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In this period of forced quarantine (april 2020, province of Québec) I only have my phone to access Stack Exchange. On a phone, I'm much slower and it sometimes happen that I post an answer at the same time as someone else. See here for an example. I posted my answer at the same time as Qurultay. Our answer are roughtly the same. My answer isn't useful anymore and I want to delete it, but this seem impossible on the phone app.

My question: why can't I delete my own posts on the Stack Exchange app? If it matter, my phone runs on Android.

I don't know if it has already been ask before, or if it is the right place to ask.

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  • $\begingroup$ Because the android app is terrible. Use your browser. $\endgroup$
    – Asaf Karagila Mod
    Apr 8, 2020 at 16:00
  • $\begingroup$ I agree it is better on a browser, but the question remains, why is this feature not available? $\endgroup$
    – Alain Remillard
    Apr 8, 2020 at 16:07
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    $\begingroup$ Because how else would you be reminded that the browser version is superior? :-) $\endgroup$
    – Asaf Karagila Mod
    Apr 8, 2020 at 16:08
  • $\begingroup$ Too and I can't upvote comment here, this one is great ! $\endgroup$
    – Alain Remillard
    Apr 8, 2020 at 16:09
  • $\begingroup$ I've removed the SE app from my phone because having it installed prevented me from doing some of the browser only things. Most things could be done in the app, but I found that it balked at doing some things that it was capable of. I came to suspect that it did not recognize me as logged in on Meta Math even though it did recognize me for main Math.SE. Anyway, the notifications it provided on my Android were helpful but not worth the hassle. $\endgroup$
    – hardmath
    Apr 9, 2020 at 18:09

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There is no intrinsic reasons why this is not possible; the app is just incomplete in this regard. I am not sure if intentionally or not, in any case it is known to the people in charge, yet as far as I know its development was stopped, so this is ultimately irrelevant as either way it will not change.

Even on various mobile devices the site is quite usable when visited with the browser of the mobile device. You might try this.

As a last resort, you can raise a flag for moderator attention and explain the issue.

That said, there is no urgent need to delete redundant answers (in the context you sketched out). Just leave it around, and if you prefer, add comment, how you had not seen the earlier answer.

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    $\begingroup$ Thank's for your answer. The mobile app doesn't allows to accept answer either. I had to go throught my browser. I guess the app is really incomplete. $\endgroup$
    – Alain Remillard
    Apr 8, 2020 at 18:06
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    $\begingroup$ @Alain It is worth emphasis that many folks do believe that one should delete redundant answers. Duplication wastes the community's time. If you know the answer is a dupe of another and adds nothing novel then please have the courtesy to delete it so that others don't have to waste their precious time reading the same answer twice (this may eventually add up to a nontrivial amount of (cumulative) community time if there ends up being hundreds or thousands of readers over the question's lifetime - time that could be better spent elsewhere). $\endgroup$
    – Bill Dubuque
    Apr 8, 2020 at 19:15
  • $\begingroup$ @BillDubuque I agree with you, that's why I tried to delete my answer. $\endgroup$
    – Alain Remillard
    Apr 8, 2020 at 19:19
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    $\begingroup$ @Alain A quick and easy way to get it deleted is to post a request in the CRUDE chatroom, but that may not be the best way due to the means used.' $\endgroup$
    – Bill Dubuque
    Apr 8, 2020 at 19:22
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    $\begingroup$ @Bill I think that's a waste of time and misguided. Also it would not work so well if there is positive score. $\endgroup$
    – quid Mod
    Apr 8, 2020 at 19:23
  • $\begingroup$ @quid We were typing at the same time - see the edit. I don't agree it is necessarily misguided, esp. if it helps prevents much wasted time (e.g. in a very active question such as an HNQ). Iirc it has already been done on more than a few occasions. Everyone has the right to know the options available and choose as they see fit what works best in any context. $\endgroup$
    – Bill Dubuque
    Apr 8, 2020 at 19:24
  • $\begingroup$ @Bill I sse. On the general subject, if somebody wants it deleted, fine. I am even willing to facilitate it. But I continue to think that there is no need to do it, and there should be no pressure to do it. It also has negative side-effects in that it encourages rushed answers. $\endgroup$
    – quid Mod
    Apr 8, 2020 at 19:27
  • $\begingroup$ Rushed answers is an orthogonal issue. Closely timed dupes needn't be rushed. But speaking of "rush" iirc sometimes folks posted in crude because flag handling was too slow and they were afraid the answer would greatly mislead readers (or they were embarrassed by a big mistake). $\endgroup$
    – Bill Dubuque
    Apr 8, 2020 at 19:29
  • $\begingroup$ @Bill No it is not at all orthogonal. By contrast the HNQ remark has nothing to do with the scenario sketched out in the question here. It is about when the question is answered basically right away after being posted (else it is rather unlikely that answers arrive at the same time and the decreased typing speed is an issue). I agree that there is no point to start writing out answers that are similar to existing ones, especially if there are already many. But I don't think it is needed to delete a second or third similar answer only because it was posted 30 second after the first. $\endgroup$
    – quid Mod
    Apr 8, 2020 at 19:32
  • $\begingroup$ Obviously if that is adopted it increases pressure to rushed answers, because the first has the significant advantages that all similar ones will "die." $\endgroup$
    – quid Mod
    Apr 8, 2020 at 19:35
  • $\begingroup$ But if the later answers are exact dupes then that's what exactly should occur - as I argued for in my initial comment. I don't know what you mean to claim about HNQs but I suspect if does not relate to my claim. $\endgroup$
    – Bill Dubuque
    Apr 8, 2020 at 19:39
  • $\begingroup$ @BillDubuque why should time be the only factor? Why would you want to delete a better formatted answer only because it was posted twenty second later due to the time spent for formatting. Possibly posted while the other answer is anyway still frenticaly edited for typos due to premature posting just to be first. $\endgroup$
    – quid Mod
    Apr 8, 2020 at 19:42
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    $\begingroup$ @quid Please read your own answer more carefully! It was you who first used that term, viz. "delete redundant answers". I used the same term so it was clear what I was referring to. Further I later clarified what I meant by it. You are in effect criticizing your own imprecision! [removed tangential part, quid] $\endgroup$
    – Bill Dubuque
    Apr 8, 2020 at 19:59
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    $\begingroup$ @BillDubuque I arguably should have made explicit that I am talking about redundant answers in the context set out by the question, I did not mean to say that redundant answer should never be considered for deletion. This was indeed imprecise (I added it in the post now). what remains open now if you maintain that "redundant answers" should also be deleted in the context set out in the question, and as further detailed in the comment thread. ¨Possibly also worth noting it says "roughly the same" in the question. $\endgroup$
    – quid Mod
    Apr 8, 2020 at 22:27
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    $\begingroup$ @quid It's quite disturbing that you censored that part (without any notice too). What was the reason for that? $\endgroup$
    – Bill Dubuque
    Apr 9, 2020 at 17:20

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