1600329 - The “Onboarding” tip is not displayed if navigating to "about:newtab" in an already opened tab

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Firefox :: Address Bar, defect)

Description

[Simona Rosu [:srosu], Ecosystem QA]

Attachment: newtab.gif

[Notes]:

• The “Onboarding” tip is displayed on the “about:newtab” only after opening a new tab and switch back to the previous opened tab.

[Affected versions]:

• Latest Firefox Nightly 72.0a1 (Build ID: 20191128214853)

[Affected Platforms]:

• Mac 10.14
• Windows 10 x64
• Ubuntu 16.04 x64

[Prerequisites]:

• Have the latest Nightly installed.
• Have the “devtools.chrome.enabled” pref set to “true”.
• Run the “(async function() { let { ProfileAge } = ChromeUtils.import("resource://gre/modules/ProfileAge.jsm"); let age = await ProfileAge(); age._times = { firstUse: 1368255600000, created: 1368255600000 }; await age.writeTimes(); })();” code on the browser console.
• Have access to the stage delivery console.
• Have an active branched add-on recipe.
• Have the “security.content.signature.root_hash” pref set to "DB:74:CE:58:E4:F9:D0:9E:E0:42:36:BE:6C:C5:C4:F6:6A:E7:74:7D:C0:21:42:7A:03:BC:2F:57:0C:8B:9B:90".
• Have the "app.normandy.api_url" pref set to "https://stage.normandy.nonprod.cloudops.mozgcp.net/api/v1".
• Have the "app.normandy.dev_mode" pref set to “true”.
• Have the "app.normandy.logging.level" pref set to “0”.
• Have the "services.settings.server" pref set to "https://settings.stage.mozaws.net/v1".
• Have the "xpinstall.signatures.dev-root" pref set to “true”.
• Create a new pref named “carmentips” and set it as “true”.

[Steps to reproduce]:

1. Open the Firefox browser with the profile from prerequisites.
2. Navigate to the “about:newtab” page in an already opened tab.
3. Observe the Address Bar.

[Expected result]:

• The “Onboarding” tip is displayed on the Address Bar dropdown.

[Actual result]:

• The “Onboarding” tip is not displayed.

[Additional Notes]:

• This issue is not reproducible when opening a new tab or navigating to the “about:home” page.
• Attached a screen recording with the issue.

Comment 1

[Drew Willcoxon :adw]

We'll have to live with this I think. It's due to a technical quirk specifically related to about:newtab loads. The extension code comments on it here: https://github.com/0c0w3/urlbar-tips-experiment/blob/78b6d6640319dd0279aa35ceca7269113d07e44b/src/background.js#L74 I couldn't find a workaround.

I think it's safe to say not many people are loading about:newtab in a tab that's already open, so I feel OK wontfixing this. If anyone disagrees, please comment.