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This is a large reason why I was really annoyed when Google removed the "Merge Tabs and Apps" option back around 2016. With that feature, a bookmark to a URL c

This is a large reason why I was really annoyed when Google removed the "Merge Tabs and Apps" option back around 2016. With that feature, a bookmark to a URL could open up a new tab, appear in the list of active applications, and be closed just through that list. Effectively, there was no difference in usability between a bookmarked URL and an app that loaded the webpage in a captive browser, but you got all the sandboxing benefits of the browser. To this day, I cannot fathom why it was removed. Every thread I've looked up boils down to "We removed it as the default setting, and now there's very few users of it, so we're justified in removing the feature altogether.", which is a non-answer with multiple steps.

kllrnohj 4y ago
Just as a different perspective I hated that feature. I use my list of tabs almost as a set of bookmarks and todos. Trying to find them in the recents app switcher sucked. I don't object to the feature existing of course just offering a perspective on why it maybe wasn't universally loved.
- MereInterest 4y ago
  That makes sense, and I definitely see that neither is a universally applicable setting. Effectively, it's a choice between having one level of organization or two. For me, having two levels of organization was an extra unnecessary step, especially where the majority of interactions required the same choice at the top level. For you, having one level of organization was insufficient. So it makes sense to have it as a setting, but removing it entirely was unnecessary. I suppose it was extra frustrating due to the slow removal of the feature. First, make it no longer be the default setting. Then, move the setting into chrome://flags. Then, periodically break the flag for it, depending on undocumented interactions with other flags, which A/B testing group you're in, locale, and phase of the moon. Finally, remove it altogether by arguing that nobody uses it. It felt like somebody had decided to kill the feature, and only later constructed a reason to kill it.
denimnerd42 4y ago
oh they removed that? I haven’t been an android user in a long time but keep wishing for something like that in iOS. If i have two tabs and an app I’m using why am I switching between them in different ways?
easrng 4y ago
PWAs still show up as apps.

kllrnohj 4y ago

Just as a different perspective I hated that feature. I use my list of tabs almost as a set of bookmarks and todos. Trying to find them in the recents app switcher sucked. I don't object to the feature existing of course just offering a perspective on why it maybe wasn't universally loved.

MereInterest 4y ago
That makes sense, and I definitely see that neither is a universally applicable setting. Effectively, it's a choice between having one level of organization or two. For me, having two levels of organization was an extra unnecessary step, especially where the majority of interactions required the same choice at the top level. For you, having one level of organization was insufficient. So it makes sense to have it as a setting, but removing it entirely was unnecessary. I suppose it was extra frustrating due to the slow removal of the feature. First, make it no longer be the default setting. Then, move the setting into chrome://flags. Then, periodically break the flag for it, depending on undocumented interactions with other flags, which A/B testing group you're in, locale, and phase of the moon. Finally, remove it altogether by arguing that nobody uses it. It felt like somebody had decided to kill the feature, and only later constructed a reason to kill it.

denimnerd42 4y ago

oh they removed that? I haven’t been an android user in a long time but keep wishing for something like that in iOS. If i have two tabs and an app I’m using why am I switching between them in different ways?

easrng 4y ago

PWAs still show up as apps.