Facebook Container for Firefox • Hacker News Board

Re: Facebook Container for Firefox

#81

Post by _odey » Wed, Oct 21, 2020, 5:45 PM UTC

I've been using Multi Account Containers for a while now (years probably) and they do provide good value but things can still be improved. What I think Firefox lacks right now is good UX around switching profiles. Sure `about:profiles` works, but it's hard to access, looks ugly, and prone to miss-clicking.

Here is my workflow:

- Normal browsing: not logged in, no containers.

- YouTube: have an "Entertainment" container for it and use it logged out since Google signs you on all their property, and I don't want to mix my entertainment history with my educational history.

- Social media: have a "Social" container where I access all the data harvesters.

- Logged in: For anything that I need to be signed up, a "Personal" container, so I can check my email in peace.

- Work: here's the catch, this needs it's own profile. Since "YouTube" is set to always open in the "Entertainment" account, and I don't want work related videos pop up when relaxing, and vice-versa, I can switch profiles and have everything completely isolated in my "Work" profile. And in case I need to, I can set up more containers in this profile. Also there are different add-ons I need for my own setup compared to work, or the same add-on with different configuration. So just containers won't do here.

My point is, if Firefox had a profile switcher as easy to use as Chromium had, my life would be way better. Profiles and Containers seem to complement each other. They just need a truckload of polish.

Some things that annoy me right now:

- There is no dedicated UI for profile CRUD. And an add-on won't work for this since it needs to be available and enabled by default across profiles.

- "Reopen in container" opens a new tab instead of replacing the current.

- Having keybindings for the two above would be extremely useful.

- For some reason, Firefox lacks the functionality to change the ordering of stuff (in general, but more specifically profiles and containers). The creation order is all you get.

- A quick way to do "clear cookies/data in this container only" so I don't need to delete/recreate the container and mess up my ordering (which I can not change). Also clear data for non container use without clearing data in containers. Basically treating non container use as a "Default" container.

- All of the above I wish came by default with Firefox and not from an add-on. My honest opinion is that they are crucial functionality and deserve to be made aesthetically pleasing and available for everyone to use.

Re: Facebook Container for Firefox

#82

Post by xuhu » Wed, Oct 21, 2020, 5:46 PM UTC

krullix wrote: post #17

I love this Facebook container. Love to see the Facebook container mark also on other websites trying to track me. I also use the Firefox multi-account containers to set a temporary container for every new tab. To not lose logins etc I'm websites I visit frequently, I set up dedicated containers for those. Work very well. Anyone else with experience of the Firefox multi-account container extension?

Sync for multi-account-containers was implemented in Feb 2020, nice! And it works on mobiles as well! Reinstalling.

Re: Facebook Container for Firefox

#83

Post by liminal » Wed, Oct 21, 2020, 5:46 PM UTC

pkage wrote: post #22

Anyone know if there's an integration with Tree Style Tabs[0]? They're a gamechanger for browsing the web, and it'd be nice to see what tabs are contained. [0]: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tree-style-ta...

I think you want Container Tabs Sidebar:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/container-tab...

Re: Facebook Container for Firefox

#84

Post by Filligree » Wed, Oct 21, 2020, 5:48 PM UTC

I tried creating an account this way, but it promptly got banned, with no ability to appeal.

I guess they don't want my business. Good thing I gave it a few days before connecting the Quest.

Re: Facebook Container for Firefox

#85

Post by nuggien » Wed, Oct 21, 2020, 5:49 PM UTC

I've been using this, but it seems to break any sites that use facebook login, so it's pretty annoying to have to disable the extension whenever I need to login to a site that only has facebook login.

Re: Facebook Container for Firefox

#86

Post by Spivak » Wed, Oct 21, 2020, 5:50 PM UTC

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #62

JadoJodo wrote: post #23

A few others: - Temporary Containers[0] - Google Container[1] - Google Container w/ Integrations (YouTube, AdTech, Apps, etc)[2] - Reddit Container[3] There are a few others[4] as well, but I've found the Temporary Containers solves the 80%. -- [0] - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/temporary-con... [1] - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/google-contai... [2] - https://addons.mozilla.org/en…

You can make all of these yourself as long as you've got the Temporary Containers add-on installed. I don't see the benefit of installing four addons for this purpose, as the security risk of third-party addon vendors surely outweighs the convenience of a pre-configured container.

Has temporary containers gotten the feature to drop the container when leaving the target sites? That's the main difference for me.

If I'm in FB Messenger and click an external link I don't want that link to be opened in the FB container.

Re: Facebook Container for Firefox

#87

Post by ocdtrekkie » Wed, Oct 21, 2020, 5:50 PM UTC

jfk13 wrote: post #37

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mozilla gets too much Google money to do that. I've asked for them to do a first party extension for this, and they have "no plans" to do so. Unfortunately, I don't trust a third party extension with this either.

If you don't trust a third party, how about creating your own? That should provide an answer for your trust issues.

This could be said for most of one's software stack, but there's only so much time in a day.

Re: Facebook Container for Firefox

#88

Post by leandron » Wed, Oct 21, 2020, 5:51 PM UTC

Is this possible to request data facebook (potentially) have on you, even if you don't have an account? (I deleted mine about 5 years ago...)

Answering my own question: Yes you can -> https://www.facebook.com/help/contact/2032834846972583

Re: Facebook Container for Firefox

#89

Post by fsflover » Wed, Oct 21, 2020, 5:51 PM UTC

abdullahkhalids wrote: post #75

iamdamian wrote: post #44

I love the general idea behind the container (sandboxed browsing). However, I'm not clear on the exact privacy benefit relative to the much easier path of blocking 3rd party cookies in your browser of choice and installing uBlock Origin. What specific tracking is no longer possible using containers that is currently possible if you're using one or both of those protections? Is it something about 3rd party scripts tha…

Here is an example. This page [1] has stuff from google loaded that is not blocked by a combination of Ublock Origin and Privacy Badger; for instance google fonts (other stuff from Google, Twitter and Facebook is blocked). If I ever log into Google, then my activity on this page will be linked to my account. If I containarize my Google account, then I guess Google can only use my IP or very advanced tricks to attach…

> or very advanced tricks

Like those: https://panopticlick.eff.org.

Re: Facebook Container for Firefox

#90

Post by liminal » Wed, Oct 21, 2020, 5:52 PM UTC

ajvs wrote: post #51

If you enable the First-Party Isolation preference in about:config then this is more effective site isolation and is automatic for all sites.

Are there downsides to this? Settings aren't usually hidden in about:config without a reason