8 ms·

This is Firefox's best kept secret. To this day I cannot fathom anyone willingly switching from Firefox to Chrome/Edge/any other Chromium-based browser. There

This is Firefox's best kept secret. To this day I cannot fathom anyone willingly switching from Firefox to Chrome/Edge/any other Chromium-based browser. There are so many tiny features that are useful at least to myself, while a minor JavaScript performance advantage isn't something that important in the grand scale of things.

baby 3y ago
And then there’s tree style tabs. But actually I moved to Chrome due to how many issues I ran into with tree style tabs due to firefox not letting do its thing
- kenmacd 3y ago
  Well, in case you decide to move back, give Sidebery a try. I switched a while back haven't had any issues.
  - Zecc 3y ago
    I second this. I've had the very rare message saying the tab tree has gotten out of sync (always as a consequence of me moving tabs between incognito windows), but the first time it happened clicking the message refreshed the tab tree successfully; the second time it didn't but toggling the sidebar off and on fixed it. I've had no problems with stability. And to me the context menu option to unload tabs is a killer feature.
- eitland 3y ago
  So, if I understood you correct, you had issues with TST and instead of disabling TST, you went for Chrome?
  - fn-mote 3y ago
    They want a good tab manager... so they changed because the one they tried for Firefox did not work.
    - eitland 3y ago
      Over to Chrome that - as far as I have found - is worse off than Firefox in all possible ways when it comes to tab management? Have I missed something?
      - raytube 3y ago
        [dead]
  - baby 3y ago
    It became slow and the only reason that was keeping me in Firefox (TST) started getting more and more broken so I switched. I used to be so vocal about TST back in the days that I’m probably the reason you use it btw.
    - eitland 3y ago
      I see. I still manage to use TST, but part of my reason for using Firefox is just because I don't want to use anything Chromium based. Oh, and also I don't really want to support Mozilla either so I am experimenting with LibreWolf as my secondary browser and so far it has been great.
wartijn_ 3y ago
You can do this in Chromium as well. So it might be Chromium's best kept secret too.
- ghostpepper 3y ago
  How does one search open tabs in Chrome?
  - cubefox 3y ago
    I think he meant the custom website keyword search.
    - wartijn_ 3y ago
      I did mean that, but it is possible to search for tabs, history, or bookmarks by starting your search with an @. E.g. `@tabs ycombinator`
    - cpleppert 3y ago
      This bookmarklet will work: (function () { let sel = window.getSelection(); let Qr; if (sel && sel.toString().length > 0) {Qr=sel.toString()} else {Qr=prompt('Search Site for','');} let hna=window.location.hostname; if(Qr) { location.href='http://www.google.com/search?&q=site:'+encodeURIComponent(hna)+'+'+escape(Qr) }})(); You can attach to a keyboard shortcut with a launcher or applescript.
  - wartijn_ 3y ago
    By starting your search with "@tabs" You can change that behavior in the settings
    - myfonj 3y ago
      Interestingly, in Microsoft Edge, entering `%` does the same as typing `@tabs <tab>`. And `^` as `@history`.
  - shscs911 3y ago
Neff 3y ago
Funny enough, I just posted on Mastodon looking for recommendations of other browsers to try. While I love the flexibility and openness that Firefox brings, there is a resource issue for me on my macbook pro. I have to spend a lot of time in Google Meets for work, and video conferencing via Firefox seems to redline the computer... It sounds like a jet engine and I wind up thermal throttling to the point that my machine becomes completely unresponsive. I'd love to stay with Firefox - especially for the cross-device tab sharing and search - but the need for something stable is superseding my want to use a non-Google browser.
- thesuitonym 3y ago
  I wonder if Google would have any vested interest in making Meets a bad experience in Firefox... No, it must be Firefox that's wrong!
  - Neff 3y ago
    I have no doubt that Google is hamstringing performance on Firefox. But that is far outside of my sphere of control so I am focusing on the things I can effect. Another member recommended disabling hardware acceleration so that is the first thing I'll try. If you have any other recommendations on how I can reduce the impact of the issue I'd love to hear them.
- paintballboi07 3y ago
  Have you tried disabling hardware acceleration?
  - Neff 3y ago
    I haven't. That was recommended to me by someone else and something I am going to look into. I would have assumed that offloading the video processing to the dedicated GPU would be a good thing, but hopefully that helps with the problem.
- irae 3y ago
  I used Safari for years and it is so easy to open Chrome just for Google Meet. It is way less annoying than one would imagine
matheusmoreira 3y ago
Firefox is increasingly unfriendly to power users. Wouldn't surprise me if they got rid of this feature someday because they have statistics showing few people use it.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- marcosdumay 3y ago
  Firefox is trending into the unfriendliness of Chrome and the other mainstream browsers. That irritating and horrible; but until they follow that trend to conclusion, it's not a reason to switch at all.
- HumblyTossed 3y ago
  Switching will accelerate this.
- sbjs 3y ago
  And rightfully so. Why maintain a feature for a small minority? Let them fork and maintain it themselves.
  - WastingMyTime89 3y ago
    The danger of this is obvious. Everyone is there for a different minority used feature. By caring only about the feature used by the majority, you are actually satisfying no one. That’s why product managers use persona on top of metrics. Nice products have niche features and some kind of personality. You don’t want to overfocus on them but stripping them all is a losing move.
    - IIsi50MHz 3y ago
      WordPerfect and Quattro Pro (now WordPerfect Suite, I think) seem to persist due catering to special needs of law firms. Catering to some niche users can keep you afloat despite an otherwise market-dominant competitor.
  - 3y ago
sucralose 3y ago
Custom bookmark / search engine functionality is easy to replicate on Linux with a few shell scripts, though. I use Brave and yet use some complex search engines such as making POST requests to APIs based on the search input and telling the browser to open a URL provided in the API's HTTP response.
drozycki 3y ago
Chrome would auto install site specific search in its initial beta release in September 2008. The ability to set your own keywords came soon after. https://lifehacker.com/enable-chromes-best-features-in-firefox-5044518 https://lifehacker.com/enable-chromes-best-features-in-firef...
pbreit 3y ago
Chrome manages to do this without a command character. Much better UX.
- tzot 3y ago
  Firefox without a command character searches everywhere; you use a command character to restrict your search to a specific category (history, bookmarks, open tabs etc). Assumably Chromes does the same (ie without some prefix searches everywhere, with some prefix —or keypress— searches in a specific category). If Chrome doesn't do that, then Firefox's is the much better UX, otherwise they're equivalent.
IceSentry 3y ago
I use vivaldi because of the tab stack feature and until firefox gets support for something close to it I just can't switch. I tried to browse the web without it but I always come back to vivaldi. I have a tab hoarding problem and it's the only browser that actually makes helps me manage it.
- aldanor 3y ago
  I use Firefox mainly because of TreeStyleTab which lets me have 1k-2k tabs with no problem. Beats all other vertical tab options I've seen so far in other browsers
asadotzler 3y ago
I've been trying to tell people about this for over two decades, literally, https://www-archive.mozilla.org/docs/end-user/keywords.html https://www-archive.mozilla.org/docs/end-user/keywords.html
pbhjpbhj 3y ago
Not really, Chrome-based browsers have search keywords too. What I would like most on the Chrome-based browser I have to use at work is history (^ keywords) and bookmark searching (# tag keywords, or * bookmark keywords) using "awesomebar" operators that Firefox has. I'd really really like it if a form of search keywords could be used for forms that don't work as GET requests.
nine_k 3y ago
Another great thing that only seem to exist for Firefox is Tree Style Tab [1] and a bunch of plugins around it. It completely changes the way I browse. There is an honest but much, much more limited attempt top bring a something similar to Chromium: [2]. [1]: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tree-style-tab/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tree-style-ta... [2]: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tree-style-tab/oicakdoenlelpjnkoljnaakdofplkgnd https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tree-style-tab/oic...
- MetallicCloud 3y ago
  Is there a good way to hide the top tabs without getting into barely supported config files? I like TST, but I gave up on it because I could never get the top tabs hidden correctly, and all the information I could find on the internet was different levels of out of date.
  - velut 3y ago
    I don't think so. I use Sidebery and their recommended approach is to edit userChrome.css. It's not too bad and works well. See https://github.com/mbnuqw/sidebery/wiki/Firefox-Styles-Snippets-(via-userChrome.css) https://github.com/mbnuqw/sidebery/wiki/Firefox-Styles-Snipp....
  - wlesieutre 3y ago
    I see a sibling comment posted a link to some tab bar hiding CSS, but having gone though the same "different levels of out of date" problem myself I'll add my own solution that I'm currently using in Firefox 114 on Windows 11. Not perfectly space efficient, but avoids some issues with totally hiding the window titlebar, since I still wanted to keep the minimize/maximize/close controls up there. Some of this may be platform specific to Windows (can't speak to window management buttons on other platforms), but hopefully it helps if anyone in this thread needs it or lands here later from search results: /* Hide the tabs within TabsToolbar*/ .toolbar-items { display: none; } /* Make the min/max/close buttons align to the right*/ #TabsToolbar { display: flex; flex-direction: row-reverse; } /* Hide the titlebar spacers, which push the buttons away from the corner */ .titlebar-spacer { display: none; } /* Hide the sidebar header */ #sidebar-header { display: none; } Stupid that this sort of fiddling is required when other browsers (like Edge and Brave) are doing native sidebar tabs, but I do like how compact Firefox's can be, plus being a tree instead of a flat list. Enabling userChrome.css files and finding where to put it is left as an exercise to the reader.
Dalewyn 3y ago
>a minor JavaScript performance advantage Consider just how many layers of JavaShit webdevs want to slap down on their websites these days, that "minor" performance difference adds up. Death by a thousand cuts, basically.
porridgeraisin 3y ago
This is there in chromium based browsers too, though. Settings -> search engine -> site search and then the exact same mechanism.

baby 3y ago

And then there’s tree style tabs. But actually I moved to Chrome due to how many issues I ran into with tree style tabs due to firefox not letting do its thing

kenmacd 3y ago
Well, in case you decide to move back, give Sidebery a try. I switched a while back haven't had any issues.
- Zecc 3y ago
  I second this. I've had the very rare message saying the tab tree has gotten out of sync (always as a consequence of me moving tabs between incognito windows), but the first time it happened clicking the message refreshed the tab tree successfully; the second time it didn't but toggling the sidebar off and on fixed it. I've had no problems with stability. And to me the context menu option to unload tabs is a killer feature.
eitland 3y ago
So, if I understood you correct, you had issues with TST and instead of disabling TST, you went for Chrome?
- fn-mote 3y ago
  They want a good tab manager... so they changed because the one they tried for Firefox did not work.
  - eitland 3y ago
    Over to Chrome that - as far as I have found - is worse off than Firefox in all possible ways when it comes to tab management? Have I missed something?
    - raytube 3y ago
      [dead]
- baby 3y ago
  It became slow and the only reason that was keeping me in Firefox (TST) started getting more and more broken so I switched. I used to be so vocal about TST back in the days that I’m probably the reason you use it btw.
  - eitland 3y ago
    I see. I still manage to use TST, but part of my reason for using Firefox is just because I don't want to use anything Chromium based. Oh, and also I don't really want to support Mozilla either so I am experimenting with LibreWolf as my secondary browser and so far it has been great.

wartijn_ 3y ago

You can do this in Chromium as well. So it might be Chromium's best kept secret too.

ghostpepper 3y ago
How does one search open tabs in Chrome?
- cubefox 3y ago
  I think he meant the custom website keyword search.
  - wartijn_ 3y ago
    I did mean that, but it is possible to search for tabs, history, or bookmarks by starting your search with an @. E.g. `@tabs ycombinator`
  - cpleppert 3y ago
    This bookmarklet will work: (function () { let sel = window.getSelection(); let Qr; if (sel && sel.toString().length > 0) {Qr=sel.toString()} else {Qr=prompt('Search Site for','');} let hna=window.location.hostname; if(Qr) { location.href='http://www.google.com/search?&q=site:'+encodeURIComponent(hna)+'+'+escape(Qr) }})(); You can attach to a keyboard shortcut with a launcher or applescript.
- wartijn_ 3y ago
  By starting your search with "@tabs" You can change that behavior in the settings
  - myfonj 3y ago
    Interestingly, in Microsoft Edge, entering `%` does the same as typing `@tabs <tab>`. And `^` as `@history`.
- shscs911 3y ago

Neff 3y ago

Funny enough, I just posted on Mastodon looking for recommendations of other browsers to try. While I love the flexibility and openness that Firefox brings, there is a resource issue for me on my macbook pro. I have to spend a lot of time in Google Meets for work, and video conferencing via Firefox seems to redline the computer... It sounds like a jet engine and I wind up thermal throttling to the point that my machine becomes completely unresponsive. I'd love to stay with Firefox - especially for the cross-device tab sharing and search - but the need for something stable is superseding my want to use a non-Google browser.

thesuitonym 3y ago
I wonder if Google would have any vested interest in making Meets a bad experience in Firefox... No, it must be Firefox that's wrong!
- Neff 3y ago
  I have no doubt that Google is hamstringing performance on Firefox. But that is far outside of my sphere of control so I am focusing on the things I can effect. Another member recommended disabling hardware acceleration so that is the first thing I'll try. If you have any other recommendations on how I can reduce the impact of the issue I'd love to hear them.
paintballboi07 3y ago
Have you tried disabling hardware acceleration?
- Neff 3y ago
  I haven't. That was recommended to me by someone else and something I am going to look into. I would have assumed that offloading the video processing to the dedicated GPU would be a good thing, but hopefully that helps with the problem.
irae 3y ago
I used Safari for years and it is so easy to open Chrome just for Google Meet. It is way less annoying than one would imagine

matheusmoreira 3y ago

Firefox is increasingly unfriendly to power users. Wouldn't surprise me if they got rid of this feature someday because they have statistics showing few people use it.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
marcosdumay 3y ago
Firefox is trending into the unfriendliness of Chrome and the other mainstream browsers. That irritating and horrible; but until they follow that trend to conclusion, it's not a reason to switch at all.
HumblyTossed 3y ago
Switching will accelerate this.
sbjs 3y ago
And rightfully so. Why maintain a feature for a small minority? Let them fork and maintain it themselves.
- WastingMyTime89 3y ago
  The danger of this is obvious. Everyone is there for a different minority used feature. By caring only about the feature used by the majority, you are actually satisfying no one. That’s why product managers use persona on top of metrics. Nice products have niche features and some kind of personality. You don’t want to overfocus on them but stripping them all is a losing move.
  - IIsi50MHz 3y ago
    WordPerfect and Quattro Pro (now WordPerfect Suite, I think) seem to persist due catering to special needs of law firms. Catering to some niche users can keep you afloat despite an otherwise market-dominant competitor.
- 3y ago

sucralose 3y ago

Custom bookmark / search engine functionality is easy to replicate on Linux with a few shell scripts, though. I use Brave and yet use some complex search engines such as making POST requests to APIs based on the search input and telling the browser to open a URL provided in the API's HTTP response.

drozycki 3y ago

Chrome would auto install site specific search in its initial beta release in September 2008. The ability to set your own keywords came soon after. https://lifehacker.com/enable-chromes-best-features-in-firefox-5044518 https://lifehacker.com/enable-chromes-best-features-in-firef...

pbreit 3y ago

Chrome manages to do this without a command character. Much better UX.

tzot 3y ago
Firefox without a command character searches everywhere; you use a command character to restrict your search to a specific category (history, bookmarks, open tabs etc). Assumably Chromes does the same (ie without some prefix searches everywhere, with some prefix —or keypress— searches in a specific category). If Chrome doesn't do that, then Firefox's is the much better UX, otherwise they're equivalent.

IceSentry 3y ago

I use vivaldi because of the tab stack feature and until firefox gets support for something close to it I just can't switch. I tried to browse the web without it but I always come back to vivaldi. I have a tab hoarding problem and it's the only browser that actually makes helps me manage it.

aldanor 3y ago
I use Firefox mainly because of TreeStyleTab which lets me have 1k-2k tabs with no problem. Beats all other vertical tab options I've seen so far in other browsers

asadotzler 3y ago

I've been trying to tell people about this for over two decades, literally, https://www-archive.mozilla.org/docs/end-user/keywords.html https://www-archive.mozilla.org/docs/end-user/keywords.html

pbhjpbhj 3y ago

Not really, Chrome-based browsers have search keywords too. What I would like most on the Chrome-based browser I have to use at work is history (^ keywords) and bookmark searching (# tag keywords, or * bookmark keywords) using "awesomebar" operators that Firefox has. I'd really really like it if a form of search keywords could be used for forms that don't work as GET requests.

nine_k 3y ago

Another great thing that only seem to exist for Firefox is Tree Style Tab [1] and a bunch of plugins around it. It completely changes the way I browse. There is an honest but much, much more limited attempt top bring a something similar to Chromium: [2]. [1]: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tree-style-tab/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tree-style-ta... [2]: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tree-style-tab/oicakdoenlelpjnkoljnaakdofplkgnd https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tree-style-tab/oic...

MetallicCloud 3y ago
Is there a good way to hide the top tabs without getting into barely supported config files? I like TST, but I gave up on it because I could never get the top tabs hidden correctly, and all the information I could find on the internet was different levels of out of date.
- velut 3y ago
  I don't think so. I use Sidebery and their recommended approach is to edit userChrome.css. It's not too bad and works well. See https://github.com/mbnuqw/sidebery/wiki/Firefox-Styles-Snippets-(via-userChrome.css) https://github.com/mbnuqw/sidebery/wiki/Firefox-Styles-Snipp....
- wlesieutre 3y ago
  I see a sibling comment posted a link to some tab bar hiding CSS, but having gone though the same "different levels of out of date" problem myself I'll add my own solution that I'm currently using in Firefox 114 on Windows 11. Not perfectly space efficient, but avoids some issues with totally hiding the window titlebar, since I still wanted to keep the minimize/maximize/close controls up there. Some of this may be platform specific to Windows (can't speak to window management buttons on other platforms), but hopefully it helps if anyone in this thread needs it or lands here later from search results: /* Hide the tabs within TabsToolbar*/ .toolbar-items { display: none; } /* Make the min/max/close buttons align to the right*/ #TabsToolbar { display: flex; flex-direction: row-reverse; } /* Hide the titlebar spacers, which push the buttons away from the corner */ .titlebar-spacer { display: none; } /* Hide the sidebar header */ #sidebar-header { display: none; } Stupid that this sort of fiddling is required when other browsers (like Edge and Brave) are doing native sidebar tabs, but I do like how compact Firefox's can be, plus being a tree instead of a flat list. Enabling userChrome.css files and finding where to put it is left as an exercise to the reader.

Dalewyn 3y ago

>a minor JavaScript performance advantage Consider just how many layers of JavaShit webdevs want to slap down on their websites these days, that "minor" performance difference adds up. Death by a thousand cuts, basically.

porridgeraisin 3y ago

This is there in chromium based browsers too, though. Settings -> search engine -> site search and then the exact same mechanism.