13 ms·

Firefox 91

220 points by buran77 5y ago

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
nanis 5y ago
WTF?! The color of my right-click menu changed again! I am sticking with Firefox simply because it is not Chrome, but this is silly. Why does the looks have to change constantly. The browser is where one ends up spending most of one's time these days and it is insane that I have to double-, triple-takes every time Firefox is upgraded. Don't get me started on videos starting to auto-play after certain updates, "studies", etc. The past few years has been a steady downhill ride. Update: Apparently, the theme I had settled on after the last update is no longer supported or some such. Setting it to "system" gave me back my light right-click menu. sigh
- easton 5y ago
  I think that someone internally may think Chrome is more user friendly and that is why people don't use Firefox, which I don't think is true. Both have always been pretty good, especially since Quantum when Firefox merged the search bar and address bar (which is easier for most people I think).
  - asddubs 5y ago
    I'm still rocking that search bar, i love it as a little store for notes or if I need to copy/paste two things over and over
    - djkoolaide 5y ago
      Just make sure to disable search suggestions, or Google gets a peek at your "corner clipboard" all the time.
      - BuckRogers 5y ago
        That isn't true if you set your default engine to DDG or Startpage though! Would be quite the dystopian agreement between Google and Mozilla if so. I use it for notes too, and being able to update and resubmit my last search easily. And it's probably the core reason why I can't leave Firefox. The tab sync/send is just better too.
    - account42 5y ago
      > if I need to copy/paste two things over and over I always miss having a separate selection clipboard when I'm on a non-X11 system. Such a useful feature yet missing almost everywhere.
- pineconewarrior 5y ago
  Yeah I was going to say, this sounds like a problem on your end. Glad you got it figured out. The UX of the forced theme change should be improved, however!
  - deelly 5y ago
    ...the theme I had settled on after the last update is no longer supported... Definitely problem on a author ends.
    - pineconewarrior 5y ago
      I didn't mean to say it was your fault, just that it was not a problem with Firefox's UI itself. Breaking changes to the addon and theme APIs are perhaps a bit too common, though ;)
- noxer 5y ago
  https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/matte-black-theme/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/matte-black-t... (not affiliated) It has black right-click menu
- stronglikedan 5y ago
  I'd just be happy if the "system" theme actually honored my system theme. They broke that a few updates back. Now, instead of my focused window having a colored title bar to make it stand out, it's just a drab grey like my unfocused windows. It's little stuff like that which prevents me from using FF as my daily driver.
nanis 5y ago
> HTTPS-First Policy: Firefox Private Browsing windows now attempt to make all connections to websites secure, and fall back to insecure connections only when websites do not support it. Hmmmm ... Does this mean "HTTPS Everywhere" is no longer needed?[1] And, of course, it freaks out with the previously saved self-signed cert installed on my WiFi router. ... sigh [1]:https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
- toyg 5y ago
  > Firefox Private Browsing windows now attempt to make all connections to websites secure Ah yes, I don't want anyone to eavesdrop on my pr0n! Edit: to clarify, I find it weird that this has been limited to Private Browsing, when most people don't even use it for anything but adult websites. The feature is good and should be available for regular browsing too.
  - yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
    Do you have traffic that you are okay with people watching? Because I personally have exactly zero traffic that I want my ISP to know about (and then resell that info to ad companies, ex. https://www.infoworld.com/article/2608352/internet-privacy-another-privacy-threat-dns-logging-and-how-to-avoid-it.html https://www.infoworld.com/article/2608352/internet-privacy-a...).
    - toyg 5y ago
      I agree wholeheartedly - that's why I found puzzling that the functionality has been limited to "porn-mode". Judging by the downvotes though, I should have stated it better.
      - yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
        Oh, yes now I can see what you meant. Forgot that private mode was called porn mode, especially since in my brain it's more like "safe mode" to run without extensions or cookies:)
Tomte 5y ago
> The simplify page when printing feature is back! When printing, under More settings > Format select the Simplified option when available to get a clutter-free page. I didn't know this used to exist, but my few tests say I like that feature.
smnrchrds 5y ago
Is it possible to disable Proton UI on this version? If it is, I cannot find out how, and now my browser is fully Proton-ized. EDIT: Is is at least possible to add some sort of tab border? The lack of contrast between tabs was the reason I had disabled Proton.
- worble 5y ago
  Probably not, your best bet is to shore up the damage with userChrome.css https://github.com/black7375/Firefox-UI-Fix https://github.com/black7375/Firefox-UI-Fix is a really good set of styles to make proton usable (borders, icons, less padding, etc).
  - leejoramo 5y ago
    That fix is great! I had to merge it with some of my own customizations. So be aware of that if you already use the Profile chrome directory
  - octogonz 5y ago
    Ugh... I am really running out of patience with Firefox. :'(
- ddek 5y ago
  No, the ability to disable proton was removed a while ago. Or maybe in this release. I'm on FF-developer, which is ahead a bit.
  - viseztrance 5y ago
    For what is worth, I have disabled it in firefox 90 in about:config.
    - jffry 5y ago
      I did as well; Firefox 91 no longer has that option. You'll be Proton-ified if you upgrade.
    - 5y ago
dbg31415 5y ago
Shame, nothing about performance yet. When you run a Zoom or Google Meet call on Firefox it uses 40x the battery of Safari.
- Rd6n6 5y ago
  > Firefox now does catch-up paints for almost all user interactions, enabling a 10-20% improvement in response time to most user interactions. What do you mean nothing about performance?
- igetspam 5y ago
  Is that a literal 40x? I haven't used the web version of zoom in a long time and my Thinkpad is always plugged in but I'm genuinely curious about your data. What OS? Plugins?
  - Rd6n6 5y ago
    Well, if you get 6 hours of browsing in safari on a charge, then by this math (40x difference) you would get about 9 minutes in Firefox and you would probably burn yourself from the heat given off
    - igetspam 5y ago
      Do you actually get 9m though? I always have FF open (I try hard not to install electron apps, so I have slack web open all the time). My Thinkpad running Linux with four to six different profiles open, all with active windows and multiple tabs/windows, runs for 4h or so on battery. (Estimate based on time in the car.) 9m feels like your system might have other trouble.
  - dbg31415 5y ago
    MacOS on MBP. Yes, already opened bug reports on the issue. I joined the same 2-person Zoom call from all 3 browsers on my MBP just now... If you have more people call in, like 10 or more on the call... that's when Firefox really melts your computer and you the energy usage skyrocket. https://imgur.com/DmOQaSU https://imgur.com/DmOQaSU
h_anna_h 5y ago
Meanwhile debian unstable is still on version 88, there hasn't even been an update to patch the various security vulns.
- TonyTrapp 5y ago
  Debian is on Firefox 78, which is an official long-term support version (Extended Support Release in Mozilla-speak). The point of those LTS versions is exactly to only contain critical bug fixes and no other changes.
  - h_anna_h 5y ago
    Debian stable you mean. I am talking about unstable.
- Rd6n6 5y ago
  What security vulnerabilities?
  - h_anna_h 5y ago
    https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2021-23/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2021-2... https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2021-28/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2021-2... https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2021-33/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2021-3...
- pluc 5y ago
  Aren't the firefox upgrades largely in-browser now? I haven't seen firefox even upgraded in the repos but two clicks in Firefox' menu got me the last version.
  - h_anna_h 5y ago
    I am not aware of any distribution that does not disable the in-firefox updates.
Rd6n6 5y ago
> Firefox now does catch-up paints for almost all user interactions, enabling a 10-20% improvement in response time to most user interactions. What are catch up paints? A quick search didn’t turn anything up
- lbotos 5y ago
  I also tried to find more and can't seem to find anything. I have to assume it's some kind of batching? like an requestAnimationFrame style system. Or some kind of "debounce" to enable less paints? I'd too like to learn more!
- tux3 5y ago
  I think they're related to this blog post: https://blog.mozilla.org/performance/2021/07/13/bringing-you-a-snappier-firefox/ https://blog.mozilla.org/performance/2021/07/13/bringing-you... See also this bugzilla entry: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1675614 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1675614
- LocalPCGuy 5y ago
  I believe that's related to this bug, basically working to reduce the latency related to user interaction events when possible: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1675614 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1675614
tupac_speedrap 5y ago
It's a shame Firefox is dying. I see more and more websites that simply refuse to work on Firefox and with the decreasing market share and breaking changes they seem to be introducing every update now it's harder than ever to justify not switching over to a chromium based browser.
- mattl 5y ago
  What sites are refusing to work with Firefox? I've seen it with some apple.com stuff.
  - forgotpwd16 5y ago
    Skype and GeForce Now are two I used today.
  - wintermutestwin 5y ago
    With so many sites, when I contact them about some issue, they say "firefox is not supported - use chrome or safari." I've had problems recently with banking/finance sites and Wix.
- globular-toast 5y ago
  Just don't use those websites. There are so many things you won't be able to do before you die. Pick one of those instead.
xqcgrek2 5y ago
I'm so glad I switched to Brave.
- baal80spam 5y ago
  Same. I just knew that "disable proton via a quick config hack" was going away really soon and here we go, no more sane UI for you!
  - emn13 5y ago
    I'm happy you've found a decent browser for you. I'm a little curious about the motivation though - I've heard several people complain, but I don't really understand what's bothering them. I noticed tabs look a little different now, is that jarring? Or is there something I'm missing?
    - Karunamon 5y ago
      Constantly dinking with the UI and constantly making broadly unpopular, if not harmful (re. cliqz and hiding it) changes against any and all criticism. Mozilla at some point decided they know better than their users what their users want. ...their market share stats show they were wrong.
      - sharps1 5y ago
        Google, Microsoft, Apple, Samsung, etc pushing their browsers through their platforms would be the main reason. Most people don't care about the UI changes. Yes it was a little jarring at first. I've been using the new ui for a while now and likely wouldn't want to go back (I tried the ui hot fix for a bit, but ended up removing it and going with the default).
        pseudalopex 5y ago
        Most people don't care about the specific UI changes. But they feel frustrated and helpless when they have to relearn what they knew suddenly with no benefit to them. Things like lower contrast aren't just about taste or getting used to it.
lordnacho 5y ago
I have to admit the only real reason I'm on FF is tree style tabs. All the tabs on the left of the screen, with little markers to expand or minimize the tree. No tabs along the top (needs a tiny bit of css), plus I can customize the look. I tried to get Chrome to do this but nothing was satisfying. Now it's not like FF is inferior in all other ways, it is actually a pretty good experience. But TST is the big one for me, can't live without it.
- noxer 5y ago
  Also a user of tree style tabs. If I ever need a "Chrome(ium)" I use Edge which has build in vertical tabs support (dont know if google chrome has this as well but it didn't last time I used it)
- joenathanone 5y ago
  Microsoft’s new Chromium based Edge has a vertical tabs option.
- mxmilkiib 5y ago
  TST fan here, though it's like to try https://github.com/ranmaru22/firefox-vertical-tabs https://github.com/ranmaru22/firefox-vertical-tabs once my x86 is sorted
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- scns 5y ago
  Never managed to get TST to run well on my machines. But no need to fret, found this: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/sidebery/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/sidebery/ It combines a vertical tab bar with grouping and containers and more.
  - zipperhead 5y ago
    I just switched from TST to sidebery. I would have preferred to stay with TST, but the ability to switch between different trees is a killer feature.
jefftk 5y ago
Nice! They've added support for: try { foo(); } catch (e) { throw new Error("details", {cause: e}); }
Someone1234 5y ago
Tangent: Windows single sign-on is kind of broken. So if I hit a site that supports it, it will automatically try to log me in via my machine without asking causing my 2FA to fire and won't show me a login screen until that 2FA check succeeds/fails. If I want to sign in via any other Microsoft Account, I first need to 2FA my machine's Microsoft Account just to get the ability to login via a completely different account. Turning it on/off isn't a solution, because then you'll lose the ability to use Windows sign-on when you do want it. The login flow itself is just poorly designed. Although my bigger pet peeve by far right now is that every time I login to Microsoft Teams, it gives me a prompt ("Allow my organization to manage my device") that would essentially allow my employer to take over control of my personal machine (default: On, also a dark-pattern "Yes" box).
- ZeroCool2u 5y ago
  I've also experienced issues with SSO and physical 2 factor tokens. I just end up having to open those sites in Chrome, because FF won't trigger the password prompt for my token. It's annoying, but I'm willing to live with it.
JumpCrisscross 5y ago
Curious about Total Cookie Protection. Unfortunately, the link is broken. Hopefully we’re getting a simple whitelisting interface built into the browser.
- input_sh 5y ago
  This is where that link was supposed to lead: https://blog.mozilla.org/security/2021/08/10/firefox-91-introduces-enhanced-cookie-clearing/ https://blog.mozilla.org/security/2021/08/10/firefox-91-intr...
brink 5y ago
So much negativity. Just here to report that I am a happy Firefox user, no complaints here. Thank you Mozilla for making a browser that respects me.
- warabe 5y ago
  This, 100% uBlock works best in Firefox, and that is enough reason to keep using Firefox.
  - afterburner 5y ago
    Why, what happens to uBlock on chrome?
    - warabe 5y ago
      please refer to the following article by gorhill. https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/uBlock-Origin-works-best-on-Firefox https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/uBlock-Origin-works-b...
- FiveOhThree 5y ago
  I'd feel a lot more 'respected' if they didn't keep forcing unwanted UI changes on me.
  - jseigj43 5y ago
    If UI changes needed everyone's approval, we would still be looking like a 1990's browser.
    - FiveOhThree 5y ago
      True, but if you're running a beta test and the feedback is negative, you can't be surprised that people don't feel "respected" when you decide to push the change anyway.
      - 5y ago
hadrien01 5y ago
Firefox 91 is also the new ESR version, supported for at least a year: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Release_Management/Calendar https://wiki.mozilla.org/Release_Management/Calendar
shell0x 5y ago
My favorite thing about Firefox is the "Multi-Account Containers" extension. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account-containers/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account... It's really handy when having a private Microsoft account as well as an enterprise account. If I don't use this, my MS sessions get all mixed up.
- rplnt 5y ago
  Isn't this included in FF by default? At least I use it and don't see it in my extensions. Only thing I'm missing is automatic containers for certain domains (as it works with FB).
  - sjagoe 5y ago
    FF supports containers used by that extension natively; I think the extension basically adds some UI around it.
  - beermonster 5y ago
    Multi-Account Containers[1] is a Firefox add-on that lets you separate your work, shopping, or personal browsing without having to clear your history, log in and out, or use multiple browsers. It's an improved version of the Containers feature built into Firefox Nightly and available to advanced users by setting certain preferences (see below). [1] https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/containers https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/containers
  - declnz 5y ago
    You can (one-time) set up domains to always load in certain containers, that works well for me.
  - acomjean 5y ago
    I’m confused by this as well. It seems like a feature I would like to use without an add-on but they don’t seem to make it easy to find.
- beermonster 5y ago
maribates 5y ago
I'm curious if in the later part of their development update, they will add cryptocurrencies in the browser that might help or benefit the participating user.
yodelshady 5y ago
"We've added a new locale: SCO" That could be quite cool. So, Scots Gaelic, yes? Preserving a rich cultural history? From https://www.mozilla.org/sco/ https://www.mozilla.org/sco/ "We mak the internet saufer, soonder, and faster fur guid" What the actual arsing F, Mozilla? edit: well, maybe, I must admit I didn't know of a canonical written form of modern Scots. It still looks an awful lot like sco.wikipedia.org, which is a grotesque parody written from the US. You'll forgive some suspicion.
- webmaven 5y ago
  > "We've added a new locale: SCO" That could be quite cool. So, Scots Gaelic, yes? Preserving a rich cultural history? Nope: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots_language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots_language
- hhlbf 5y ago
  You have to read it with the voice of Groundskeeper Willie.
  - ectopod 5y ago
    Or Rab C. Nesbitt.
- dwb 5y ago
  No, the Scots language, which is indeed part of a rich cultural history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots_language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots_language Scottish Gaelic would be "gla".
- orra 5y ago
  > well, maybe, I must admit I didn't know of a canonical written form of modern Scots. Modren Scots, unfortunately, disna hae ae orthography, altho it haes a wheen o credible an similar yins. We'd probably hae a mair official orthography gin Scots hidna been surpressed for hunners o year, an insteid we lairnt it proper in the scuil. > It still looks an awful lot like sco.wikipedia.org, which is a grotesque parody written from the US. You'll forgive some suspicion. This is a pish opinion. Firefox wis owerset intil Scots by twa talentit fowk. Unfortunately, the Scots tongue haes ower monie gowks that leuk doun upo it. Either they cry that Scots is ‘no a real language’ or somehou that Scots spikkars are no spikkin ‘real’ Scots.
svnpenn 5y ago
Id like to note that Android Firefox has explicitly disabled support for installing custom add-ons [1], while they try to force developers into registering on AMO. 1. https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/20647 https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/20647
- camgunz 5y ago
  Sorry I looked but, what is AMO?
  - orra 5y ago
    addons.mozilla.org
- kbelder 5y ago
  Wow. That should be bigger news.
Renaud 5y ago
I'm always glad when I see Firefox churning along a new version. My overwhelming feeling is one of gratitude to the devs and people working on Firefox. It's the last bastion of Browser independence with super-high customizability. I also tend to use Edge over Chrome now. MS has done a pretty good job of making that a nice experience, BUT they are also pushing some less palatable ones. For instance, t used to be simple in any browser to just open a blank tab. You could set _about:blank_ as the default page. Snappy load, no crap. Try that on Edge now. It's basically impossible from the settings. So Firefox will always be my main driver. To me one of its killer features -apart from the great extensions- is the ability to send tabs to other instances on other devices, or fetch the tabs or history from another device (if logged under a Firefox account).
- nguyenkien 5y ago
  "Try that on Edge now. It's basically impossible from the settings." Not that hard: https://imgur.com/a/yVBOnjY https://imgur.com/a/yVBOnjY clean new tab page: https://imgur.com/a/YdLyWrt https://imgur.com/a/YdLyWrt
  - rofrol 5y ago
    It is not new tab but what pages are open on restart. This is where you customize new tab https://imgur.com/a/Jzpq7Rs https://imgur.com/a/Jzpq7Rs This gives empty page https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/empty-new-tab-page/dpjamkmjmigaoobjbekmfgabipmfilij https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/empty-new-tab-page... Via https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftedge/forum/all/open-new-tab-with-completely-blank-page-in-edge/c843ee34-fa41-4b0a-8707-8ab5c6004953 https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftedge/forum/all/...
    - Renaud 5y ago
      It boggles the mind that you have to install an extension to get that simple basic feature that was present in all browsers before. Also, for some reason, I setup a new machine today, with latest Win10 updates and the only section I have on that setting page is _New tab page_ The other two, _When Microsoft Edge starts_ and _Home button_ are not even there... On the customize page you show, I don't even have a setting to turn off the bing search, quicklinks, etc.
stephane-klein 5y ago
> We’d like to extend a special thank you to the 210 volunteers who helped resolve more than 1,200 bugs in the Firefox 91 release 1200 bugs!
_joel 5y ago
> We've added a new locale: Scots (sco) Congratulations to my friends north of the border! It's a slippery slope for the UK government, first firefox gets it's own scots locale, next 2ndIndyRef :)
- orra 5y ago
  As a Scots spikkar, thanks for your support o language diversity. > first firefox gets it's own scots locale, next 2ndIndyRef :) Altho ye're jokin—an A'm a supporter o Scots independence—it wad be guid gin spikkin Scots wis no langer seen as political. Monie minority languages in the UK hae muckle stigma anent thaim. A juist wiss they war aa seen as /normal/, insteid o controversial (like politics). Tae be clear, A'm no blamin you.
throwamon 5y ago
Just give me a deeply customizable Firefox fork. Lots of people complaining about superficial issues that would be easily solvable if only Firefox offered power users what they want (preferably with a better design than XUL). "Normal" people don't give a crap what browser they're using, most don't even know what a browser is. Mozilla is killing Firefox by neglecting the few who care about it. It's these dozens of small things that add up and make Firefox not stand out. I keep hearing the Firefox codebase (or Gecko, or Servo) isn't very modular and makes it hard to pursue such a project, and I don't doubt it. But aren't there enough of "us" out there to make a concerted effort? Could anyone with enough knowledge of the codebase say more than just "it's hard", maybe offer an outline of what would need to be done?
- lucideer 5y ago
  The issue with this is that the more deeply customisable a fork would be the further it would stray from upstream (and by extension the more dev resources it would require to maintain). > I keep hearing the Firefox codebase isn't very modular and makes it hard to pursue such a project, and I don't doubt it. But aren't there enough of "us" out there to make a concerted effort? There's been plenty of people making such an effort, but yeah it does appear to be "hard". If you're interested in following previous work, some relevant links: - Overview of Myk Melez's efforts in this space https://mykzilla.org/2017/03/08/positron-discontinued/ https://mykzilla.org/2017/03/08/positron-discontinued/ - https://mozilla.github.io/geckoview/ https://mozilla.github.io/geckoview/ (official but Android-only) - https://github.com/mozilla/qbrt https://github.com/mozilla/qbrt It may also be worthwhile reading about CEF which has become something of a defacto standard: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromium_Embedded_Framework https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromium_Embedded_Framework
imbnwa 5y ago
My only real gripe with FF nowadays is that the addressbar/search UI really really just needs to bite the bullet and mimic Chrome here where I can type a partial host name, <Tab>, and enter my query for that site's internal search. Right now you have to type '@', then the partial host match, then the query. Minor, I know, but <Shift>+2 (two fingers going in different directions) is less ergonomic to reach for than <Tab> (pinky can reach for that alone while all other fingers remain on home row).
- shawnz 5y ago
  In fairness they greatly improved this functionality in recent versions, but it's still not quite as smooth as Chrome
  - imbnwa 5y ago
    Yeah, Chrome's automatic registration of external search engines on first-use is also hella convenient. Firefox only reveals its weird "Add this search as a bookmark" ridiculousness. If Firefox is for the open web, making search easier so I can avoid default google addressbar searchs with "site:hostname" would seem right up that alley.
asddubs 5y ago
>The address bar now provides Switch to Tab results also in Private Browsing windows. I have to say that I really don't like that "switch to tab" thing if typing in a URL to a tab that's already open. You get yanked out of context, can't hit back anymore, it makes the previously neighbouring tabs impossible to find, and it's harder to open two copies of the same website when you need to. I guess most people probably don't care about those things
- forgotpwd16 5y ago
  You can click a modifier key (ctrl, alt, shift) to open, rather switch, a URL.
slenk 5y ago
Love Firefox. Just wish they would cut Pocket out.
- sp332 5y ago
  Is it hard to ignore?
  - roryokane 5y ago
    Not at all. Beyond ignoring it, one can disable it: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/disable-or-re-enable-pocket-for-firefox https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/disable-or-re-enable-po...
caution 5y ago
https://hacks.mozilla.org/2021/08/hopping-on-firefox-91/ https://hacks.mozilla.org/2021/08/hopping-on-firefox-91/
torstenvl 5y ago
https://i.imgur.com/uUJaO5f.png https://i.imgur.com/uUJaO5f.png
jonnycomputer 5y ago
It just updated, and I couldn't believe my eyes. The background colors on web pages: gone. Everything was high-contrast. The lack of background colors delineating sections of pages was disorienting. And many of the FF preference menus were actually unreadable. So what happened? >Firefox now automatically enables High Contrast Mode when "Increase Contrast" is checked on MacOS >Firefox automatically detects if you are using a High Contrast theme and displays everything in your high contrast color scheme. This overrides all other other browser or web page settings, and it affects the Firefox interface itself (all menus, windows, and dialog boxes) and the content of any web page you visit. Yes, I have some "Increase contrast" enabled on Mac OS because the Mac OS dark-mode theme is too low contrast. But I didn't ask for all my web pages to displayed like that. Yikes. I eventually found that I could override changing colors in the advanced colors menu.
- ruined 5y ago
  thank you! i had to roll back the update until i found this information
- rurp 5y ago
  Holy cow this change is annoying, thank you for sharing. It boggles my mind what a dumpster fire Firefox updates often are. I already stopped recommending Firefox to friends because so many people I know have gotten turned off by their awful UI churn and lost functionality; now I might finally be done with it myself.
TroisM 5y ago
Every other release, firefox removes a feature that I love... the last one was the ability to right click on a picture to view the picture and its url... now I have to use an extension for that. I wonder what they removed from this one...
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
ruined 5y ago
anyone else having style rendering problems with this update? all elements render with a white background, but inspector shows the proper style data. disabling all extensions and userchrome did not affect the behavior and even internal browser pages were bugged.
- roryokane 5y ago
  Are you using the “Increase Contrast” setting on macOS? Another commenter reported similar symptoms because they had that setting enabled: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28133327 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28133327. They said they fixed it by “[overriding] changing colors in the advanced colors menu.”
  - ruined 5y ago
    that's it! thank you
jacks212121 5y ago
New tabs are terrible, They all merge into one it was much better with the curved tabs or even version 90 which in black had a white line to seperate the tabs
jacks212121 5y ago
Ive uninstalled the latest update because i hated the new tabs and couldnt find a way to revert or change the tab style, Eve making changes in aboutconfig browser false didnt change the style. I would love to keep the upadte so if anyone knows how i can keep the old style tabs with the latest edition of firefox please let me know!
baud147258 5y ago
new UI is a decline compared to what we had previously, though I'll stick with FF
account42 5y ago
I got an upgrade to Firefox 91 today. Immediately went back to 90. Proton is not an option - will be looking for a different browser once 90 becomes untenable.
silicon2401 5y ago
Firefox is turning into garbage. Not only is the new design horrible when it works, Firefox for some reason is unusable for me at work. This is why I don't update firefox on my personal machine and will stop using it altogether if I'm somehow forced to change it in the future.
davidgerard 5y ago
I just put Lepton into place and my tabs are back and everything is nice again. https://github.com/black7375/Firefox-UI-Fix https://github.com/black7375/Firefox-UI-Fix

220 points by buran77 5y ago

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

WTF?! The color of my right-click menu changed again! I am sticking with Firefox simply because it is not Chrome, but this is silly. Why does the looks have to change constantly. The browser is where one ends up spending most of one's time these days and it is insane that I have to double-, triple-takes every time Firefox is upgraded. Don't get me started on videos starting to auto-play after certain updates, "studies", etc. The past few years has been a steady downhill ride. Update: Apparently, the theme I had settled on after the last update is no longer supported or some such. Setting it to "system" gave me back my light right-click menu. sigh

easton 5y ago
I think that someone internally may think Chrome is more user friendly and that is why people don't use Firefox, which I don't think is true. Both have always been pretty good, especially since Quantum when Firefox merged the search bar and address bar (which is easier for most people I think).
- asddubs 5y ago
  I'm still rocking that search bar, i love it as a little store for notes or if I need to copy/paste two things over and over
  - djkoolaide 5y ago
    Just make sure to disable search suggestions, or Google gets a peek at your "corner clipboard" all the time.
    - BuckRogers 5y ago
      That isn't true if you set your default engine to DDG or Startpage though! Would be quite the dystopian agreement between Google and Mozilla if so. I use it for notes too, and being able to update and resubmit my last search easily. And it's probably the core reason why I can't leave Firefox. The tab sync/send is just better too.
  - account42 5y ago
    > if I need to copy/paste two things over and over I always miss having a separate selection clipboard when I'm on a non-X11 system. Such a useful feature yet missing almost everywhere.
pineconewarrior 5y ago
Yeah I was going to say, this sounds like a problem on your end. Glad you got it figured out. The UX of the forced theme change should be improved, however!
- deelly 5y ago
  ...the theme I had settled on after the last update is no longer supported... Definitely problem on a author ends.
  - pineconewarrior 5y ago
    I didn't mean to say it was your fault, just that it was not a problem with Firefox's UI itself. Breaking changes to the addon and theme APIs are perhaps a bit too common, though ;)
noxer 5y ago
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/matte-black-theme/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/matte-black-t... (not affiliated) It has black right-click menu
stronglikedan 5y ago
I'd just be happy if the "system" theme actually honored my system theme. They broke that a few updates back. Now, instead of my focused window having a colored title bar to make it stand out, it's just a drab grey like my unfocused windows. It's little stuff like that which prevents me from using FF as my daily driver.

nanis 5y ago

> HTTPS-First Policy: Firefox Private Browsing windows now attempt to make all connections to websites secure, and fall back to insecure connections only when websites do not support it. Hmmmm ... Does this mean "HTTPS Everywhere" is no longer needed?[1] And, of course, it freaks out with the previously saved self-signed cert installed on my WiFi router. ... sigh [1]:https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere

toyg 5y ago
> Firefox Private Browsing windows now attempt to make all connections to websites secure Ah yes, I don't want anyone to eavesdrop on my pr0n! Edit: to clarify, I find it weird that this has been limited to Private Browsing, when most people don't even use it for anything but adult websites. The feature is good and should be available for regular browsing too.
- yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
  Do you have traffic that you are okay with people watching? Because I personally have exactly zero traffic that I want my ISP to know about (and then resell that info to ad companies, ex. https://www.infoworld.com/article/2608352/internet-privacy-another-privacy-threat-dns-logging-and-how-to-avoid-it.html https://www.infoworld.com/article/2608352/internet-privacy-a...).
  - toyg 5y ago
    I agree wholeheartedly - that's why I found puzzling that the functionality has been limited to "porn-mode". Judging by the downvotes though, I should have stated it better.
    - yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
      Oh, yes now I can see what you meant. Forgot that private mode was called porn mode, especially since in my brain it's more like "safe mode" to run without extensions or cookies:)

Tomte 5y ago

> The simplify page when printing feature is back! When printing, under More settings > Format select the Simplified option when available to get a clutter-free page. I didn't know this used to exist, but my few tests say I like that feature.

smnrchrds 5y ago

Is it possible to disable Proton UI on this version? If it is, I cannot find out how, and now my browser is fully Proton-ized. EDIT: Is is at least possible to add some sort of tab border? The lack of contrast between tabs was the reason I had disabled Proton.

worble 5y ago
Probably not, your best bet is to shore up the damage with userChrome.css https://github.com/black7375/Firefox-UI-Fix https://github.com/black7375/Firefox-UI-Fix is a really good set of styles to make proton usable (borders, icons, less padding, etc).
- leejoramo 5y ago
  That fix is great! I had to merge it with some of my own customizations. So be aware of that if you already use the Profile chrome directory
- octogonz 5y ago
  Ugh... I am really running out of patience with Firefox. :'(
ddek 5y ago
No, the ability to disable proton was removed a while ago. Or maybe in this release. I'm on FF-developer, which is ahead a bit.
- viseztrance 5y ago
  For what is worth, I have disabled it in firefox 90 in about:config.
  - jffry 5y ago
    I did as well; Firefox 91 no longer has that option. You'll be Proton-ified if you upgrade.
  - 5y ago

dbg31415 5y ago

Shame, nothing about performance yet. When you run a Zoom or Google Meet call on Firefox it uses 40x the battery of Safari.

Rd6n6 5y ago
> Firefox now does catch-up paints for almost all user interactions, enabling a 10-20% improvement in response time to most user interactions. What do you mean nothing about performance?
igetspam 5y ago
Is that a literal 40x? I haven't used the web version of zoom in a long time and my Thinkpad is always plugged in but I'm genuinely curious about your data. What OS? Plugins?
- Rd6n6 5y ago
  Well, if you get 6 hours of browsing in safari on a charge, then by this math (40x difference) you would get about 9 minutes in Firefox and you would probably burn yourself from the heat given off
  - igetspam 5y ago
    Do you actually get 9m though? I always have FF open (I try hard not to install electron apps, so I have slack web open all the time). My Thinkpad running Linux with four to six different profiles open, all with active windows and multiple tabs/windows, runs for 4h or so on battery. (Estimate based on time in the car.) 9m feels like your system might have other trouble.
- dbg31415 5y ago
  MacOS on MBP. Yes, already opened bug reports on the issue. I joined the same 2-person Zoom call from all 3 browsers on my MBP just now... If you have more people call in, like 10 or more on the call... that's when Firefox really melts your computer and you the energy usage skyrocket. https://imgur.com/DmOQaSU https://imgur.com/DmOQaSU

h_anna_h 5y ago

Meanwhile debian unstable is still on version 88, there hasn't even been an update to patch the various security vulns.

TonyTrapp 5y ago
Debian is on Firefox 78, which is an official long-term support version (Extended Support Release in Mozilla-speak). The point of those LTS versions is exactly to only contain critical bug fixes and no other changes.
- h_anna_h 5y ago
  Debian stable you mean. I am talking about unstable.
Rd6n6 5y ago
What security vulnerabilities?
- h_anna_h 5y ago
  https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2021-23/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2021-2... https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2021-28/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2021-2... https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2021-33/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/security/advisories/mfsa2021-3...
pluc 5y ago
Aren't the firefox upgrades largely in-browser now? I haven't seen firefox even upgraded in the repos but two clicks in Firefox' menu got me the last version.
- h_anna_h 5y ago
  I am not aware of any distribution that does not disable the in-firefox updates.

Rd6n6 5y ago

> Firefox now does catch-up paints for almost all user interactions, enabling a 10-20% improvement in response time to most user interactions. What are catch up paints? A quick search didn’t turn anything up

lbotos 5y ago
I also tried to find more and can't seem to find anything. I have to assume it's some kind of batching? like an requestAnimationFrame style system. Or some kind of "debounce" to enable less paints? I'd too like to learn more!
tux3 5y ago
I think they're related to this blog post: https://blog.mozilla.org/performance/2021/07/13/bringing-you-a-snappier-firefox/ https://blog.mozilla.org/performance/2021/07/13/bringing-you... See also this bugzilla entry: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1675614 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1675614
LocalPCGuy 5y ago
I believe that's related to this bug, basically working to reduce the latency related to user interaction events when possible: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1675614 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1675614

tupac_speedrap 5y ago

It's a shame Firefox is dying. I see more and more websites that simply refuse to work on Firefox and with the decreasing market share and breaking changes they seem to be introducing every update now it's harder than ever to justify not switching over to a chromium based browser.

mattl 5y ago
What sites are refusing to work with Firefox? I've seen it with some apple.com stuff.
- forgotpwd16 5y ago
  Skype and GeForce Now are two I used today.
- wintermutestwin 5y ago
  With so many sites, when I contact them about some issue, they say "firefox is not supported - use chrome or safari." I've had problems recently with banking/finance sites and Wix.
globular-toast 5y ago
Just don't use those websites. There are so many things you won't be able to do before you die. Pick one of those instead.

xqcgrek2 5y ago

I'm so glad I switched to Brave.

baal80spam 5y ago
Same. I just knew that "disable proton via a quick config hack" was going away really soon and here we go, no more sane UI for you!
- emn13 5y ago
  I'm happy you've found a decent browser for you. I'm a little curious about the motivation though - I've heard several people complain, but I don't really understand what's bothering them. I noticed tabs look a little different now, is that jarring? Or is there something I'm missing?
  - Karunamon 5y ago
    Constantly dinking with the UI and constantly making broadly unpopular, if not harmful (re. cliqz and hiding it) changes against any and all criticism. Mozilla at some point decided they know better than their users what their users want. ...their market share stats show they were wrong.
    - sharps1 5y ago
      Google, Microsoft, Apple, Samsung, etc pushing their browsers through their platforms would be the main reason. Most people don't care about the UI changes. Yes it was a little jarring at first. I've been using the new ui for a while now and likely wouldn't want to go back (I tried the ui hot fix for a bit, but ended up removing it and going with the default).
      - pseudalopex 5y ago
        Most people don't care about the specific UI changes. But they feel frustrated and helpless when they have to relearn what they knew suddenly with no benefit to them. Things like lower contrast aren't just about taste or getting used to it.

lordnacho 5y ago

I have to admit the only real reason I'm on FF is tree style tabs. All the tabs on the left of the screen, with little markers to expand or minimize the tree. No tabs along the top (needs a tiny bit of css), plus I can customize the look. I tried to get Chrome to do this but nothing was satisfying. Now it's not like FF is inferior in all other ways, it is actually a pretty good experience. But TST is the big one for me, can't live without it.

noxer 5y ago
Also a user of tree style tabs. If I ever need a "Chrome(ium)" I use Edge which has build in vertical tabs support (dont know if google chrome has this as well but it didn't last time I used it)
joenathanone 5y ago
Microsoft’s new Chromium based Edge has a vertical tabs option.
mxmilkiib 5y ago
TST fan here, though it's like to try https://github.com/ranmaru22/firefox-vertical-tabs https://github.com/ranmaru22/firefox-vertical-tabs once my x86 is sorted
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
scns 5y ago
Never managed to get TST to run well on my machines. But no need to fret, found this: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/sidebery/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/sidebery/ It combines a vertical tab bar with grouping and containers and more.
- zipperhead 5y ago
  I just switched from TST to sidebery. I would have preferred to stay with TST, but the ability to switch between different trees is a killer feature.

jefftk 5y ago

Nice! They've added support for: try { foo(); } catch (e) { throw new Error("details", {cause: e}); }

Someone1234 5y ago

Tangent: Windows single sign-on is kind of broken. So if I hit a site that supports it, it will automatically try to log me in via my machine without asking causing my 2FA to fire and won't show me a login screen until that 2FA check succeeds/fails. If I want to sign in via any other Microsoft Account, I first need to 2FA my machine's Microsoft Account just to get the ability to login via a completely different account. Turning it on/off isn't a solution, because then you'll lose the ability to use Windows sign-on when you do want it. The login flow itself is just poorly designed. Although my bigger pet peeve by far right now is that every time I login to Microsoft Teams, it gives me a prompt ("Allow my organization to manage my device") that would essentially allow my employer to take over control of my personal machine (default: On, also a dark-pattern "Yes" box).

ZeroCool2u 5y ago
I've also experienced issues with SSO and physical 2 factor tokens. I just end up having to open those sites in Chrome, because FF won't trigger the password prompt for my token. It's annoying, but I'm willing to live with it.

JumpCrisscross 5y ago

Curious about Total Cookie Protection. Unfortunately, the link is broken. Hopefully we’re getting a simple whitelisting interface built into the browser.

input_sh 5y ago
This is where that link was supposed to lead: https://blog.mozilla.org/security/2021/08/10/firefox-91-introduces-enhanced-cookie-clearing/ https://blog.mozilla.org/security/2021/08/10/firefox-91-intr...

brink 5y ago

So much negativity. Just here to report that I am a happy Firefox user, no complaints here. Thank you Mozilla for making a browser that respects me.

warabe 5y ago
This, 100% uBlock works best in Firefox, and that is enough reason to keep using Firefox.
- afterburner 5y ago
  Why, what happens to uBlock on chrome?
  - warabe 5y ago
    please refer to the following article by gorhill. https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/uBlock-Origin-works-best-on-Firefox https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/uBlock-Origin-works-b...
FiveOhThree 5y ago
I'd feel a lot more 'respected' if they didn't keep forcing unwanted UI changes on me.
- jseigj43 5y ago
  If UI changes needed everyone's approval, we would still be looking like a 1990's browser.
  - FiveOhThree 5y ago
    True, but if you're running a beta test and the feedback is negative, you can't be surprised that people don't feel "respected" when you decide to push the change anyway.
    - 5y ago

hadrien01 5y ago

Firefox 91 is also the new ESR version, supported for at least a year: https://wiki.mozilla.org/Release_Management/Calendar https://wiki.mozilla.org/Release_Management/Calendar

shell0x 5y ago

My favorite thing about Firefox is the "Multi-Account Containers" extension. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account-containers/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account... It's really handy when having a private Microsoft account as well as an enterprise account. If I don't use this, my MS sessions get all mixed up.

rplnt 5y ago
Isn't this included in FF by default? At least I use it and don't see it in my extensions. Only thing I'm missing is automatic containers for certain domains (as it works with FB).
- sjagoe 5y ago
  FF supports containers used by that extension natively; I think the extension basically adds some UI around it.
- beermonster 5y ago
  Multi-Account Containers[1] is a Firefox add-on that lets you separate your work, shopping, or personal browsing without having to clear your history, log in and out, or use multiple browsers. It's an improved version of the Containers feature built into Firefox Nightly and available to advanced users by setting certain preferences (see below). [1] https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/containers https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/containers
- declnz 5y ago
  You can (one-time) set up domains to always load in certain containers, that works well for me.
- acomjean 5y ago
  I’m confused by this as well. It seems like a feature I would like to use without an add-on but they don’t seem to make it easy to find.
beermonster 5y ago

maribates 5y ago

I'm curious if in the later part of their development update, they will add cryptocurrencies in the browser that might help or benefit the participating user.

yodelshady 5y ago

"We've added a new locale: SCO" That could be quite cool. So, Scots Gaelic, yes? Preserving a rich cultural history? From https://www.mozilla.org/sco/ https://www.mozilla.org/sco/ "We mak the internet saufer, soonder, and faster fur guid" What the actual arsing F, Mozilla? edit: well, maybe, I must admit I didn't know of a canonical written form of modern Scots. It still looks an awful lot like sco.wikipedia.org, which is a grotesque parody written from the US. You'll forgive some suspicion.

webmaven 5y ago
> "We've added a new locale: SCO" That could be quite cool. So, Scots Gaelic, yes? Preserving a rich cultural history? Nope: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots_language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots_language
hhlbf 5y ago
You have to read it with the voice of Groundskeeper Willie.
- ectopod 5y ago
  Or Rab C. Nesbitt.
dwb 5y ago
No, the Scots language, which is indeed part of a rich cultural history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots_language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots_language Scottish Gaelic would be "gla".
orra 5y ago
> well, maybe, I must admit I didn't know of a canonical written form of modern Scots. Modren Scots, unfortunately, disna hae ae orthography, altho it haes a wheen o credible an similar yins. We'd probably hae a mair official orthography gin Scots hidna been surpressed for hunners o year, an insteid we lairnt it proper in the scuil. > It still looks an awful lot like sco.wikipedia.org, which is a grotesque parody written from the US. You'll forgive some suspicion. This is a pish opinion. Firefox wis owerset intil Scots by twa talentit fowk. Unfortunately, the Scots tongue haes ower monie gowks that leuk doun upo it. Either they cry that Scots is ‘no a real language’ or somehou that Scots spikkars are no spikkin ‘real’ Scots.

svnpenn 5y ago

Id like to note that Android Firefox has explicitly disabled support for installing custom add-ons [1], while they try to force developers into registering on AMO. 1. https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/20647 https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/20647

camgunz 5y ago
Sorry I looked but, what is AMO?
- orra 5y ago
  addons.mozilla.org
kbelder 5y ago
Wow. That should be bigger news.

Renaud 5y ago

I'm always glad when I see Firefox churning along a new version. My overwhelming feeling is one of gratitude to the devs and people working on Firefox. It's the last bastion of Browser independence with super-high customizability. I also tend to use Edge over Chrome now. MS has done a pretty good job of making that a nice experience, BUT they are also pushing some less palatable ones. For instance, t used to be simple in any browser to just open a blank tab. You could set _about:blank_ as the default page. Snappy load, no crap. Try that on Edge now. It's basically impossible from the settings. So Firefox will always be my main driver. To me one of its killer features -apart from the great extensions- is the ability to send tabs to other instances on other devices, or fetch the tabs or history from another device (if logged under a Firefox account).

nguyenkien 5y ago
"Try that on Edge now. It's basically impossible from the settings." Not that hard: https://imgur.com/a/yVBOnjY https://imgur.com/a/yVBOnjY clean new tab page: https://imgur.com/a/YdLyWrt https://imgur.com/a/YdLyWrt
- rofrol 5y ago
  It is not new tab but what pages are open on restart. This is where you customize new tab https://imgur.com/a/Jzpq7Rs https://imgur.com/a/Jzpq7Rs This gives empty page https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/empty-new-tab-page/dpjamkmjmigaoobjbekmfgabipmfilij https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/empty-new-tab-page... Via https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftedge/forum/all/open-new-tab-with-completely-blank-page-in-edge/c843ee34-fa41-4b0a-8707-8ab5c6004953 https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftedge/forum/all/...
  - Renaud 5y ago
    It boggles the mind that you have to install an extension to get that simple basic feature that was present in all browsers before. Also, for some reason, I setup a new machine today, with latest Win10 updates and the only section I have on that setting page is _New tab page_ The other two, _When Microsoft Edge starts_ and _Home button_ are not even there... On the customize page you show, I don't even have a setting to turn off the bing search, quicklinks, etc.

stephane-klein 5y ago

> We’d like to extend a special thank you to the 210 volunteers who helped resolve more than 1,200 bugs in the Firefox 91 release 1200 bugs!

_joel 5y ago

> We've added a new locale: Scots (sco) Congratulations to my friends north of the border! It's a slippery slope for the UK government, first firefox gets it's own scots locale, next 2ndIndyRef :)

orra 5y ago
As a Scots spikkar, thanks for your support o language diversity. > first firefox gets it's own scots locale, next 2ndIndyRef :) Altho ye're jokin—an A'm a supporter o Scots independence—it wad be guid gin spikkin Scots wis no langer seen as political. Monie minority languages in the UK hae muckle stigma anent thaim. A juist wiss they war aa seen as /normal/, insteid o controversial (like politics). Tae be clear, A'm no blamin you.

throwamon 5y ago

Just give me a deeply customizable Firefox fork. Lots of people complaining about superficial issues that would be easily solvable if only Firefox offered power users what they want (preferably with a better design than XUL). "Normal" people don't give a crap what browser they're using, most don't even know what a browser is. Mozilla is killing Firefox by neglecting the few who care about it. It's these dozens of small things that add up and make Firefox not stand out. I keep hearing the Firefox codebase (or Gecko, or Servo) isn't very modular and makes it hard to pursue such a project, and I don't doubt it. But aren't there enough of "us" out there to make a concerted effort? Could anyone with enough knowledge of the codebase say more than just "it's hard", maybe offer an outline of what would need to be done?

lucideer 5y ago
The issue with this is that the more deeply customisable a fork would be the further it would stray from upstream (and by extension the more dev resources it would require to maintain). > I keep hearing the Firefox codebase isn't very modular and makes it hard to pursue such a project, and I don't doubt it. But aren't there enough of "us" out there to make a concerted effort? There's been plenty of people making such an effort, but yeah it does appear to be "hard". If you're interested in following previous work, some relevant links: - Overview of Myk Melez's efforts in this space https://mykzilla.org/2017/03/08/positron-discontinued/ https://mykzilla.org/2017/03/08/positron-discontinued/ - https://mozilla.github.io/geckoview/ https://mozilla.github.io/geckoview/ (official but Android-only) - https://github.com/mozilla/qbrt https://github.com/mozilla/qbrt It may also be worthwhile reading about CEF which has become something of a defacto standard: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromium_Embedded_Framework https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromium_Embedded_Framework

imbnwa 5y ago

My only real gripe with FF nowadays is that the addressbar/search UI really really just needs to bite the bullet and mimic Chrome here where I can type a partial host name, <Tab>, and enter my query for that site's internal search. Right now you have to type '@', then the partial host match, then the query. Minor, I know, but <Shift>+2 (two fingers going in different directions) is less ergonomic to reach for than <Tab> (pinky can reach for that alone while all other fingers remain on home row).

shawnz 5y ago
In fairness they greatly improved this functionality in recent versions, but it's still not quite as smooth as Chrome
- imbnwa 5y ago
  Yeah, Chrome's automatic registration of external search engines on first-use is also hella convenient. Firefox only reveals its weird "Add this search as a bookmark" ridiculousness. If Firefox is for the open web, making search easier so I can avoid default google addressbar searchs with "site:hostname" would seem right up that alley.

asddubs 5y ago

>The address bar now provides Switch to Tab results also in Private Browsing windows. I have to say that I really don't like that "switch to tab" thing if typing in a URL to a tab that's already open. You get yanked out of context, can't hit back anymore, it makes the previously neighbouring tabs impossible to find, and it's harder to open two copies of the same website when you need to. I guess most people probably don't care about those things

forgotpwd16 5y ago
You can click a modifier key (ctrl, alt, shift) to open, rather switch, a URL.

slenk 5y ago

Love Firefox. Just wish they would cut Pocket out.

sp332 5y ago
Is it hard to ignore?
- roryokane 5y ago
  Not at all. Beyond ignoring it, one can disable it: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/disable-or-re-enable-pocket-for-firefox https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/disable-or-re-enable-po...

caution 5y ago

https://hacks.mozilla.org/2021/08/hopping-on-firefox-91/ https://hacks.mozilla.org/2021/08/hopping-on-firefox-91/

torstenvl 5y ago

https://i.imgur.com/uUJaO5f.png https://i.imgur.com/uUJaO5f.png

jonnycomputer 5y ago

It just updated, and I couldn't believe my eyes. The background colors on web pages: gone. Everything was high-contrast. The lack of background colors delineating sections of pages was disorienting. And many of the FF preference menus were actually unreadable. So what happened? >Firefox now automatically enables High Contrast Mode when "Increase Contrast" is checked on MacOS >Firefox automatically detects if you are using a High Contrast theme and displays everything in your high contrast color scheme. This overrides all other other browser or web page settings, and it affects the Firefox interface itself (all menus, windows, and dialog boxes) and the content of any web page you visit. Yes, I have some "Increase contrast" enabled on Mac OS because the Mac OS dark-mode theme is too low contrast. But I didn't ask for all my web pages to displayed like that. Yikes. I eventually found that I could override changing colors in the advanced colors menu.

ruined 5y ago
thank you! i had to roll back the update until i found this information
rurp 5y ago
Holy cow this change is annoying, thank you for sharing. It boggles my mind what a dumpster fire Firefox updates often are. I already stopped recommending Firefox to friends because so many people I know have gotten turned off by their awful UI churn and lost functionality; now I might finally be done with it myself.

TroisM 5y ago

Every other release, firefox removes a feature that I love... the last one was the ability to right click on a picture to view the picture and its url... now I have to use an extension for that. I wonder what they removed from this one...

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

ruined 5y ago

anyone else having style rendering problems with this update? all elements render with a white background, but inspector shows the proper style data. disabling all extensions and userchrome did not affect the behavior and even internal browser pages were bugged.

roryokane 5y ago
Are you using the “Increase Contrast” setting on macOS? Another commenter reported similar symptoms because they had that setting enabled: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28133327 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28133327. They said they fixed it by “[overriding] changing colors in the advanced colors menu.”
- ruined 5y ago
  that's it! thank you

jacks212121 5y ago

New tabs are terrible, They all merge into one it was much better with the curved tabs or even version 90 which in black had a white line to seperate the tabs

jacks212121 5y ago

Ive uninstalled the latest update because i hated the new tabs and couldnt find a way to revert or change the tab style, Eve making changes in aboutconfig browser false didnt change the style. I would love to keep the upadte so if anyone knows how i can keep the old style tabs with the latest edition of firefox please let me know!

baud147258 5y ago

new UI is a decline compared to what we had previously, though I'll stick with FF

account42 5y ago

I got an upgrade to Firefox 91 today. Immediately went back to 90. Proton is not an option - will be looking for a different browser once 90 becomes untenable.

silicon2401 5y ago

Firefox is turning into garbage. Not only is the new design horrible when it works, Firefox for some reason is unusable for me at work. This is why I don't update firefox on my personal machine and will stop using it altogether if I'm somehow forced to change it in the future.

davidgerard 5y ago

I just put Lepton into place and my tabs are back and everything is nice again. https://github.com/black7375/Firefox-UI-Fix https://github.com/black7375/Firefox-UI-Fix