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Testing the Firefox Alternatives

tommorris.org

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Re: Testing the Firefox Alternatives

#51

Post by wkat4242 »

lolinder wrote: post #2

> You can totally still stick with Firefox… but remember to download userChrome.css from GitHub. And if you want vertical tabs, be sure to install Sidebery until Mozilla get around to implementing native vertical tabs. I'm a constant critic of most things Mozilla (as well as an avid Firefox user... there's a lot of overlap in that venn diagram) and most of what this intro rails against resonates, but I'll never under…

Not a big fan of having such core functionality in extensions. Firefox translations work better now that they're in the core and it keeps the number of extensions down (and thus the messages of "Firefox is.. starting.. slowly")

The same with the AI stuff, i don't mind that in the browser. It does an okay job though it needs a lot of work. And I can already use it with my local AI server. Unlike the copilot crap in edge and whatever AI Google has in Chrome (I've not used chrome in years, only chromium)

Re: Testing the Firefox Alternatives

#53

Post by wkat4242 »

causality0 wrote: post #23

I wish someone would release a good mobile fork. Firefox Mobile probably has the worst UX of any mobile browser I've used since 2009 and I'm convinced whatever intern they have locked in a closet coding it doesn't use it themselves. It's as if they used a supercomputer to predict user behavior for the sole purpose of making sure their obnoxious purple toast messages cover the exact button you need to use and that the…

I like it especially now that it has pull to refresh. I really missed that.

And ublock origin on mobile really makes the web actually useful.

Re: Testing the Firefox Alternatives

#54

Post by wkat4242 »

yesco wrote: post #48
cuu508 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are your main gripes?

Bad Parts: - Installing custom addons is so obnoxiously complicated it makes me think Mozilla has it out for me sometimes. It's actually easier to sideload apps on Android than it is to "sideload" addons into Firefox mobile. - You can either close all tabs or methodically select and close every individual tab, no in-between. Makes cleaning them up super tedious. Wish there was atleast an option to close all above or…

> The interface just objectively sucks on tablets because of the over-designed for thumbs thing, Chrome reverts to standard tabs like you see on desktop, wish Firefox did the same, or at least something similar. Looks ridiculous.

True. Firefox sucks on DeX too because it lacks tabs in tablet mode..

Re: Testing the Firefox Alternatives

#55

Post by amid11 »

cuu508 wrote: post #26
causality0 wrote: post #23

I wish someone would release a good mobile fork. Firefox Mobile probably has the worst UX of any mobile browser I've used since 2009 and I'm convinced whatever intern they have locked in a closet coding it doesn't use it themselves. It's as if they used a supercomputer to predict user behavior for the sole purpose of making sure their obnoxious purple toast messages cover the exact button you need to use and that the…

What are your main gripes?

In my experience, Firefox for mobile falls short in several key areas compared to other modern browsers.

- From a UX/UI perspective, its design feels outdated and lacks intuitive features that have become standard elsewhere.

- Features like 'tab previews', 'tab grouping', or built-in 'swipe gestures' for back/forward navigation are noticeably absent.

- While extensions may offer some workarounds, these should ideally be core functionalities, as relying on third-party solutions adds unnecessary complexity for users.

- It would be a significant improvement if Firefox natively supported these features or, at the very least, provided clearer documentation to help users seeking these features.

Re: Testing the Firefox Alternatives

#56

Post by strunz »

hk1337 wrote: post #29

I may get some naysayers for this, maybe because I'm on macOS and not Linux or Windows but... Two features I love about Safari is: - Pinch/Zoom to view all my tabs as windows to switch between tabs - What at least appears to be total isolation between tabs when in private browsing mode. If I login to Facebook in one tab, then open up a new tab and go to Facebook, it will not see me as logged in. Chrome nor Firefox ha…

Safari is just not usable without a Ublock or similar extension support. No, a desktop app ad blocker isn't a good alternative.

Re: Testing the Firefox Alternatives

#57

Post by drdaeman »

SlackingOff123 wrote: post #37
drdaeman wrote: post #19

Given that this whole "AI" integration shtick is minimal effort thing with negligibly small value (if any), I suspect it was either an attempt to just ride on "AI" hype (certainly didn't work, feedback comments are virtually univocally "AI" hate), or attempt to find new monetization source (e.g. for a default provider). My own thoughts on the AI feature: https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/share-your-feedba...…

There are sooo many AI chat options to choose from[1] that I don't need my browser to provide one too. I just want my browser to be a good browser. [1] I've been enjoying my self-hosted instance of LibreChat a lot, but I also started using Kagi's assistant lately. Besides those two I'm also using 'aichat' cli tool for quick queries, particularly for helping with cli commands since the context is already there.

Exactly!

I wouldn't mind a good novel application of machine learning that does something that can benefit me.

But a dedicated chatbot button to open a website in a sidebar, or, worse, spending resources on proxying requests to OpenAI/Anthropic/whoever, or even worse, running yet-another-GPU-cluster... all that doesn't make any sense to me (firefox "AI" integration is the first option). It's not something I actively want, and not even something that feels useful - it's rather a net negative as it distracts developer resources from doing something meaningful.

If Mozilla wants to tick some "AI" upper management bingo checkbox, at least please try doing something actually useful with it.

Re: Testing the Firefox Alternatives

#58

Post by Dwedit »

bloopernova wrote: post #7
lolinder wrote: post #2

> You can totally still stick with Firefox… but remember to download userChrome.css from GitHub. And if you want vertical tabs, be sure to install Sidebery until Mozilla get around to implementing native vertical tabs. I'm a constant critic of most things Mozilla (as well as an avid Firefox user... there's a lot of overlap in that venn diagram) and most of what this intro rails against resonates, but I'll never under…

In my experience, once people see how sidebar/vertical tabs work, they're a lot more interested. Most folks I've talked about this with have not even known there was an alternative. After someone has been shown how to change between tab layouts, they mostly stick to sidebar/vertical tabs.

I use two side-by-side browser windows, so there's no room for a sidebar.

Re: Testing the Firefox Alternatives

#59

Post by Dwedit »

drdaeman wrote: post #19

Given that this whole "AI" integration shtick is minimal effort thing with negligibly small value (if any), I suspect it was either an attempt to just ride on "AI" hype (certainly didn't work, feedback comments are virtually univocally "AI" hate), or attempt to find new monetization source (e.g. for a default provider). My own thoughts on the AI feature: https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/share-your-feedba...…

Firefox has a local AI translator, AI isn't all low-effort third party services.

Re: Testing the Firefox Alternatives

#60

Post by ac29 »

amid11 wrote: post #55
cuu508 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are your main gripes?

In my experience, Firefox for mobile falls short in several key areas compared to other modern browsers. - From a UX/UI perspective, its design feels outdated and lacks intuitive features that have become standard elsewhere . - Features like 'tab previews' , 'tab grouping' , or built-in 'swipe gestures' for back/forward navigation are noticeably absent. - While extensions may offer some workarounds, these should idea…

> Features like 'tab previews'

This has been in Firefox mobile for as long as I can remember.

Swiping for back navigation also works fine, but not forwards as near as I can tell.

Maybe these features are specific to Android?

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