Safari's date-picker is the cause of 1/3 of our customer support issues (gist.github.com)

Article summary

The author's company encountered issues with Safari's date-picker, which caused a significant number of customer support issues. The problem arose when users tried to enter their birthdate, which often required scrolling through many years. The company developed a workaround by splitting the date field into three separate input fields. This solution proved effective, but the author notes that the issue should be addressed by the browser vendor.

Main themes

• Safari date-picker issues
• UI design
• User experience
• Browser compatibility
• Alternative solutions
• Market share and competition

What commenters say

• Some commenters argue that the date-picker UI is poorly designed and confusing, particularly for elderly users.
• Others suggest that the issue is not with the UI, but rather with the lack of clear instructions or feedback for the user.
• A few commenters propose alternative solutions, such as using a plain text field with best-effort parsing or a calendar picker with a clearer interface.
• There is disagreement about whether the date-picker should allow typing or only selection from a calendar view.
• Some argue that Safari's date-picker is not significantly worse than other browsers, while others claim it is a major issue.
• A few commenters discuss the broader implications of Safari's market share and the challenges of developing for the browser.
• Some suggest that other browsers, such as Firefox, could potentially compete with Safari if given the opportunity.