I wish for once that requesting “Desktop version” on my phone would actually give me a desktop view, not the same exact mobile view. Sizing based on viewport (a “responsive design” principle that I hate) gives me hamburgerized unusable mess.

I want to be able to zoom out to see the same page features as I would see on desktop. A lot of websites USED to work this way on ios Safari before “responsive design” became a thing. Now, there’s no way to get a typical website to give you a desktop-like layout when you “zoom out” because it automatically detects your viewport and forces you to hamburger no matter that you selected “Desktop version.”

I understand why mobile view exists. It’s more comfortable to read for probably most people. But by ignoring “request desktop site” because of the hubris of “responsive design,” it means that there’s no way for you to get desktop-like functionality & experience on your phone browser. That is a reduction in functionality from the smartphone experience of 5-10 years ago on many site that’d give you a desktop-like layout if you zoomed out.

An example of this frustration is that on a forum I frequent, if the viewport is below a certain size, user avatar thumbnails are hidden and text tables of values are all reflowed to an unusable mess where before I could zoom out and get a desktop-like view where the tables (which are just fixed-width straight text, entered by forum users) could be seen clearly.

The refusal to allow some way to get a real desktop-like view in “responsive design” is user-hostile.