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Am a firefox user since 0.9. I see there's a lot of love for Firefox in the responsonses here. However, the profile UI and general managment experience compare

Am a firefox user since 0.9. I see there's a lot of love for Firefox in the responsonses here. However, the profile UI and general managment experience compared to Chrome/Edge is pure trash. No, container tabs is not a viable substitute (my work and my personal profiles don't even share bookmarks). Yes am aware of a third party addon that requires additional software to be installed - this just proves the point further. This issue was reported 13 years ago! https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=662025 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=662025 So today I'm using Firefox only for personal and chrome (/edge) profiles for everything else. Only reason I am sticking with Firefox is because of the Android version. If I could get ublock origin working on edge/chrome on android I'd probably abandon Firefox.

isodev 3y ago
Safari really nailed their profile implementation in that regard - separate bookmarks, history and session and that in addition to tab groups. I think Firefox is not far from this, only if they could refine the experience.
- fauigerzigerk 3y ago
  Are there any notable differences between profiles in Safari and Chrome?
  - isodev 3y ago
    Safari seems to be less intrusive about the boundary between profiles. For instance, you can use the same bookmarks and favourites if you wanted to, and you don't have to reinstall all extensions (just turn them on and off per profile). You also don't need an account to create a profile (where I think Chrome requires sign in with Google for each profile, at least on iOS), Safari is happy to sync all profiles, extensions, tab groups, start page settings etc through iCloud with your Apple ID.
account-5 3y ago
What's so bad about typing in: about:profiles, into the address bar and selecting the profile you want to use? Or even creating a shortcut with the: -p, option to select one n starting Firefox. Genuinely, what else are chrome/edge offering that is a deal breaker for you?
- thrdbndndn 3y ago
  > what else are chrome/edge offering Having a simple UI that you can just click and launch other profiles, really.
  - account-5 3y ago
    This is available in the: about:profiles, page. But not directly from the UI. I tend to use, like others here have suggested, desktop shortcuts that open profiles directly.
- depressedpanda 3y ago
  > Genuinely, what else are chrome/edge offering that is a deal breaker for you? Unless you fiddle around with using different themes for each profile, or install kludgy extensions, there's nothing indicating which profile a window is currently using.
  - account-5 3y ago
    This is true but I actually don't mind this at all.
    - depressedpanda 3y ago
      You might not mind, but it's a papercut for a regular user wanting to use profiles. The thing is that it's a also problem that can easily be resolved with some small UI tweaks. Everything we need for first class handling of profiles in Firefox already exists, save a more intuitive UI.
  - jpeeler 3y ago
thrdbndndn 3y ago
Yeah. Before Firefox Quantum (i.e. abandon of XUL-based add-dons), one can at least use 3rd-party addons to make switching profiles easier. Now I barely use profiles in Firefox while I have 5-6 profiles in Chrome for various things as it's much easier.
jklinger410 3y ago
Contained tabs instead of an updated profile system was a bad choice for Firefox. It will continue to lag behind because of this.
- damianh 3y ago
  Strong agreement
- sundarurfriend 3y ago
  Disagree. They serve different purposes, and are both very useful. And it's not like the profiles system needs vast developer resources that containers "sucked up" or something, the problem with profiles is mainly a UX/design issue, and even more pertinently, a lack-of-attention issue.
dzonga 3y ago
on android I use Kiwi browser sometimes - it loads ublock origin.

isodev 3y ago

Safari really nailed their profile implementation in that regard - separate bookmarks, history and session and that in addition to tab groups. I think Firefox is not far from this, only if they could refine the experience.

fauigerzigerk 3y ago
Are there any notable differences between profiles in Safari and Chrome?
- isodev 3y ago
  Safari seems to be less intrusive about the boundary between profiles. For instance, you can use the same bookmarks and favourites if you wanted to, and you don't have to reinstall all extensions (just turn them on and off per profile). You also don't need an account to create a profile (where I think Chrome requires sign in with Google for each profile, at least on iOS), Safari is happy to sync all profiles, extensions, tab groups, start page settings etc through iCloud with your Apple ID.

account-5 3y ago

What's so bad about typing in: about:profiles, into the address bar and selecting the profile you want to use? Or even creating a shortcut with the: -p, option to select one n starting Firefox. Genuinely, what else are chrome/edge offering that is a deal breaker for you?

thrdbndndn 3y ago
> what else are chrome/edge offering Having a simple UI that you can just click and launch other profiles, really.
- account-5 3y ago
  This is available in the: about:profiles, page. But not directly from the UI. I tend to use, like others here have suggested, desktop shortcuts that open profiles directly.
depressedpanda 3y ago
> Genuinely, what else are chrome/edge offering that is a deal breaker for you? Unless you fiddle around with using different themes for each profile, or install kludgy extensions, there's nothing indicating which profile a window is currently using.
- account-5 3y ago
  This is true but I actually don't mind this at all.
  - depressedpanda 3y ago
    You might not mind, but it's a papercut for a regular user wanting to use profiles. The thing is that it's a also problem that can easily be resolved with some small UI tweaks. Everything we need for first class handling of profiles in Firefox already exists, save a more intuitive UI.
- jpeeler 3y ago

thrdbndndn 3y ago

Yeah. Before Firefox Quantum (i.e. abandon of XUL-based add-dons), one can at least use 3rd-party addons to make switching profiles easier. Now I barely use profiles in Firefox while I have 5-6 profiles in Chrome for various things as it's much easier.

jklinger410 3y ago

Contained tabs instead of an updated profile system was a bad choice for Firefox. It will continue to lag behind because of this.

damianh 3y ago
Strong agreement
sundarurfriend 3y ago
Disagree. They serve different purposes, and are both very useful. And it's not like the profiles system needs vast developer resources that containers "sucked up" or something, the problem with profiles is mainly a UX/design issue, and even more pertinently, a lack-of-attention issue.

dzonga 3y ago

on android I use Kiwi browser sometimes - it loads ublock origin.