Disappearing scroll bars - How do you know if there's more to scroll?

[HXGuy]

I saw a demo video on YouTube showing off the iOS-like scroll bars that disappear when you're not scrolling...they were being shown off in a Notes application.

The thing is...there was some writing at the top and then a lot of blank space, and the guy scrolled down to the bottom where there was more content...but nothing in the middle.

In the old system, you could look at the scroll bar and see if there was more content on the page. How is this done with Lion? Do you just have to remember to always scroll to check or is there some indicator?

 

[beaner454]

They're disappearing scroll bars not invisible, so you scroll a little bit to see where it is just like on iOS.

 

[iThinkergoiMac]

With few exceptions, you should be able to tell simply by looking at the screen if there's more. Generally, you're reading something that you're scrolling, and so you know if you're done or not.

 

[HXGuy]

They're disappearing scroll bars not invisible, so you scroll a little bit to see where it is just like on iOS.

So you do have to scroll to be able to tell how long the document is, you can't tell by just looking at the window without touching anything else. Interesting that they made it this way.

 

[superstrikertwo]

It works better than it sounds.

 

[mrblack927]

It should also be noted that you can select "Show scroll bars: Always" from system prefs and it actually shows a bar with that semi translucent scrollbar in it (see second pic). The bar simply stays visible, and you can drag it to scroll just like a normal scrollbar.

This is also a good legacy feature for computers that don't have working scrollwheels and whatnot. You see the option "Automatically based on input device" there? that automatically switches the scrollbars to "visible" when you plug in an old usb mouse. Pretty neat.

 

[Tharian]

It works better than it sounds.

I agree. Watching the demo I thought it was a bad idea, but after years of using an iPhone I find that it's actually really simple.

I miss the blue though.

-d

 

[zeemeerman2]

And when there's no thing to scroll further, it's like in iOS. You can scroll further down, but as soon as you release your fingers from your trackpad, it reverses back to the actual end of a (web)page.

Tested with a friend's modern 2010 13" MacBook Pro.

With my own 2008 Macbook in Lion, I can't recall it to happen. But I don't have a glass multitouch trackpad with inertia/momentum, so that could be a reason too.

 

[MattInOz]

So you do have to scroll to be able to tell how long the document is, you can't tell by just looking at the window without touching anything else. Interesting that they made it this way.

I'm curious to why this is important.
If the content is interesting it's never long enough I'll hit the bottom bounce back then start looking for related links and If it's not interesting then I'm getting out of there before the end anyway.