Why gradient color pick tool behaves strangely many times?

Question

This really irritates me many times, I guess especially in gradients that I haven't created.

In first image, you can see the gradient pick tool is selected on right side, and on left side, a solid color is selected because I have selected a pointer of gradient (see right). This is what I need, so I can double click the solid color (the foreground background tool on very left highlighted) and pick color I need from the popup.

In 2nd image, everything is same, just a different gradient and on the very left, you see gradient is selected instead of solid color. I can doube click it but once I select the color from the color popup, it turns the gradient to solid color. This is what I don't need.

3rd picture is of the double click popup I mean. I like this popup because I can't find it anywhere else in my illustrator in case of gradients like these. Here I can easily choose an random color, in this case the grey colors, unlike swatches with limited colors.

Edit (To show that both cases have gradient tool selected):

Why is this strange behavior?

Answer 1

The difference in behavior has to do with the fact that in your first example you have the Gradient Tool at work. In the other instances you simply have an object selected.

With the Gradient Tool at work. Then yes, the stroke/fill selector (what you called the foreground/ background tool which is more a Photoshop terminology) works as you like to change the color of whatever individual color stop of the gradient you have selected.

I find this quite unusual and not very intuitive- in fact I never even knew the Fill/ Stroke selector would work this way when using the Gradient Tool. Typically, I will just select the color stop I want to modify (in the Gradient Panel or on the Gradient Tool) to change that individual color from the Swatches or the Color Panel (as @Scott suggests).

In your second and third example you have an object selected- then the Fill/Stroke selector works exactly as expected. It will change your Gradient fill into a solid color fill if you double click it and choose a color from the pop up color picker.

So, you must be working on the gradient itself with the Gradient Tool to have the Fill/Stroke Selector work as you wish.