Closed Bug 641369 Opened 13 years ago Closed 5 years ago

Provide support for using windows rather than tabs

Categories

(Firefox for Android Graveyard :: General, enhancement, P2)

Product:
Firefox for Android Graveyard
Component:
General
Type:
enhancement

Tracking

(Not tracked)

Status:
RESOLVED WONTFIX

People

(Reporter: josh, Assigned: tarend)

Details

Some mobile platforms provide strong window management functionality already, making it straightforward to switch between multiple windows.  For example, both Maemo and Meego provide easy ways to switch between windows, using previews of the open windows.  On such platforms, the native browser uses windows rather than tabs, and thus nicely integrates with this window management.  Fennec, on the other hand, uses its own tabs, and thus only has one window available when selecting from available windows.  Thus, it requires more time to switch to a site open in Fennec than to do so with the native browser, and it involves a different UI than normal window switching on the platform.

For better integration and more convenience, please provide the option of using separate windows in place of existing uses of tabs.  (Ideally, Fennec should do so by default on platforms where window management works well, but adding the option seems like the right first step.)
Hi Josh. Thanks a lot for reporting this. We are in the process of optimizing Firefox for tablets and other mobile devices with larger screens or with window management. You will see those changes in one of our future releases, *after* Firefox 4. Stay tuned!
Assignee: nobody → tarend
Status: NEW → ASSIGNED
Priority: -- → P2
It is interesting to think about whether we are stretching the metaphor of tabs when we put them in a sidebar that is not always visible on mobile. On desktop Firefox, the tabs still follow the tabbed file folder metaphor and can probably be understood by new users. I'm not sure the same argument can be made with the Fennec sidebar. Maybe it's just a change in terminology to something about “Windows” instead of “tabs”.

Obviously the biggest challenge here is that tabs are core part of the Firefox brand, even though every modern browser now supports them.
Closing all opened bug in a graveyard component
Status: ASSIGNED → RESOLVED
Closed: 5 years ago
Resolution: --- → WONTFIX
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