1660872 - Limit newtab languages in regions known to Pocket to just German

Status: VERIFIED FIXED

(Firefox :: New Tab Page, enhancement)

Description

[Scott [:thecount] Downe]

This doesn't impact what's currently experienced by users, just what's possible.

We want to expand German language stories to more regions with German speakers.

Right now both CH and BE regions are aware of a combination of three Pocket story languages. German, French, and Italian.

If we wanted to expand regions that see German stories, we can expand into a few regions, but right now if we did this we would also be turning on languages in those regions that we do not have Pocket story feed support for.

For now the proposal is just to limit those regions to just German, so they only see stories if they are in those regions AND using the de browser.

Comment 1

[Scott [:thecount] Downe]

Attachment: Bug 1660872 - Limit regions that can support German Pocket stories on newtab to languages supported by Pocket for now.

Comment 2

[Scott [:thecount] Downe]

To test:

Setup:

1. Follow instructions here to setup both a German and French langpack https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/browser/components/newtab/docs/v2-system-addon/geo_locale.html#setting-custom-geo-locale-and-update-channels (you can do Italian too if you want to be super thorough, but French should cover it)
2. Set the pref browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.discoverystream.region-stories-config to "US,DE,CA,GB,IE,CH,BE"
3. Restart

Test 1:

1. Set browser.search.region to DE
2. Set browser UI to German.
3. Restart
4. Open a newtab
   Expected: should see Pocket stories.

Test 2:

1. Set browser.search.region to BE
2. Set browser UI to German.
3. Restart
4. Open a newtab
   Expected: should see Pocket stories.

Test 3:

1. Set browser.search.region to BE
2. Set browser UI to French.
3. Restart
4. Open a newtab
   Expected: should NOT see Pocket stories.

Bonus test:

1. Set browser.search.region to CH
2. Set browser UI to Italian.
3. Restart
4. Open a newtab
   Expected: should NOT see Pocket stories.

Comment 3

[Pulsebot]

Pushed by [e-mail]:
https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/autoland/rev/e6c37cbd2c7d
Limit regions that can support German Pocket stories on newtab to languages supported by Pocket for now. r=gvn

Comment 4

[Cristina Coroiu [:ccoroiu]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/e6c37cbd2c7d

Comment 5

[Scott [:thecount] Downe]

[Tracking Requested - why for this release]: Blocks turning on newtab stories for German language users in AT, BE, and CH.

Comment 6

[Scott [:thecount] Downe]

Comment on attachment 9171789 [details]
Bug 1660872 - Limit regions that can support German Pocket stories on newtab to languages supported by Pocket for now.

Beta/Release Uplift Approval Request

• User impact if declined: Stops us from preffing on Pocket stories in a few regions for German language browsers outside of Germany.
• Is this code covered by automated tests?: Yes
• Has the fix been verified in Nightly?: No
• Needs manual test from QE?: Yes
• If yes, steps to reproduce: To test:

Setup:

1. Follow instructions here to setup both a German and French langpack https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/browser/components/newtab/docs/v2-system-addon/geo_locale.html#setting-custom-geo-locale-and-update-channels (you can do Italian too if you want to be super thorough, but French should cover it)
2. Set the pref browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.discoverystream.region-stories-config to "US,DE,CA,GB,IE,CH,BE"
3. Restart

Test 1:

1. Set browser.search.region to DE
2. Set browser UI to German.
3. Restart
4. Open a newtab
   Expected: should see Pocket stories.

Test 2:

1. Set browser.search.region to BE
2. Set browser UI to German.
3. Restart
4. Open a newtab
   Expected: should see Pocket stories.

Test 3:

1. Set browser.search.region to BE
2. Set browser UI to French.
3. Restart
4. Open a newtab
   Expected: should NOT see Pocket stories.

Bonus test:

1. Set browser.search.region to CH
2. Set browser UI to Italian.
3. Restart
4. Open a newtab
   Expected: should NOT see Pocket stories.

• List of other uplifts needed: None
• Risk to taking this patch: Low
• Why is the change risky/not risky? (and alternatives if risky): Super small change to a configuration, that's also preffed off, so once this is fixed, we can then pref it on for those regions.
• String changes made/needed: none

Comment 7

[Ciprian Muresan [:cmuresan], Formerly of Ecosystem QA - please needinfo @mcoman for things regarding the team]

I have verified the issue using the steps provided in comment 2 on the latest Nightly 82.0a1 (BuildID 20200827212940) using Windows 10, macOS 10.15.4, and Linux MX 4.19.
German builds have the Pocket section displayed using the DE, BE, and CH, while French and Italian builds do not show the Pocket section regardless of region.

Comment 8

[Ryan VanderMeulen [:RyanVM]]

Comment on attachment 9171789 [details]
Bug 1660872 - Limit regions that can support German Pocket stories on newtab to languages supported by Pocket for now.

Approved for 81.0b4.

Comment 9

[Ryan VanderMeulen [:RyanVM]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/releases/mozilla-beta/rev/b2ddca752230

Comment 10

[Marius Coman [:mcoman], Ecosystem QA]

I have verified the issue using the steps provided in comment 2 on the latest Firefox Beta 81.0b4 (Build ID 20200829200810) using Windows 10, macOS 10.15.6, and Ubuntu 18.04 x64.
German builds have the Pocket section displayed using the DE, BE, and CH, while French and Italian builds do not show the Pocket section regardless of region.