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Re: picture in picture - anyone else here think that this feature doesn't belong to a browser? It just seems so... erm... random, basically. Looks like somethi

by abcd_f 7y ago

Re: picture in picture - anyone else here think that this feature doesn't belong to a browser? It just seems so... erm... random, basically. Looks like something that was cloned from some other product and rather crudely shoehorned in. At the very least it should have been introduced after an update and given an option to opt-in to using it, rather than automatically enabling it without any notice.

jvzr 7y ago
I love it and use it multiple (25+) times per day. My only wish is that it kept the interface from whichever player the videos comes from (eg. YouTube's, Netflix's, etc., especially for subtitles & platform-specific controls like Speed)
- szatkus 7y ago
  That would be a tough one. There's no information which part of HTML is controls. Maybe they may hardcode this information for some popular players, but that would break as soon as for example Youtube decided to change the layout a bit.
- jannes 7y ago
  If Firefox kept any website-controlled interface it would give websites an opportunity to block the feature by overlaying it with a black rectangle. Most content providers probably don't like this feature.
detritus 7y ago
I couldn't get it either then tried it with a Twitter video just yesterday.. which made me realise what use it might be, were it not for Twitter muting videos that are not in focus. I really dislike Twitter.
kevingadd 7y ago
It's built in because the browser is best equipped to provide this feature universally for HTML <video> elements and (if necessary) lie to the page about whether it's currently active. I was kind of skeptical about it but given that in practice all it does is display a small popout icon on video mouse-over, it's not really that annoying.
PudgePacket 7y ago
It feels like one of those features that you'd be skeptical of until you use/need it. Using an embedded youtube or other video player that doesn't let you resize? Pop it out! Want to put a youtube vid in a corner while you do other stuff? Pop it out, switch tabs, and go about your business!
- hombre_fatal 7y ago
  If anyone wants to try PiP for <video> elements in Chrome, here's Google's extension for it: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/picture-in-picture-extens/hkgfoiooedgoejojocmhlaklaeopbecg https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/picture-in-picture... For example, I love it for Netflix so that I can watch a show while doing other things on my laptop.
ct0 7y ago
I absolutely love the ability to do PIP. sometimes while working I'd want to view a stream in a small window (always on top) in a small corner of my screen without all the extra options the browser page has. Its a great feature and im happy FF gives me the option
zamadatix 7y ago
I think it's a sensible feature but should have been added just as a button on the standard video controls and as part of the right click menu. If a website goes out of the way to abstract both of those things into site controls then the browser shouldn't be adding additional menus on top to try to get around it it should let the site decide to add the button or not. A great example is Twitch (which I would have assumed was one of the prime use/test cases). Twitch has these things they call "extensions" that streamers can add to the player of anyone watching the stream... and they pop out on hover from the right when you want to access their main settings. So instead of clicking the button to modify the extension suddenly the video is in the corner of my monitor. That's when I decided to disable it for now :). Edit: clarification
- ihuman 7y ago
  > [It] should have been added as a button on the standard video controls and as part of the right click menu It is in the right click menu, under "Picture-in-Picture"
  - zamadatix 7y ago
    Meant to imply "just as a" for the right click and add to the standard video controls. For now I have media.videocontrols.picture-in-picture.video-toggle.enabled false which does half of this.
asdko13roasi 7y ago
The use case of PiP is legit but I agree it doesn't make a lot of sense for the browser. However, many users do not have proper native media players that would provide the same functionality so I can see why browsers might want to implement it for the casual users. A native media player with youtube-dl is still king for power users.
OskarS 7y ago
I'm way into it. I was using the feature in Safari to have some low-key video game streams on while I work. I suppose it's not for everyone, but I'm stoked about Firefox having this feature.
martin-adams 7y ago
I find this feature extremely useful in Chrome where I can run a YouTube video in PiP mode, then have it sitting nearly over a second terminal pane in my IDE while I'm developing.
isaacaggrey 7y ago
It was inspired by Firefox Test Pilot experiments performed about a years and half ago - https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2018/06/05/latest-firefox-test-pilot-experiments-custom-color-and-side-view/ https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2018/06/05/latest-firefox-test... It's actually quite convenient to watch a video while you're browsing elsewhere (e.g., a passive video you aren't intentionally watching all of but also trying to do other things). I didn't think I'd use it but every once in a while it's nice.
huebomont 7y ago
This is a web standard thing (though I believe FF's implementation may be proprietary.) Safari, Chrome, etc. have it, why would you not expect Firefox to? It's very useful for browsing while you watch a video open in another tab.
chinhodado 7y ago
I absolutely loved it. When I switched to Firefox from Chrome not long ago I thought that's a new Youtube feature. It's fantastic.
po1nter 7y ago
I absolutely love this feature and the fact that I don't have to use a 3rd party extension is even better. It's also practical for websites that autopause videos as soon as you switch to another tab which I find ridiculous. I'd love for them to add a progress bar and subtitle (think youtube, netflix or prime video) in the PIP window.
- deith 7y ago
  >I absolutely love this feature and the fact that I don't have to use a 3rd party extension is even better. If we went by this argument then browsers would have every single feature ever. Which they kinda do...
thekyle 7y ago
I've been trying out the Firefox picture-in-picture feature for a few months now and its evolved into something I use every day. I don't know whether it's right for a browser to add that feature rather than the OS, but Ubuntu doesn't have any plans to add similar functionality so I don't really care. As far as making it opt-in I dont really understand your reasoning. If people want to use the feature then it's there, if not then they probably won't notice anything is even different. Do you feel similarly about things like reader mode?
conradfr 7y ago
I love it on Windows and use it all the time and I'm glad I can finally use it at work. One downside is that subtitles (at least with Netflix, don't remember for YouTube) are still displayed in the original tab.

by abcd_f 7y ago

jvzr 7y ago

I love it and use it multiple (25+) times per day. My only wish is that it kept the interface from whichever player the videos comes from (eg. YouTube's, Netflix's, etc., especially for subtitles & platform-specific controls like Speed)

szatkus 7y ago
That would be a tough one. There's no information which part of HTML is controls. Maybe they may hardcode this information for some popular players, but that would break as soon as for example Youtube decided to change the layout a bit.
jannes 7y ago
If Firefox kept any website-controlled interface it would give websites an opportunity to block the feature by overlaying it with a black rectangle. Most content providers probably don't like this feature.

detritus 7y ago

I couldn't get it either then tried it with a Twitter video just yesterday.. which made me realise what use it might be, were it not for Twitter muting videos that are not in focus. I really dislike Twitter.

kevingadd 7y ago

It's built in because the browser is best equipped to provide this feature universally for HTML <video> elements and (if necessary) lie to the page about whether it's currently active. I was kind of skeptical about it but given that in practice all it does is display a small popout icon on video mouse-over, it's not really that annoying.

PudgePacket 7y ago

It feels like one of those features that you'd be skeptical of until you use/need it. Using an embedded youtube or other video player that doesn't let you resize? Pop it out! Want to put a youtube vid in a corner while you do other stuff? Pop it out, switch tabs, and go about your business!

hombre_fatal 7y ago
If anyone wants to try PiP for <video> elements in Chrome, here's Google's extension for it: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/picture-in-picture-extens/hkgfoiooedgoejojocmhlaklaeopbecg https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/picture-in-picture... For example, I love it for Netflix so that I can watch a show while doing other things on my laptop.

ct0 7y ago

I absolutely love the ability to do PIP. sometimes while working I'd want to view a stream in a small window (always on top) in a small corner of my screen without all the extra options the browser page has. Its a great feature and im happy FF gives me the option

zamadatix 7y ago

I think it's a sensible feature but should have been added just as a button on the standard video controls and as part of the right click menu. If a website goes out of the way to abstract both of those things into site controls then the browser shouldn't be adding additional menus on top to try to get around it it should let the site decide to add the button or not. A great example is Twitch (which I would have assumed was one of the prime use/test cases). Twitch has these things they call "extensions" that streamers can add to the player of anyone watching the stream... and they pop out on hover from the right when you want to access their main settings. So instead of clicking the button to modify the extension suddenly the video is in the corner of my monitor. That's when I decided to disable it for now :). Edit: clarification

ihuman 7y ago
> [It] should have been added as a button on the standard video controls and as part of the right click menu It is in the right click menu, under "Picture-in-Picture"
- zamadatix 7y ago
  Meant to imply "just as a" for the right click and add to the standard video controls. For now I have media.videocontrols.picture-in-picture.video-toggle.enabled false which does half of this.

asdko13roasi 7y ago

The use case of PiP is legit but I agree it doesn't make a lot of sense for the browser. However, many users do not have proper native media players that would provide the same functionality so I can see why browsers might want to implement it for the casual users. A native media player with youtube-dl is still king for power users.

OskarS 7y ago

I'm way into it. I was using the feature in Safari to have some low-key video game streams on while I work. I suppose it's not for everyone, but I'm stoked about Firefox having this feature.

martin-adams 7y ago

I find this feature extremely useful in Chrome where I can run a YouTube video in PiP mode, then have it sitting nearly over a second terminal pane in my IDE while I'm developing.

isaacaggrey 7y ago

It was inspired by Firefox Test Pilot experiments performed about a years and half ago - https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2018/06/05/latest-firefox-test-pilot-experiments-custom-color-and-side-view/ https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2018/06/05/latest-firefox-test... It's actually quite convenient to watch a video while you're browsing elsewhere (e.g., a passive video you aren't intentionally watching all of but also trying to do other things). I didn't think I'd use it but every once in a while it's nice.

huebomont 7y ago

This is a web standard thing (though I believe FF's implementation may be proprietary.) Safari, Chrome, etc. have it, why would you not expect Firefox to? It's very useful for browsing while you watch a video open in another tab.

chinhodado 7y ago

I absolutely loved it. When I switched to Firefox from Chrome not long ago I thought that's a new Youtube feature. It's fantastic.

po1nter 7y ago

I absolutely love this feature and the fact that I don't have to use a 3rd party extension is even better. It's also practical for websites that autopause videos as soon as you switch to another tab which I find ridiculous. I'd love for them to add a progress bar and subtitle (think youtube, netflix or prime video) in the PIP window.

deith 7y ago
>I absolutely love this feature and the fact that I don't have to use a 3rd party extension is even better. If we went by this argument then browsers would have every single feature ever. Which they kinda do...

thekyle 7y ago

I've been trying out the Firefox picture-in-picture feature for a few months now and its evolved into something I use every day. I don't know whether it's right for a browser to add that feature rather than the OS, but Ubuntu doesn't have any plans to add similar functionality so I don't really care. As far as making it opt-in I dont really understand your reasoning. If people want to use the feature then it's there, if not then they probably won't notice anything is even different. Do you feel similarly about things like reader mode?

conradfr 7y ago

I love it on Windows and use it all the time and I'm glad I can finally use it at work. One downside is that subtitles (at least with Netflix, don't remember for YouTube) are still displayed in the original tab.