Re: [csswg-drafts] [css-text] Reconsider the initial value of the `text-autospace` property (#12386)

I am a Chinese reader, author as well as a web developer. I very pleased to see that the initial value of `text-autospace` is `normal`. This will enhance the appearance of a vast number of existing websites.

I would like to provide some examples beyond the web.

Since 2019, the native layout engines of iOS (starting from iOS 13) and macOS (starting from Catalina) have added space between Chinese characters and Western text, which **affects all user apps using native engine**.

![Image](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/2bccf55a-9960-4c8b-9360-08ce0e479c1f)

Figure: Chinese–Western text spacing in iOS. Author: [两颗皮蛋](https://sspai.com/u/oiioiii/updates), from [this article](https://sspai.com/post/86214)

In China, there are also mobile operating systems that have implemented automatic Chinese–Western text spacing. At the 2023 vivo Developer Conference, the "smart layout engine" introduced in OriginOS 4. However it only affects system apps. In 2024, Xiaomi's HyperOS 2 added a "text layout optimization" option, which is **enabled by default and affects the layout in user apps**.

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For web, [赫蹏 (heti)](https://github.com/sivan/heti) is a Chinese typography enhancement library. It adds spacing between Chinese and Western text, rather than inserting "space" characters. It has 6.5k stars on GitHub and receives 30k+ weekly downloads on npm, peaking at 60k.


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Received on Wednesday, 15 October 2025 16:14:01 UTC