Clearing the read marker automatically after ~30 seconds makes it difficult to manage unread messages

[benparsons]

Description

Clearing the read marker automatically after ~30 seconds makes it difficult to manage unread messages. The little green dot + arrow in the top right disappears after entering a room, and with it goes your read marker.

Steps to reproduce

• Enter a room with many unread messages
• start reading the most recent messages
• your read marker disappears
• now you can't go back to find your unread messages

Version information

acacc61-react-7eea62a22ba9-js-90670cf1be0f

• Platform: web/desktop

[ara4n]

related: https://github.com/vector-im/riot-web/issues/4134

[MadLittleMods]

Luckily, I haven't noticed this problem (very subtle and indirect) until reading the issue but I see it now 🙈. What's the goal of having this? It doesn't seem useful to me and my initial hunch was just to rip it out (cc @bwindels). I don't want to lose my position just because I switched to a room and left the app open. And the follow-up issue #8057 to change this to only clear after 30s and then switching rooms kinda boosts the point that this isn't very friendly atm.

It's even a setting: Settings -> Preferences -> General section -> Read Marker lifetime (ms) and Read Marker off-screen lifetime (ms)

• readMarkerInViewThresholdMs
• readMarkerOutOfViewThresholdMs

This setting will make the jump to unreads arrow button disappear after 30 seconds:

Dev notes

Introduced in matrix-org/matrix-react-sdk#2345 (originally in matrix-org/matrix-react-sdk#2322 that has some context)

Made as a configurable setting in matrix-org/matrix-react-sdk#3450

Ftr, I talked @AmandineLP through this yesterday and she has concerns about ever destroying off-screen bookmarks, although I think we should how this feels first before we creep it in future towards the full "track all RM bookmarks" solution.

-- @ara4n, matrix-org/matrix-react-sdk#2322 (comment)

And then #8057 mentions even improving the situation of not clearing until after 30s and you switch rooms. But seems like the simpler option would be to just remove this feature of clearing altogether.

[vertigo220]

I would also just like to add that the purpose of these settings and the autocomplete delay one aren't clear, and I had to do a search just to figure out what they even do. There should be a tooltip or something for more obscure settings like this.