HTML <label> command doesn't work in Iphone browser - iphone

Question

In a html page I am making, I tried to make div's clickable using html and css. This has worked perfectly in some major browsers I have tested it in (Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari), as well as an HTC phone, but when I tried to test it on Iphone I noticed it just didn't work. The checkboxes themselves weren't even selectable.
This is my (working apart from on Iphone) code:
HTML:
<div class="" style="height: 30px;">
<div style="display: table; width: 100%;">
<div style="display: table-row; width: 100%;">
<div style="display: table-cell;">
<label for="3171">Text....</label>
</div>
<div style="display: table-cell; text-align: right;">
<input type="checkbox" id="3171" name="3171">
</div>
</div>
</div>
<label for="3171">
<span class="blocklink">Invisible text</span>
</label>
</div>
CSS:
.blocklink {
display: block;
height: 100%;
left: 0;
overflow: hidden;
position: absolute;
text-indent: -999em;
top: 0;
width: 100%;
}
So as you can see the technique I'm using is basicly just having a <label> spread all over the parent div so anywhere you click, it will tick/untick the linked checkbox.
Unfortunately, this doesn't work on IPhone. Would it be possible to somehow keep using this technique but also provide IPhone support? (Preferrably without javascript, because I'm really going out of my way to only use HTML & CSS)
Thanks in advance,
Arne

Answer 1

Adding an empty onclick="" to the label makes the element clickable again on IOS4. It seems that by default the action is blocked or overtaken by the press and hold copy and paste text mechanics.
<label for="elementid" onclick="">Label</label>

Answer 2

The problem seems to persists in iOS9 if any html elements are contained inside a label. At least happens with span elements inside it. 'pointer-events: none' fixes it.
<label for="target">
<span>Some text</span>
</label>
The code above would not be trigger a change of the target input, when the user taps 'Some Text', unless you add the following css:
label span {
pointer-events: none;
}

Answer 3

I solved it by placing an empty onclick="" on a parent element:
<form onclick="">
<input type="radio" name="option1" value="1">
<label for="option1">Option 1</label>
<input type="radio" name="option2" value="2">
<label for="option2">Option 2</label>
<input type="radio" name="option3" value="3" checked="checked">
<label for="option3">Option 3</label>
</form>

Answer 4

For some obscure reason, using CSS, if you apply:
label { cursor: pointer; }
Is going to work both on iPhone and iPad.

Answer 5

Another solution — albeit more hacky, but bulletproof — would be to absolutely position the checkbox over the label, z-index it, increase the width/height to encompass the underlying label and then 0 the opacity. This, of course would be tedious if there are multiple labels on the page... You naturally would also only implement the absolute positioning for that media size; no need to hack the whole app environment.

Answer 6

I ran into a somewhat unique situation. We were already using pointer-events: none on all spans in labels. However, we then needed to add in a <a> as clickable within one of those labels.
<label>
<span>Label text here. With a link text here.</span>
</label>
So, we explicitly set pointer-events: all on those <a>.
label > span { pointer-events: none; }
label > span > a { pointer-events: all; }
This is working in latest Chrome, Firefox, IE 11, and iOS 9 Safari.

Answer 7

If you change DOM on event handler (example in onMouseEnter) this cause skip all next handlers include onClick.
SetTimeout don't fix this.
Example:
1. in onMouseEnter use setTimeout with function injected new div in DOM
2. any onClick handler don't called.
Solution: avoid change DOM in events handler.
Remark: it problem found for label tag, but still persist for span inside label. May be this problem present on any type tags.
This behavuor found only for mobile iOS. In desktop Safari and in Mac OS Safari - all ok.

Answer 8

I narrowed down my problem to use of the Fastclick library; when I removed it from my codebase my issues went away, which indicates to me there isn't a native iOS/FF problem as suggested by other answers here.
Without knowing the libraries other folks are using, but knowing that Fastclick is exceptionally common, can I suggest that the root cause of this bug is in fact a library issue - not one which has managed to persist through years of Apple releases! It seems more likely. Maybe the others here can shed some light on whether they are using Fastclick?
More info
Some browsers prevent file inputs from being triggered by client code as a security measure. Try triggering a click event from the console with document.querySelector('input[type=file]').click() and it'll work, do the same from your code and it will mysteriously fail.
I imagine the reason this bug exists is because an ontouchstart handler is being applied to the <label /> by Fastclick. When it is triggered on a touch device, the library will proxy that event to the onclick handler, or in this case the native <label /> functionality. Unfortunately, this means that client code is triggering the file input opening, and it's being blocked by the browser.