Firefox
A place to discuss the news and latest developments on the open-source browser Firefox
Tab Grouping, Vertical Tabs, and our handy Sidebar will help you stay organized no matter how many tabs you have open -- whether it’s 7 or 7,500.
I hate the corpo talk as usual but hope they can squeeze out a really good tab manager. Container tabs and proper adblock is the best thing Firefox has, and would be nice with a third Ace in their hand.
Could we have HDR support instead of AI? Does anyone even want all this AI stuff companies keep pushing?
For context, the part where they talk about AI:
We are approaching the use of AI in Firefox -- which many, many of you have been asking about -- in the same way. We’re focused on giving you AI features that solve tangible problems, respect your privacy, and give you real choice.
We’re looking at how we can use local, on-device AI models -- i.e., more private -- to enhance your browsing experience further. One feature we’re starting with next quarter is AI-generated alt-text for images inserted into PDFs, which makes it more accessible to visually impaired users and people with learning disabilities.
I mean, this is not "slapping an LLM on top of the software and calling it AI", it's integrating it into the browser in usable ways.
One usage of a local model is the local translation feature which was ... kinda nice? Not having to go online to translate? Pretty cool right?
This is similar here with the alt text, seems like a force for good?
Feels like they're fulfilling what they said in the first paragraph of the quote.
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new tab wallpapers, streamlined menus: Eh, whatever.
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vertical tabs, better settings UI: I guess it's probably useful for someone if they do a good job.
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AI-generated alt-text for images in PDFs: Oh fuck right off.
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Customizable hotkeys: I can't believe you're still not doing it. Wasn't it the number one requested thing on Mozilla Connect? Do it, Mozilla. It's so easy, and so obviously needed. It would serve as a meaningful sign that you've become less user-hostile.
AI-generated alt-text for images in PDFs: Oh fuck right off.
why so negative? this is actually great for accessibility, especially when the majority of people don't care about alt text (especially in pdfs)
Excellent example of good usercase for AI
Yeah, I was kind of taken aback by how genuinely useful this is. So much of this generative AI stuff is marketed for tasks where it is simply inadequate. But in this case, a text that's 90% accurate is a massive improvement from there usually not being alt text at all.
True, my initial reaction was hasty. It took me a good twenty minutes to see why it was right. Mozilla should've spent a few more minutes thinking about it.
AI-generated alt-text for images in PDFs: Oh fuck right off.
Why is this bad?
Auto-generated alt-text for all images on the web where it's missing, and an AI that can reliably detect when it's probably worth doing, or do it on request through some kind of api designed for accessibility tools, as an optional extension for people who need it: Now that would be more interesting.
Vertical tabs has quickly become the deal breaker feature for me personally, for any browser. I am on desktop, horizontal tabs are so senseless there in hindsight as most screens are wider than they are tall.
So I read that line about it being things we requested and people are not requesting wallpaper stuff 😂
It's thousands for tab grouping and less than a hundred for wallpapers. Seems like when they tried to rebrand bookmarks as collections and were determined to push them.
The moment Firefox adds back tab stacking, I'll go back to it so fast my pc won't even finish booting
Is there a difference between tab stacking and something like tree style tabs?
Yes, completely different to me
You could make the title more compelling than "a thing we're doing"
I kind of love that they are not click-baity.
I guess basically skipping putting anything in the title definitely falls under that description 😅
I'd really like container tabs to be a thing. It's a UX nightmare, but I'd really like to keep social media crap at bay.
All i want is a better inbuilt android downloader .
Firefox is my favorite browser, ever since version 1 way back in the days. I only wish they would not add too much nonsense by default. Also reading this marketing talk here feels waste of time, instead of talking like a human to human and not like a robot writing a marketing article.
If they really add AI to Firefox, then I might change my default browser. It would be the first time I say good bye in what, 17 years or so (since I use it)?
they also posted on threads that they're working on tab grouping and native profile management too (ala edge and chrome):