5 ms·

You shouldn’t have to install and use a worse browser just for one webpage. A proper solution should come from the site developer.

marmaduke 9y ago
how is a browser which is proactively improving web experience worse?
imron 9y ago
> just for one webpage It's not just one webpage - it's for an increasingly large number of websites. And 'worse' depends a lot on use cases. I typically have many tabs open (maybe 40+) and for my use case Firefox has always been a better browser for that. I also get non-autoplaying videos - another thing that in my opinion makes the browser better than some alternatives, not to mention containerized browsing for better privacy. Chrome is 'worse' for all the things I care about.
- Numberwang 9y ago
  Maybe true. 40+ tabs sounds like a workflow issue though. Beyond having a few tabs open there are often better Ways of managing links.
  - lostlogin 9y ago
    Windows of Siracusa County. It’s worth it. http://atp.fm/episodes/96 http://atp.fm/episodes/96
  - greglindahl 9y ago
    Tree Style Tab on Firefox is a great way of managing links.
  - imron 9y ago
    > 40+ tabs sounds like a workflow issue though It's not a workflow issue, it's a workflow that I prefer to use (and I'm not the only one who prefers it - it's fairly common among people who still use Firefox over Chrome).
tangue 9y ago
As if the site developper has its word to say on choices like that ...
rebuilder 9y ago
The solution should come from the browser IMO. Autoplaying videos should not be possible.
- thecatspaw 9y ago
  What about youtube though? On websites where the video is the main content it should be autoplaying imho
  - a_t48 9y ago
    A white\blacklist should do fine.
  - notatoad 9y ago
    just like you can grant a site permission to use your microphone, get your location, run flash plugins, or any of various other things, the ability to auto-play video should be a permission that sites have to ask for, not something they can do implicitly.
  - dkersten 9y ago
    I personally disagree. I HATE getting linked to something that then autoplays a video — I don’t always know before clicking a link that a video is the main content. If I want it to play, I will press the play button.
  - freeflight 9y ago
    YouTube at least stops the autoplay when you are not looking at the tab or while scrolling down through the comments. A behavior I much prefer compared to the usual news sites behavior of "Let's just play this video, hidden somewhere halfway down the site in a side-frame, no matter what".
- Outpox 9y ago
  Or let the user have the choice.
WonkeyMonkey 9y ago
"a worse browser" is an interesting way to put it. It seems you're trying to convey a sense of objectivity to your choice. A lot of people will point out privacy concerns from chrome to justify their choice of Firefox, and that seems to cause a bit of polorization between the two groups of users. You did not elaborate on what makes chrome a better browser, but it's safe to say a large portion see performance/speed as what makes Chrome better. However, if my assumption on your reasoning is wrong please share. So assuming that a possible increase in privacy does not have weight on what makes a better browser, what else than performance. 2 reasons why Firefox could be better, for certain users, are: safer add-ons, and less Network use. 1) Somewhat recently it was posted to hacker news that chrome add-ons had been taken over with malware: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14888010 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14888010 To me, the idea that malware (adware) could be in an "app" store so obviously for such an amount of time is wholly unacceptable. The Chrome addon still contained malicious code long after that post. Forgive me, I am on mobile, so I have not researched when/if it was fixed 2) ad blockers on Firefox are simply more effective. They block the download of ads to the browser, where ad blocking on chrome uses JavaScript. This means, which is especially important on mobile, a decrease in data usage Disclaimer: Firefox has switched a lot of things in the newest update, this may very well have changed I know they are becoming more and more like Chrome. However, that would not change the meaning of my post. I am not trying to say Firefox is a better browser, that is entirely opposite my opinion. My point is different users have different use cases, and to categorize one as objectively better is difficult to do (for such a hotly debated topic for two products of such similar quality)
- Numberwang 9y ago
  This was a more thought out answer than my comment deserved. I left FF some time ago as it was feeling bloated and I hated the rounded look. I'll reconsider FF from your comment, particularly in regards the the note on ad-blocking.

marmaduke 9y ago

how is a browser which is proactively improving web experience worse?

imron 9y ago

> just for one webpage It's not just one webpage - it's for an increasingly large number of websites. And 'worse' depends a lot on use cases. I typically have many tabs open (maybe 40+) and for my use case Firefox has always been a better browser for that. I also get non-autoplaying videos - another thing that in my opinion makes the browser better than some alternatives, not to mention containerized browsing for better privacy. Chrome is 'worse' for all the things I care about.

Numberwang 9y ago
Maybe true. 40+ tabs sounds like a workflow issue though. Beyond having a few tabs open there are often better Ways of managing links.
- lostlogin 9y ago
  Windows of Siracusa County. It’s worth it. http://atp.fm/episodes/96 http://atp.fm/episodes/96
- greglindahl 9y ago
  Tree Style Tab on Firefox is a great way of managing links.
- imron 9y ago
  > 40+ tabs sounds like a workflow issue though It's not a workflow issue, it's a workflow that I prefer to use (and I'm not the only one who prefers it - it's fairly common among people who still use Firefox over Chrome).

tangue 9y ago

As if the site developper has its word to say on choices like that ...

rebuilder 9y ago

The solution should come from the browser IMO. Autoplaying videos should not be possible.

thecatspaw 9y ago
What about youtube though? On websites where the video is the main content it should be autoplaying imho
- a_t48 9y ago
  A white\blacklist should do fine.
- notatoad 9y ago
  just like you can grant a site permission to use your microphone, get your location, run flash plugins, or any of various other things, the ability to auto-play video should be a permission that sites have to ask for, not something they can do implicitly.
- dkersten 9y ago
  I personally disagree. I HATE getting linked to something that then autoplays a video — I don’t always know before clicking a link that a video is the main content. If I want it to play, I will press the play button.
- freeflight 9y ago
  YouTube at least stops the autoplay when you are not looking at the tab or while scrolling down through the comments. A behavior I much prefer compared to the usual news sites behavior of "Let's just play this video, hidden somewhere halfway down the site in a side-frame, no matter what".
Outpox 9y ago
Or let the user have the choice.

WonkeyMonkey 9y ago

"a worse browser" is an interesting way to put it. It seems you're trying to convey a sense of objectivity to your choice. A lot of people will point out privacy concerns from chrome to justify their choice of Firefox, and that seems to cause a bit of polorization between the two groups of users. You did not elaborate on what makes chrome a better browser, but it's safe to say a large portion see performance/speed as what makes Chrome better. However, if my assumption on your reasoning is wrong please share. So assuming that a possible increase in privacy does not have weight on what makes a better browser, what else than performance. 2 reasons why Firefox could be better, for certain users, are: safer add-ons, and less Network use. 1) Somewhat recently it was posted to hacker news that chrome add-ons had been taken over with malware: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14888010 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14888010 To me, the idea that malware (adware) could be in an "app" store so obviously for such an amount of time is wholly unacceptable. The Chrome addon still contained malicious code long after that post. Forgive me, I am on mobile, so I have not researched when/if it was fixed 2) ad blockers on Firefox are simply more effective. They block the download of ads to the browser, where ad blocking on chrome uses JavaScript. This means, which is especially important on mobile, a decrease in data usage Disclaimer: Firefox has switched a lot of things in the newest update, this may very well have changed I know they are becoming more and more like Chrome. However, that would not change the meaning of my post. I am not trying to say Firefox is a better browser, that is entirely opposite my opinion. My point is different users have different use cases, and to categorize one as objectively better is difficult to do (for such a hotly debated topic for two products of such similar quality)

Numberwang 9y ago
This was a more thought out answer than my comment deserved. I left FF some time ago as it was feeling bloated and I hated the rounded look. I'll reconsider FF from your comment, particularly in regards the the note on ad-blocking.