Incessant popups grab focus and insert nonsense

[Andrew-Swan]

It is very difficult to make basic edits in Spyder without provoking a popup full of unwanted junk that grabs focus and responds to the next keypress

To reproduce (in Spyder 6.0.3, default options):
(1) place the cursor in a line containing some code to be edited, in this case a line including the string ") a"
(2) delete the space, type ":" and then press enter

During that sequence, a popup full of things that begin with the letter A appears, grabs focus, and pressing enter inserts whatever inane suggestion was first in the list (or, possibly, under the mouse cursor)

Spyder has long had a problem with incessant, intrusive popups being enabled by default (google searches reveal many frustrated users) and it is not all clear how to turn them off. E.g. the things in my screenshot are labelled "snippet", but unchecking the option "Enable code snippet" does not stop them appearing.

You really need to re-think this feature. Have screenshots of what the options turn on and off, because the descriptions are essentially meaningless (e.g. "linting" is impenetrable jargon). Have fewer options that need to be turned off in the first place, for a user who simply wishes what appears on the screen to match the keys they press.

[athompson673]

I think what you are showing in the screenshot is actually the "Show completions on the fly" feature, which can be turned off here:

The settings below the toggle also control how quickly or frequently it will show up.

FWIW, I think having screenshots or little GIFs available in the settings page to help users identify the toggles not a bad idea.

[Andrew-Swan]

I have tested, and yes that is the offending option.

Suggestion: increase the default for after-characters-entered to a larger value than 1, otherwise the autocomplete will grab focus on almost any keypress, and the chance of the suggestions being useful is almost zero, making it a bug not a feature.