3 ms·

Firefox introduces Split View: Two tabs side by side, right where you need them

68 points by nateb2022 7mo ago

gnabgib 7mo ago
Looks like default-off (phew), unlike Chrome. A feature no-one asked for. Especially in FF where memory is well managed.
- fgonzag 7mo ago
  I might not have asked for it (because it never occurred to me) but I'm actually interested in trying it.
- The_suffocated 7mo ago
  I have longed for this feature. For me, it is useful in many scenarios, such as: * reading two distantly separated sections of a long article on two split tabs; * reading a research paper on one tab and typing a question to StackExchange on the other; * reading a scanned book written in French on one tab and using a dictionary on the other.
  - deleted 7mo ago
    [deleted]
- tomwheeler 7mo ago
  I never thought I'd say something nice about Google Chrome, but this feature was the only reason that I sometimes used that browser instead of Firefox. The split view is incredibly handy when you're looking at a web application and an observability tool for that web application at the same time.
pimlottc 7mo ago
What makes this better than having two full browser windows side by side?
- st3fan 7mo ago
  Try it out. It is ok to not like it.
- montroser 7mo ago
  If you want to switch back and forth between "these two web things side-by-side" and "something else" over and over, then in that case it's better than two full browser windows side-by-side because they come into the foreground and vice versa as a unit.
  - rcxdude 7mo ago
    It is a bit of a continuation of the somewhat annoying trend of integrating features into apps that should be part of the window manager (tabs, in the first place, for example). This one is extra awkward because even windows (which has spent a lot of time behind on window management) can do two things side by side as the same unit now.
- garciansmith 7mo ago
  It means the content of two tabs is side by side but nothing else like the browser chrome. Haven't used this in Firefox yet, but I certainly find it useful for other apps like file browsers.
  - hollandheese 7mo ago
    Huh? There's actually more stuff in the way than if you used two windows since the divider is actually larger than the gap between windows is. The only way this saves on space is if you're using vertical tabs.
    - orphea 7mo ago
      Whatever? I too prefer two windows side by side and I don't see this feature useful, but if others do, that's great.
- deleted 7mo ago
  [deleted]
vfclists 7mo ago
Firefox introducing a feature which addons handled quite easily and much better in previous versions.
- altairprime 7mo ago
  Which addons? Better how? Are they still available? Do you have experience with them? Have you used the new feature as well?
- e40 7mo ago
  Addons that expose your tab’s data to random strangers who might cash out when they get enough users, where the new owner is much less ethical? No thanks.
slau 7mo ago
I’m actually glad to see this. We have been asking Firefox to build features, instead of AI garbage, and this may be something I didn’t know I wanted.
27bstroke6 7mo ago
This is great news! I am forced to use Chrone for work and this is the best new feature they’ve shipped in a while. So handy for video meetings where I also want to take notes or have have some other reference doc handy.
stubish 7mo ago
I hope that isn't a simple drop down selector listing all tabs... feature might be a complete non-starter for some of us with a few too many open tabs.
stnvh 7mo ago
I've always wondered why Firefox don't grab hold of the "renegade" space they already occupy, with confidence through their existing users, an alternative and genuinely independent browser down to the engine. They are the market leaders of non-webkit, a huge strength among chromium copycat popup shops with identical wins and failures... or do I have to write the TV ad as well? I feel confident to assume the majority of dedicated Firefox users will read and think of this feature release, et al most new features as of late, as trivial. The true benefit of using Firefox in itself isn't "ease of planning camping trips" but something much more.
leephillips 7mo ago
I get this with any browser, with DWM + fullscreen mode.
lofaszvanitt 7mo ago
It's completely useless. Chrome had it first, and I already hated it there. Now when you rightclick, it takes the place of the "open in new tab" option that people have been using for ages. Who comes up with these fooken bad decisions? And why does Firefox feel the need to copy every questionable idea that Chrome's dev team pushes out? At this point, it would be better to just let users customize their own browser UI. The current situation is a complete mess. And the new YouTube player... What a disaster. There are endless articles about performance metrics, first paint times, and how high the hiring bar is, but the end result just feels bad. All that hard work gets overshadowed by strange UI and UX choices that make the experience worse. Meanwhile, regulators don't seem to step in, and companies like Google just keep going without much resistance. Honestly, it feels like everything is moving in the wrong direction. So it's time to summon Godzilla or the aliens from The Abyss and let them rip.
- e40 7mo ago
  Agreed! Destroyed muscle memory, but maybe now it brings parity to chrome and firefox, so those of us who have to use both have an easier time.
- SideburnsOfDoom 7mo ago
  Agreed, it's more like "Two tabs side by side, right when you least expect it". I'm sure someone wants this, but for me it's mostly a mis-click.
- eMPee584 7mo ago
  Konqueror (KDE's original hybrid web browser/file manager) had it first, implemented in 1999 ( https://invent.kde.org/search?group_id=1551&project_id=2544&scope=commits&search=splitView https://invent.kde.org/search?group_id=1551&project_id=2544&... ) and it supports arbitrary tiling. Oh by the way, Chrome's rendering engine (called blink nowadays, KHTML once) also originated from KDE. Implementation details and UX in general is a cluster fsck of sad stories though, can confirm. Try/adapt zen browser maybe?
spankalee 7mo ago
I find this handy in Chrome occasionally. Just confirms that BeOS had the right windowing features all along. Two more OS-level windowing features I'd like to see in browsers: - OS X like Expose that shows a preview of all tabs for a window. That would help me find a tab visually. - A command to override the meaning of fullscreen to take over the whole tab, rather than be truly fullscreen. That would let me use other window management features with maximum video size within the window.
- mid-kid 7mo ago
  I could've sworn firefox had an "all tabs" preview button that looked like 4 blocks in a grid, before the Australis era. Can't find any pictures/video footage of it in action however. Best I could find is: https://www.askvg.com/how-to-enable-ie-like-quick-tabs-feature-all-tabs-previews-in-mozilla-firefox/ https://www.askvg.com/how-to-enable-ie-like-quick-tabs-featu... But I'm not sure if this landed, or if it ended up functioning differently.
  - em-bee 7mo ago
    i could have sworn the same, at least as an extension. i just found this extension, but that's brand new: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ff-tab-expos%C3%A9/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ff-tab-expos%...
  - sourcegrift 7mo ago
    Tab groups used to do that
- sillywalk 7mo ago
  > Just confirms that BeOS had the right windowing features all along. Which windowing features are you referring to? I recall with BeOS (and I assume Haiku) you could shift-click on the "yellow window tab" to move it along the top of windows, so you could have multiple windows stacked, but with their tabs visible on the top, but I don't recall a split-view.
- amadeuspagel 7mo ago
arnoooooo 7mo ago
I've been pretty happy with ditching tabs altogether. I don't get the idea of tabs. Desktop manager already has workspaces and windows, do I really need yet another abstraction ? I use split view all the time, but with two browser windows.
- siliconpotato 7mo ago
  what if you need 300 web pages open?
deleted 7mo ago
[deleted]
AlienRobot 7mo ago
Firefox finally added the feature that Chrome copied from Vivaldi.
- eMPee584 7mo ago
  And that konqueror, KDE's web browser, added in 1999 (and still supports). Also, it's still a great browser, albeit still missing webext support.
dmos62 7mo ago
Am I the only upset that browsers have to reinvent window management?

68 points by nateb2022 7mo ago

Looks like default-off (phew), unlike Chrome. A feature no-one asked for. Especially in FF where memory is well managed.

fgonzag 7mo ago
I might not have asked for it (because it never occurred to me) but I'm actually interested in trying it.
The_suffocated 7mo ago
I have longed for this feature. For me, it is useful in many scenarios, such as: * reading two distantly separated sections of a long article on two split tabs; * reading a research paper on one tab and typing a question to StackExchange on the other; * reading a scanned book written in French on one tab and using a dictionary on the other.
- deleted 7mo ago
  [deleted]
tomwheeler 7mo ago
I never thought I'd say something nice about Google Chrome, but this feature was the only reason that I sometimes used that browser instead of Firefox. The split view is incredibly handy when you're looking at a web application and an observability tool for that web application at the same time.

pimlottc 7mo ago

What makes this better than having two full browser windows side by side?

st3fan 7mo ago
Try it out. It is ok to not like it.
montroser 7mo ago
If you want to switch back and forth between "these two web things side-by-side" and "something else" over and over, then in that case it's better than two full browser windows side-by-side because they come into the foreground and vice versa as a unit.
- rcxdude 7mo ago
  It is a bit of a continuation of the somewhat annoying trend of integrating features into apps that should be part of the window manager (tabs, in the first place, for example). This one is extra awkward because even windows (which has spent a lot of time behind on window management) can do two things side by side as the same unit now.
garciansmith 7mo ago
It means the content of two tabs is side by side but nothing else like the browser chrome. Haven't used this in Firefox yet, but I certainly find it useful for other apps like file browsers.
- hollandheese 7mo ago
  Huh? There's actually more stuff in the way than if you used two windows since the divider is actually larger than the gap between windows is. The only way this saves on space is if you're using vertical tabs.
  - orphea 7mo ago
    Whatever? I too prefer two windows side by side and I don't see this feature useful, but if others do, that's great.
deleted 7mo ago
[deleted]

vfclists 7mo ago

Firefox introducing a feature which addons handled quite easily and much better in previous versions.

altairprime 7mo ago
Which addons? Better how? Are they still available? Do you have experience with them? Have you used the new feature as well?
e40 7mo ago
Addons that expose your tab’s data to random strangers who might cash out when they get enough users, where the new owner is much less ethical? No thanks.

slau 7mo ago

I’m actually glad to see this. We have been asking Firefox to build features, instead of AI garbage, and this may be something I didn’t know I wanted.

27bstroke6 7mo ago

This is great news! I am forced to use Chrone for work and this is the best new feature they’ve shipped in a while. So handy for video meetings where I also want to take notes or have have some other reference doc handy.

stubish 7mo ago

I hope that isn't a simple drop down selector listing all tabs... feature might be a complete non-starter for some of us with a few too many open tabs.

stnvh 7mo ago

I've always wondered why Firefox don't grab hold of the "renegade" space they already occupy, with confidence through their existing users, an alternative and genuinely independent browser down to the engine. They are the market leaders of non-webkit, a huge strength among chromium copycat popup shops with identical wins and failures... or do I have to write the TV ad as well? I feel confident to assume the majority of dedicated Firefox users will read and think of this feature release, et al most new features as of late, as trivial. The true benefit of using Firefox in itself isn't "ease of planning camping trips" but something much more.

leephillips 7mo ago

I get this with any browser, with DWM + fullscreen mode.

lofaszvanitt 7mo ago

It's completely useless. Chrome had it first, and I already hated it there. Now when you rightclick, it takes the place of the "open in new tab" option that people have been using for ages. Who comes up with these fooken bad decisions? And why does Firefox feel the need to copy every questionable idea that Chrome's dev team pushes out? At this point, it would be better to just let users customize their own browser UI. The current situation is a complete mess. And the new YouTube player... What a disaster. There are endless articles about performance metrics, first paint times, and how high the hiring bar is, but the end result just feels bad. All that hard work gets overshadowed by strange UI and UX choices that make the experience worse. Meanwhile, regulators don't seem to step in, and companies like Google just keep going without much resistance. Honestly, it feels like everything is moving in the wrong direction. So it's time to summon Godzilla or the aliens from The Abyss and let them rip.

e40 7mo ago
Agreed! Destroyed muscle memory, but maybe now it brings parity to chrome and firefox, so those of us who have to use both have an easier time.
SideburnsOfDoom 7mo ago
Agreed, it's more like "Two tabs side by side, right when you least expect it". I'm sure someone wants this, but for me it's mostly a mis-click.
eMPee584 7mo ago
Konqueror (KDE's original hybrid web browser/file manager) had it first, implemented in 1999 ( https://invent.kde.org/search?group_id=1551&project_id=2544&scope=commits&search=splitView https://invent.kde.org/search?group_id=1551&project_id=2544&... ) and it supports arbitrary tiling. Oh by the way, Chrome's rendering engine (called blink nowadays, KHTML once) also originated from KDE. Implementation details and UX in general is a cluster fsck of sad stories though, can confirm. Try/adapt zen browser maybe?

spankalee 7mo ago

I find this handy in Chrome occasionally. Just confirms that BeOS had the right windowing features all along. Two more OS-level windowing features I'd like to see in browsers: - OS X like Expose that shows a preview of all tabs for a window. That would help me find a tab visually. - A command to override the meaning of fullscreen to take over the whole tab, rather than be truly fullscreen. That would let me use other window management features with maximum video size within the window.

mid-kid 7mo ago
I could've sworn firefox had an "all tabs" preview button that looked like 4 blocks in a grid, before the Australis era. Can't find any pictures/video footage of it in action however. Best I could find is: https://www.askvg.com/how-to-enable-ie-like-quick-tabs-feature-all-tabs-previews-in-mozilla-firefox/ https://www.askvg.com/how-to-enable-ie-like-quick-tabs-featu... But I'm not sure if this landed, or if it ended up functioning differently.
- em-bee 7mo ago
  i could have sworn the same, at least as an extension. i just found this extension, but that's brand new: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ff-tab-expos%C3%A9/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ff-tab-expos%...
- sourcegrift 7mo ago
  Tab groups used to do that
sillywalk 7mo ago
> Just confirms that BeOS had the right windowing features all along. Which windowing features are you referring to? I recall with BeOS (and I assume Haiku) you could shift-click on the "yellow window tab" to move it along the top of windows, so you could have multiple windows stacked, but with their tabs visible on the top, but I don't recall a split-view.
amadeuspagel 7mo ago

arnoooooo 7mo ago

I've been pretty happy with ditching tabs altogether. I don't get the idea of tabs. Desktop manager already has workspaces and windows, do I really need yet another abstraction ? I use split view all the time, but with two browser windows.

siliconpotato 7mo ago
what if you need 300 web pages open?

deleted 7mo ago

[deleted]

AlienRobot 7mo ago

Firefox finally added the feature that Chrome copied from Vivaldi.

eMPee584 7mo ago
And that konqueror, KDE's web browser, added in 1999 (and still supports). Also, it's still a great browser, albeit still missing webext support.

dmos62 7mo ago

Am I the only upset that browsers have to reinvent window management?