Hover menu is not working on touch-device because link gets triggered

Question

I\'ve got the following problem with a menu on a responive website:

I created a html menu which has ul/li-structure which contains links as cat

Answer 1

You can try using superfish

It worked for me for my hover menu.

Answer 2

Whatever you are doing should work on touch devices. But here is another way to do it using jQuery.

$('li').click(function(e){
    $(this).children('ul').toggle();
    e.stopPropagation();
});

Run the following code snippet to see. I have commented css property on hover display none so that you can have better understanding of jQuery code. Uncommenting it will also work fine.

$('li').click(function(e){
	$(this).children('ul').toggle();
  e.stopPropagation();
});

li > ul {
  display:none;
} 

/*li:hover > ul {
  display:block;
}*/

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<ul>
  <li>
      maincat1
      <ul>
          <li>
              subcat1.1
              <ul>
                  <li>
                      subcat1.1.1
                  </li>
                  <li>
                      subcat1.1.2
                  </li>
              </ul>
          </li>
      </ul>
  </li>
  <li>
      maincat2
      <ul>
          <li>
              subcat2.1
          </li>
          <li>
              subcat2.2
          </li>
          <li>
              subcat2.3
               <ul>
                  <li>
                      subcat2.3.1
                  </li>
                  <li>
                      subcat2.3.2
                  </li>
              </ul>
          </li>
      </ul>
  </li>
</ul>

Answer 3

Workaround with doubleclick for touch-devices

I now found a solution for my problem by adding the following JavaScript

The idea of how to dectect if the device is a touch device is based on this answer.

$(document).ready(function(){
    //added for surface
    window.USER_IS_TOUCHING = false;
    window.addEventListener('touchstart', function onFirstTouch() {
        window.USER_IS_TOUCHING = true;
        // we only need to know once that a human touched the screen, so we can stop listening now
        window.removeEventListener('touchstart', onFirstTouch, false);
    }, false);

    function isTouchDevice() {
      return 'ontouchstart' in window        // works on most browsers 
          || navigator.maxTouchPoints;       // works on IE10/11 and Surface
    };
    $('ul > li > a').click(function(e){
        var target = $(e.target);
        var parent = target.parent(); // the li
        if(isTouchDevice() || window.USER_IS_TOUCHING){
            if(target.hasClass("active")){
                //run default action of the link
            }
            else{
                e.preventDefault();
                //remove class active from all links
                $('ul > li > a.active').removeClass('active');
                //set class active to current link
                target.addClass("active");
                parent.addClass("active");
            }
        }
    });
    $('ul > li').click(function(e){
        //remove class active from all links if li was clicked
        if (e.target == this){
            $(".active").removeClass('active');
        }
    });
});

And the following css

.active > ul >li{
    display:block;
}

Now the first click of a touch device opens the submenu while a doubleclick runs the default action of the link.

I have tested this solution on an android smartphone & tablet and also on iphone & ipad. I havn't had the possibility to test it on a touchlaptop or microsoft surface yet. If anyone has: feel free to write a comment

Here's an example JsFiddle

Or you can also try it out here:

$(document).ready(function(){
	window.USER_IS_TOUCHING = false;
	window.addEventListener('touchstart', function onFirstTouch() {
    window.USER_IS_TOUCHING = true;
	 	// we only need to know once that a human touched the screen, so we can stop listening now
  	window.removeEventListener('touchstart', onFirstTouch, false);
	}, false);

  function isTouchDevice() {
    return 'ontouchstart' in window        // works on most browsers 
        || navigator.maxTouchPoints;       // works on IE10/11 and Surface
  };
  $('ul > li > a').click(function(e){
      var target = $(e.target);
      var parent = target.parent(); // the li
      if(isTouchDevice() || window.USER_IS_TOUCHING){
          if(target.hasClass("active")){
              //run default action of the link
          }
          else{
              e.preventDefault();
              //remove class active from all links
              $('ul > li > a.active').removeClass('active');
              //set class active to current link
              target.addClass("active");
              parent.addClass("active");
          }
      }
  });
  $('ul > li').click(function(e){
    //remove class active from all links if li was clicked
    if (e.target == this){
      $(".active").removeClass('active');
    }
  });
});

li > ul {
  display:none;
} 

li:hover > ul {
  display:block;
} 

.active > ul >li{
  display:block;
}

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.3.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<ul>
        <li>
            <a href="stackoverflow.com">maincat1</a>
            <ul>
                <li>
                    <a href="stackoverflow.com">subcat1.1</a>
                    <ul>
                        <li>
                            subcat1.1.1
                        </li>
                        <li>
                            subcat1.1.2
                        </li>
                    </ul>
                </li>
            </ul>
        </li>
        <li>
            <a href="stackoverflow.com"> maincat2</a>
            <ul>
                <li>
                    subcat2.1
                </li>
                <li>
                    subcat2.2
                </li>
                <li>
                    subcat2.3
                     <ul>
                        <li>
                            subcat2.3.1
                        </li>
                        <li>
                            subcat2.3.2
                        </li>
                    </ul>
                </li>
            </ul>
        </li>
    </ul>

Answer 4

cursor: pointer

This fixes most of the problems with hover on mobiles.

By the way - your fiddle works fine on my Android device (Huawei Honor 4C).

@edit: add cursor: pointer on <ul> element