1296564 - Create a widget for bookmarks synced from mobile devices

Status: NEW

(Firefox :: Sync, enhancement, P3)

Description

[Hector Zhao [:hectorz]]

Bookmarks synced from mobile devices are currently not very easy to find, only appearing in My Places window and the bookmark sidebar.

Bug 1295237 looks like about make them available in more places, maybe bookmarks menu and the panel attached to the bookmarks button in the navbar.

China repack of Firefox desktop, as distributed by Beijing office, shows bookmarks toolbar by default. We'd like to propose a standalone widget for bookmarks synced from mobile devices. In addition to make the already synced bookmarks more discoverable, it could be another entrypoint for potential users to learn about how Sync can be helpful and maybe even give Firefox for Android/iOS a try, like the "Synced Tabs" widget.

Comment 1

[Mark Hammond [:markh] [:mhammond]]

I agree we want this. It is closely related to bug 647605, then we need a "subview" which can appear in the "left-pane" (also bug 647605), the menu (bug 1295237) and also the toolbar as mentioned here. In all cases it should show the standard "you really should sign up" messaging when not configured.

Comment 2

[Chris Karlof [:ckarlof]]

Alex, this is an enhancement we might want to consider putting on the product backlog.

Comment 3

[Alex Davis [:adavis]]

Thanks for flagging me.

I had a similar idea to this and have heard many people express similar wishes. I have created a new feature card in our Trello board and have linked to this bug.

Comment 4

[Thom Chiovoloni [:tcsc] (ex-moco)]

Attachment: Bug 1296564 - Add 'Mobile Bookmarks' root to the bookmark menus if we have it.

Review commit: https://reviewboard.mozilla.org/r/88158/diff/#index_header
See other reviews: https://reviewboard.mozilla.org/r/88158/

Comment 5

[Thom Chiovoloni [:tcsc] (ex-moco)]

Comment on attachment 8803972 [details]
Bug 1296564 - Add 'Mobile Bookmarks' root to the bookmark menus if we have it.

Whoops, meant to attach this to 1295237

Comment 6

[Mark Hammond [:markh] [:mhammond]]

Comment on attachment 8803972 [details]
Bug 1296564 - Add 'Mobile Bookmarks' root to the bookmark menus if we have it.

https://reviewboard.mozilla.org/r/88158/#review87540

thanks!

::: services/sync/modules/engines/bookmarks.js:1066
(Diff revision 1)
>      this._add(itemId, guid, /* isTombstone */ true);
>      this._add(parentId, parentGuid);
>    },
>  
>    _ensureMobileQuery: function _ensureMobileQuery() {
> +    Svc.Prefs.set("showMobileBookmarks", true);

I don't think this new pref is adding any value - it will be set after every bookmark sync, regardless of whether there are actually mobile items or not.

I'd be inclined to replace the uses above with services.sync.username && services.sync.engine.bookmarks (ie, simply checking whether sync is configured and if the bookmarks engine is enabled) and then there's no need to set anything here.

Can you please upload a screenshot with the new item, and needinfo rfeeley, along with explaining it is only visible for users syncing bookmarks and check it is OK (I see no reason it will not be, but we should do the right thing )