I GENUINELY want to use Firefox, or at least give it another shot, but as a Microsoft Edge user as of 4 years ago when they really started refining features like vertical tabs and the overall experience, I jumped ship. Don’t get me wrong, I like Firefox and will use it…but until it gets these features, it’ll remain as a secondary platform. I just can’t make the switch as of now with the drop in usability it would bring. This is NOT a complaint against Mozilla or anything of the sort, more or less a “please notify me when Firefox gets these” or something like that.
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Address bar tab switching on iOS: Safari did it best, but Chrome, Brave, and MS Edge have this, and supposedly Firefox on Android does as well. For whatever reason though, even after update 141 with the major visual overhaul, Firefox on iOS still lacks the ability to switch tabs by swiping on the address bar. This is an ESSENTIAL for multitasking, especially considering how (visually nice, but) slow the animations are for viewing tabs.
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Actual, NATIVE PWA support on desktop: No, the addon doesn’t count, I’ve had limited success using it across different operating systems. Supposedly at least an alpha version of this feature exists under the name “browser tabs” or something of the sort, likely in the Firefox Nightly builds or something, but I would greatly prefer a native version to the likes of Chromium-based browsers.
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Native split-screen: Okay, this one I’m okay with in the current state with the addon, but having it natively built into Firefox would be nice with all the potential refinements and all it could bring.
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FULLY collapsible vertical tabs sidebar (and maybe separate from the actual BROWSER sidebar): Okay, not ESSENTIAL, and I know Firefox just recently got vertical tabs (I was one of the first to try it out with Nightly, just as I will be when Chromium does like how they quietly added split screen via a flag), but currently the address bar can auto-hide in full screen. The vertical tabs sidebar? You either have to deal with it permanently visible or entirely GONE unless you click the button for it. It’d be nice to have the option for the sidebar to autohide with the address bar, and even more if the vertical tabs bar was separate from the browser’s sidebar so both could theoretically be active.
That’s all. Again, massive respect to the Firefox developers, I’m just afraid I can’t quite switch to it as my daily driver… yet. Once these features are added though, please, by all means, let me know!
Agree on native PWA. I use the add-on, an its very rough around the edges. Chrome was so much simpler.
What do you mean by native split screen?
By “native split screen”, I simply mean the ability to display multiple windows side-by-side or on top of each other (or in other arrangements with multiple windows) within a single browser tab or window instance. I think Arc has the best implementation of this feature, but MS Edge is not far behind with the basic ability of horizontal and/or vertical Split View, plus a possible third view with the sidebar since it is distinct from vertical tabs.
Firefox’s implementation, last time I checked, still required the sidebar extension and only allowed two tabs side-by-side. It’s a start, but even vanilla Chromium has that much now and it’s built in with a flag rather than being an extension. Not to mention, again, if the vertical tabs were separate from the sidebar, you could still use separate sidebar extensions more easily and all.
So, the window is fullscreen, but you can tile the tabs within the window itself? I think I'd personally prefer to lean on the OS's window management, but given how shit that can be (macOS), I think I can see the value there? Might have to try it to see what its all about.
It’s definitely worth a shot. Again, Arc probably has the best implementation of this feature, and is worth trying out if only to understand what I mean. MS Edge’s variation is better than basically everything else that’s not Arc in my testing, and Zen might also have a variation of this but I hadn’t used it in a while.
Built-in browser splitscreen in a browser that handles it well is genuinely game-changing. You can do things like link the Split View (links you click on one side open in the other; excellent for reviews and information gathering), quick window resizing, all your typical tab grouping and collections, and more – all without having to open another window instance.
P.S. macOS window management is certainly not its strong suit, but with the right programs and tweaks, it’s not half bad either :)
Had a quick play with Arc, and also Zen, and I can see the allure. Its definitely nice. I think Arc is still the nicer version, but given its login only nonsense, I'm a bit turned off that. Might keep trailing zen for a bit though.
Please share the macos programs and tweaks, its been quite a disappointment so far. To its credit, the workspaces is pretty nice, but the rest of the window management leaves a lot to be desired.
Just to make things simple regarding the Mac apps and tweaks, imma just go ahead and forward my “Mac app recommendation suite.” of course, not everyone needs all of these apps, and this isn’t over every use case, but this is just about every program I have on my system. You can check these out and determine if anything sounds like it could be beneficial for you. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pSsLcM4lVnqGt68yu-GgKFApOJBv2aIzMmUs_8iT_2c/edit?usp=drivesdk
Now then, specifically regarding window management and multitasking, I have a few key tips: