3d ago

Notify Me When Firefox Gets…

I GENUINELY want to use Firefox, or at least give it another shot, but as a Microsoft Edge user as of 4 years ago when they really started refining features like vertical tabs and the overall experience, I jumped ship. Don’t get me wrong, I like Firefox and will use it…but until it gets these features, it’ll remain as a secondary platform. I just can’t make the switch as of now with the drop in usability it would bring. This is NOT a complaint against Mozilla or anything of the sort, more or less a “please notify me when Firefox gets these” or something like that.

Address bar tab switching on iOS: Safari did it best, but Chrome, Brave, and MS Edge have this, and supposedly Firefox on Android does as well. For whatever reason though, even after update 141 with the major visual overhaul, Firefox on iOS still lacks the ability to switch tabs by swiping on the address bar. This is an ESSENTIAL for multitasking, especially considering how (visually nice, but) slow the animations are for viewing tabs.
Actual, NATIVE PWA support on desktop: No, the addon doesn’t count, I’ve had limited success using it across different operating systems. Supposedly at least an alpha version of this feature exists under the name “browser tabs” or something of the sort, likely in the Firefox Nightly builds or something, but I would greatly prefer a native version to the likes of Chromium-based browsers.
Native split-screen: Okay, this one I’m okay with in the current state with the addon, but having it natively built into Firefox would be nice with all the potential refinements and all it could bring.
FULLY collapsible vertical tabs sidebar (and maybe separate from the actual BROWSER sidebar): Okay, not ESSENTIAL, and I know Firefox just recently got vertical tabs (I was one of the first to try it out with Nightly, just as I will be when Chromium does like how they quietly added split screen via a flag), but currently the address bar can auto-hide in full screen. The vertical tabs sidebar? You either have to deal with it permanently visible or entirely GONE unless you click the button for it. It’d be nice to have the option for the sidebar to autohide with the address bar, and even more if the vertical tabs bar was separate from the browser’s sidebar so both could theoretically be active.

That’s all. Again, massive respect to the Firefox developers, I’m just afraid I can’t quite switch to it as my daily driver… yet. Once these features are added though, please, by all means, let me know!

25 comments

for number 4, I use the tree-style-tabs addon and some custom userchrome css to get that and it works great. I have it set so that when you hover over the 4-pixel wide sliver that I leave visible (could make it transparent, I just appreciate the reminder that it's there), it pops out to be 260 pixels wide. I wish it wouldn't need that level of customization, but it does work.
- Follow-up: What exactly do you like about tree-style tabs? I’ve not really looked into them before, and even in all my tech-ness (I taught myself macOS, Windows, Linux, and programs like GIMP, Darktable, Inkscape, and a good amount of DaVinci Resolve, for reference)… the two times I tried Vivaldi, I couldn’t quite get it. I mean, it visually makes sense, but why? What are your thoughts as opposed to just tab groups and a single column or row as most browsers do things?
  
  I actually don't use the "tree" part of it at all. I don't get it either. It just happens to be easier to wrangle into what I want than other options like sideberry.
  
  Ahh, okay, fair enough. That stinks, do I do feel slightly better knowing that it isn’t some major feature I’ve just been ignoring. Not that there ISN’T probably some benefit to it, but it’s just not for me, and I’ve not met anyone so far who prefers them… but then again, I am also THE tech for literally everyone I know 😅
- Very cool. Always loved the extent of customization available on Firefox desktop. For me, the current implementation of Firefox’s vertical tabs is “fine” for now, but even Brave’s ultra-basic version of the feature still does it more in line with MS Edge (who does it best, IMO). I’d look into something like this for myself if the iOS app tab swiping got implemented and Zen didn’t handle things better than vanilla Firefox, though. Keep up the great customization work!