, because the font size only changed for a little bit bigger.
But pinch to zoom (never used it before and knew it) put the font size to readable size for me. Thank you

[rafaeltonholo]

Thank you for your help. The tiny are in the message. Deactivating the autofit function didn't help very much, because the font size only changed for a little bit bigger. But pinch to zoom (never used it before and knew it) put the font size to readable size for me. Thank you

I'm glad to hear that it helped! I will also take note to the team that the Message Reader is not taking into consideration the system font size.