code numbers in listing showing different on iphone than preview or pc

Hi lookandbuyme,

Thanks for bringing this issue to our attention. I actually don't recall seeing this behavior before, but I was able to locate a listing using the UPC code you mentioned that exhibits the behavior you described when viewed through the iPhone or iPad. On the other hand, I did not see this behavior when viewing the same listing through my Android based phone.

Upon looking into this further, I actually found that the instances of the UPC code that are displayed in the Product Details (mobile app), Item Specifics (mobile website) and Detailed Item Info (mobile website) sections are impacted in the same manner, and not just the reference to the UPC code within the description.

For example, if you look up the item in question through the eBay mobile app and click the “Product Details” section, you should find that the UPC code there is also treated as a phone number. Similarly, if you look up the item on eBay's mobile website, the same will be true for the instances of the UPC code that are present in the Item Specifics and Detailed Item Info sections above the description.

Based on the research and testing I have done, it appears you can potentially prevent this from happening for references like this within your descriptions by adding the following code to the top of the description HTML of your listings:

<meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no">

However, we do not have the ability to add similar code to the UPC numbers which are displayed in the Product Details (mobile app), Item Specifics (mobile website) and Detailed Item Info (mobile website) sections, so I can only recommend contacting eBay's Customer Support team to make them aware of the issue and see if they can offer a solution.

Of course, the fact that the automatic phone number detection feature on the iPhone and iPad is incorrectly treating UPC codes as phone numbers is unfortunate, but that issue lies within the automatic phone number detection feature on those devices and is outside our control.

I hope this helps.

-Mike

Thanks...will try to find where that was on this weekend when I have a little more time.

However, this would not be a problem, other than the numbers are showing up in blue...if black it would not stand out like a sore thumb. Why are they showing in blue???

Thanks

Hi lookandbuyme,

These UPC codes are displaying in blue when viewed through Apple mobile devices because the automatic phone number detection feature has determined the numbers should be treated as links and, as has been the case for as long as I can remember, it is standard for links to appear in blue by default.

I do not know of a way to set these special links to appear in a different color, although it may be possible to do so using some custom HTML code. However, I doubt it would be easier than using the method I mentioned previously to make it so they are not interpreted as links in the first place.

-Mike

Mike...just found in support so was NOT on forums...sorry...I knew i had written something somewhere...but guess this explains why I could not find in forums.

Here is part of that post....(I left out the details that did not apply to this particular issue since this was a HUGE support request that required lots of back & forth. * I did leave time, etc., so would be easier to locate if need be. This was on the issue with the cursive being put into listings...so was a mixed bag.


Posted Thursday, 3/21/2013 11:46 AM
Dear lookandbuyme,


I was able to see the blue you mentioned in item #'s 140908546419 and 140882745286 when viewing them through my iPad, but I'm not sure exactly what is causing that difference in appearance so I'll need to have our Engineering team take a look.

I'll follow up with you through this case to see if I can get any additional information about that. I assume that some of the formatting code used for that line is being interpreted differently on Apple mobile devices, but nothing jumped out at me when I glanced at the code.

I even created a clone of one of these listings as a test and checked whether highlighting the text on the eBay Revise your Item and reselecting Black as the color would make a difference, but the blue remained after doing that as well.

Sincerely,
Auctiva Support

Is this going to be on all code number
numbers??? As does not seem to be happening on all of my codes...and have not seen on others with coding at bottom when viewing from iphone...

IF this is NOT in blue...it is NOT a problem...as it is like a sore thumb showing in color.

Thanks

Hi lookandbuyme,

Thanks for the clarification.

I am not privy to the specific conditions a number must meet for the automatic phone number recognition on Apple mobile devices to determine that it should be treated as a link, so I am not in a position to explain why this is happening to some of your codes but not others - especially since this is happening with numbers that are not phone numbers.

I am inclined to believe the treatment of non phone numbers as phone numbers by the automatic phone number recognition feature is something Apple would consider a bug, but I am not certain whether they are aware of the issue or treating it as such.

I suppose you could try contacting Apple's Customer Support team to see if they can provide you any additional information on why this feature is treating some of your UPC codes as phone numbers and not others.

I now remember discussing this with you through the support case you mentioned and, at the time, we had not determined that the numbers were appearing in blue on these devices because they were incorrectly being treated as phone numbers by the automatic recognition system. However, that does appear to be the case after all.

-Mike

If it were a phone number recognition issue then it would recognize "10 digit numbers", which is how many numbers are in a phone number. I am also sure that Apple knows how many numbers are in a phone number.
That is not the issue here.
Also if eBay were recognizing it as a phone number it would be in violation and either not be allowed to post at all or removed automatically.

Mike....Honestly.... blame ebay and apple?

Ebay suggested HTML issue on your end??? They also said...that if were APPLE issue that it would be on any and ALL listings with a UPC or other numbers it would not pick and choose certain listings, in it since all of the ones I showed are NOT UPC numbers.

My thought.......this bring back memories of the COSMIC SANS MS, CURSIVE issue on auctiva where the word "CURSIVE" was thrown in in the new editor and our listings were totally unreadable on phones. I spent weeks going through listings and taking that one word that the new editor threw in. The word cursive WAS in auctiva it was not ebay, apple, iphone issue. Many still have this issue & do not even know it.

Did the engineers look at the examples that I sent? as they would see some of these were broken up numbers and NOT UPC numbers.

The fix given is a "go around" not a fix for the issue...and honestly, not even sure that would be the fix...or just add another issue that would have to be dealt with down the road.


I am not big on adding something to each and every listing. I believe ebay does not allow phone numbers any longer, seems easier IF auctiva added that to their templates rather than all sellers adding it, especially since auctiva is going to redo their templates anyway... SPEAKING OF that ANY ETA???

I did not let this bother me until I was questioned by a couple of people who tried phone number and then wrote asking why I put phone number that did not work??...crazy them to click on the number and see call and hit it.

This is NOT just my listings, one who has this going on, it is NOT just UPC numbers, it is NOT on all listings....it is NOT on 10 digit numbers, it is on some that have spaces between numbers, slashes between numbers such as 5/13/13/ etc.,

Please check further into this, as if this were apple or ebay it would not be random it would be on any that have a code at bottom. It would be on ALL of the listings with numbers.

This sure makes items on blacks look trashy and very unprofessional.

Thanks

Hi lookandbuyme,

I'm certainly sorry to hear you have doubts regarding my assessment of this issue, but we have already completed our investigation into this behavior and I must stand by my previous explanation.

There is nothing present in the HTML code surrounding these numbers that is indicating they should be treated as phone numbers by Apple mobile devices, so Apple's automatic phone number recognition system must be *thinking* they are phone numbers in error.

I am still unable to provide you with an estimate of when we may be able to address the issue with the search tool on the template selector, but I will follow up with you through the initial thread you posted on that topic when any additional information becomes available.

-Mike