Currently, it isn't possible to select a message and copy it to the clipboard on Android. I would enjoy if messages were selectable so that copying is possible.
Yeah, this is a common complain and definitely something we'd want to fix.
We'll probably need https://api.flutter.dev/flutter/material/SelectableText/SelectableText.rich.html
I had plans to add a long-click action on messages to add a menu with details, and selectable text would badly interact with that, but we can cross that bridge when we get to it.
The behavior Telegram for Android implements is:
- Single tap opens the menu
- Long-press enters the message selection mode (automatically selecting the message pressed)
- Once a message is selected, long-pressing again will select the text inside, and a single tap will unselect it
Element for Android doesn't do anything on a single tap and instead opens the menu on long press. WhatsApp doesn't do anything on a single tap either, but enters the selection mode on long press instead. Not sure about Signal.
Signal ignores single tap, opens a menu on long tap, but still doesn't allow to select text (😥), instead has a menu to copy the whole message.
See #48 for the issue about the message menu.
Simon Ser referenced this ticket in commit d4e81cb.