scratchfoundation / scratchfoundation/scratch-desktop

ENA-83: Ability to Zoom In and Zoom Out responsively

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High Severity Low Impact priority 2
Dominant language
JavaScript
Stars
426
Forks
268
Avg merge
16h 6m
Merged PRs (30d)
25

Description

Expected Behavior

In the browser version of Scratch, it's possible to Zoom In and Zoom Out responsively, as via command-plus and command-minus on a Mac, whereby the entire UI resizes (not just the code area).

We use such when teaching on a projector (zooming in 150% typically), so as to make UI elements more visible, particularly for students farther back.

Actual Behavior

As best I can tell on the desktop version, there might not be a similar feature, unless it's another set of keyboard shortcuts?

By contrast, Electron apps like VS Code desktop do to resize with command-{plus,minus}, per https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/blob/main/src/vs/platform/window/electron-sandbox/window.ts. And a manual workaround (e.g., for a teacher in class) seems to be executing document.body.style.zoom = '150%' in Electron's dev tools

Steps to Reproduce
  1. Install https://scratch.mit.edu/download for macOS.
  2. Launch Scratch desktop app.
  3. Try to zoom in/out with command-{plus,minus}.
System Details

macOS 12.5.1, Scratch desktop 3.29.1.

Screenshots

Browser version, zoomed in

web

Desktop version, not zoomed in

desktop

Thank you!

CC @rongxin-liu @carterzenke

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by tracing the macOS keyboard-shortcut and window handling in the desktop app, using the referenced VS Code window.ts as a comparison. Verify the existing document.body.style.zoom workaround in Electron dev tools, then make command-plus and command-minus resize the entire UI responsively and confirm both zoom directions manually on macOS.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
electron, javascript
Domain
desktop
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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