1690590 - Figure out what to do with Check for Updates / About Firefox in the Proton Help menu

Status: RESOLVED MOVED

(Firefox :: Menus, task)

Description

[Mike Conley (:mconley) (:⚙️)]

Bug 1660848 added a "Check for Updates" item in Help, alongside the pre-existing "About" item (on Windows and Linux). This is riding out in Firefox 86.

Bug 1689632 landed as an attempt to simplify the Help menu. The original spec for menu contents in bug 1689632 comment 0 did not include the changes from bug 1660848. The "Check for Updates" item was, however, left in the Help menu, since it had recently landed.

We need to figure out if "Check for Updates" needs to be there or not. Do we have the right Help menu contents? Or should we be removing the "Check for Updates" item that was just added in Firefox 86?

Comment 1

[Mike Conley (:mconley) (:⚙️)]

Hi Rachel, Meridel,

I've filed this bug to try to converge on what we're supposed to do with the new Check for Updates item in the Help submenu. What's the best way forward here?

Comment 2

[Rachel Tublitz [:rachel]]

Hi! So, for a bit more context here, the original goal of adding the menu item was about making it easier for users to find updates (and ultimately stay up to date). Ie, not everyone might just guess to look at the about menu. The fact that the current implementation links to the identical about menu is part of the unfortunate reality that we didn't have a lot of dev time to get a redesigned menu here (the original plan was to show a greatly simplified version of that menu....)

We see a spike for downloads of full installers around release time, so the thinking was that people might not understand how to update but heard about a new FF release...

We are getting close to starting the BUA(background update agent) rollout which might make the above less of a pain point. I'd personally be interested to see usage around this new menu option before deciding to remove it, however I think that this should ultimately be a PM decision.

Given that Romain was involved in the scoping conversations for the Check for updates...1660848 change and is also involved in Proton, I think he would be the right person to make a call here.

:romain - want to weigh in here?

Comment 3

[Meridel [:meridel]]

Attachment: Menu with check for updates.png

Comment 4

[Meridel [:meridel]]

Thanks, Rachel. So I understand, why did we not just change the label of the existing hamburger menu item to be clearer? i.e., re-label "About Firefox" as "Check for updates"? "About Firefox" as a label is vague, and the value of the destination seems to be fundamentally about checking for updates.

Markus mentioned we kept both for consistency, but I understand About:Appname is the convention, so why change the label in the application menu at all? Was this change less about the label, and more about placement in the submenu (i.e., put it at the top of the Help section?). Both? Or, was it easier to add something rather than re-label? I am likely missing some context or implementation detail.

Proposed solution:
We had not wanted to move the enterprise item around in the menu, so to keep that item in second-to-last place AND remove redundancy, can we re-label the "About Firefox" item and keep it in the same place? (See attached image).

Finally, once BUA(background update agent) rolls out, will the about Firefox/check for updates destination persist in both global application/toolbar menu and in the hamburger menu, or are we replacing it with a new experience? I don't think I am familiar with the BUA work.

Comment 5

[Romain Testard [:RT]]

2M MAU run the About dialogue monthly and the about dialogue is consistent across all browsers as well as other softwares.
On Beta 86 what I see so far is:

• 1000 people hitting "Check for updates"
• 9300 people hitting "About Firefox'

I see the following use cases:

• Checking for updates is a use case we know is valid given spikes of downloads from Firefox around update dates. The BUA work will help download and apply updates as Firefox is closed - therefore likely increasing vastly our ability to get users updated to most up to date version of Firefox fast. The about dialogue won't change as a result of BUA AFAICT. Overall it seems checking for updates will become less of a use case.
• Checking the Firefox version I'm running seems like a relevant reason to open the dialogue
• Knowing more about the software maker is a use case that feels unlikely frequent although we have no data there and the fact that every other browser maker or major application on Windows has it makes me careful about considering removal.

I propose we retain the "About Firefox" given that (1) BUA makes "Refresh Firefox" a less relevant scenario, (2) we don't want to confuse existing users with a label change that only signals a part of what the action enables and (3) we see high use of the feature currently.

Comment 6

[Rachel Tublitz [:rachel]]

(In reply to Romain Testard [:RT] from comment #5)

I propose we retain the "About Firefox" given that (1) BUA makes "Refresh Firefox" a less relevant scenario, (2) we don't want to confuse existing users with a label change that only signals a part of what the action enables and (3) we see high use of the feature currently.

sgtm! Thanks romain for digging into the numbers there.

Comment 7

[Mike Conley (:mconley) (:⚙️)]

Per rtestard, we've decided to remove the "Check for Updates" menuitem. Filed bug 1691433 for that work.