Closed Bug 1714455 Opened 3 years ago Closed 2 years ago

Firefox 89.0 Home Page [New Tab] Font n Logos too small

Categories

(Core :: Layout: Text and Fonts, defect)

Product:
Core
Component:
Layout: Text and Fonts
Version:
Firefox 89
Type:
defect

Tracking

()

Status:
RESOLVED WORKSFORME

People

(Reporter: luigiwriter2, Unassigned)

References

Details

Attachments

(4 files)

Firefox 89.0 home page font unreadable 2021-06-03.png
151.02 KB, image/png
Details
Firefox home new tab page scaled up to readable font 2021-06-03.png
121.51 KB, image/png
Details
Firefox 89.0 New-Tab page on Ubuntu 18.04.5
495.57 KB, image/png
Details
firefox-home-page.png
124.38 KB, image/png
Details

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Ubuntu; Linux x86_64; rv:89.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/89.0

Steps to reproduce:

Opened the 89.0 browser for the first time.

Actual results:

Logo frame thickness so large that logos are less than half the frame size, hard to recognize or read
Font below logos is 2 to 3 point [unreadable or only with eye strain]
Changing default font on settings General tab from 12 to 18 has no effect.
Changing font has no effect
unchecking "allow pages to use their own fonts instead of your selections above." has no effect.

Expected results:

Type below logos should be near 12 pt, not 2-3 point or user adjustable.
Logo frames should be barely a 1mm line or less

Platform
Computer

  • Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU M 580 @ 2.67GHz
  • Memory 3824MB (2689MB used)
  • Machine Type Notebook
  • Operating System Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS
    Operating System Version
  • Kernel Linux 5.4.0-47-generic (x86_64)
  • Version #51~18.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Sat Sep 5 14:35:50 UTC 2020
  • C Library GNU C Library / (Ubuntu GLIBC 2.27-3ubuntu1.2) 2.27
  • Distribution Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS

Scaling up and removing the Firefox logo was the only help offered in community, apparently worked for the user asking as it was flagged solved. How ever my second attachment above shows that scaling up to where I can read the type, but still with some eyestrain.
[these eyes have been with me for 77 years, so I have to care for them more than the younger set. I mention because older users needs are often not obvious in programmers environment.]

The Bugbug bot thinks this bug should belong to the 'Core::Layout: Text and Fonts' component, and is moving the bug to that component. Please revert this change in case you think the bot is wrong.

Component: Untriaged → Layout: Text and Fonts
Product: Firefox → Core

I doubt this is a Core::Layout bug, it looks more like an issue with a particular theme or something like that.

luigiwriter2, if you run in Troubleshoot Mode (see the Help menu), does that make a difference?

At your suggestion remembered this was the first time I had used other than default theme, so disabled Firefox Alpenglow but found no change in the New Tab display.
in Troubleshoot Mode again the font is impossibly small and the frames around the miniature looking logos take up half the pinned logo space.
Also forgot to mention, I think,

  • No other tab [Settings for example] has the same font problem
  • No other HTTPS site [Gmail for example] has the same font problem
  • This is the problem solely on the [new tab] "home page"
  • This is new with version 89.0

Checking the Browser Console I am seeing these three content security policy warnings repeating, which strikes me as unusual, but whether germane I have no idea.
01:34:33.092 Content Security Policy: Ignoring “'unsafe-inline'” within script-src: ‘strict-dynamic’ specified
01:34:33.092 Content Security Policy: Ignoring “https:” within script-src: ‘strict-dynamic’ specified
01:34:33.092 Content Security Policy: Ignoring “http:” within script-src: ‘strict-dynamic’ specified
Will admit I do not know what to look for

Have you have not been able to reproduce this by loading Firefox 89.0.

Looking at the
Troubleshoot and diagnose Firefox problems procedure
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-and-diagnose-firefox-problems
I am not sure whether to try Reinstall or Refresh first.
This install is Ubuntu's 88.0.1+build1-0Ubuntu0.18.04.2
If I Reinstall I would like to try the mozilla firefox flatpack version.

But if you have something you want me to try first, please let me know
I will be glad to try any other suggestions, and answer any other questions.

I have a laptop with Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS, and it looks fine here; I'll attach a screenshot for comparison.

It looks like you're getting some quite different font, not the "Ubuntu" system font there. Have you customized your system to use a different user interface font? Your screenshot looks like it may be showing a poorly-scaled bitmap font, rather than the (scalable TrueType) Ubuntu that I would expect.

Ah - I suspect this is actually the same issue as bug 1714282, and is happening because you have set your default system font to be some kind of bitmap font in place of the default Ubuntu font.

If that's the case, we'll aim to fix this in bug 1714282, but in the meantime you should be able to avoid the problem by setting gfx.e10s.font-list.shared to false in the about:config settings page, and then restarting Firefox.

See Also: → 1714282
Severity: -- → S2
Depends on: 1714282

(In reply to Jonathan Kew (:jfkthame) from comment #7)

Ah - I suspect this is actually the same issue as bug 1714282, and is happening because you have set your default system font to be some kind of bitmap font in place of the default Ubuntu font.

If that's the case, we'll aim to fix this in bug 1714282, but in the meantime you should be able to avoid the problem by setting gfx.e10s.font-list.shared to false in the about:config settings page, and then restarting Firefox.

Thank you.
FYI: Changing gfx.e10s.font-list.shared to 'false' didn't work.
You were right about the font. Used Tweeks to set Gill Sans Condensed as the system font years ago thinking it was a true type font. So changed back to Ubuntu Condensed and gfx.e10s.font-list.shared back to true.
Found the font on the New Tab page now just readable but as in Bug 1714282 it is the smallest point size available.
I have added myself to Bug 1714282 CC list and re-test when it is solved.
I need to research which fonts are raster or bitmap, vs vector[?] fonts, and which is called what these days.
Again, thanks.

(In reply to luigiwriter2 from comment #8)

(In reply to Jonathan Kew (:jfkthame) from comment #7)
I have added myself to Bug 1714282 CC list and re-test when it is solved.

Hi - looks like that bug (bug 1714282) has been fixed now. Would you mind testing an up-to-date Firefox Nightly to see if this is still an issue?

FYI: Changing gfx.e10s.font-list.shared to 'false' didn't work.

(This is a little concerning and suggests that maybe this isn't bug 1714282 after all...)

Flags: needinfo?(luigiwriter2)

So, today Fx updated to 94 and I again got this "superb" design (which I reverted to legacy one first time around a couple of months ago).

Again - it's tiny compared to the previous one! Why hasn't this been addressed? I could zoom the page a bit which makes the tiles bigger but the icons within are still tiny...

Attached image firefox-home-page.png —

I Changed to the Ubuntu Condensed font Since Gill Sans Condensed is a non Linux font [Windows] and now my home page is very readable. the icons could be bigger and the frames around them smaller but that is a minor irritation. Your icons are tiny!
If you are using a standard or default font for your distro then there is still a problem. My original problem was the new icon size but the type was around 3 pt
Check my reply to Jonathan Kew (:jfkthame) from comment #7 for more info on that.
(bug 1714282) being fixed and my change to the Ubuntu fixed my font problem.

It looks like the original problem I reported has returned for your distro however. [Assuming it is not Ubuntu]
I think we have had more than one update since. If you agree that is the likely cause consider starting a new bug report for the last Firefox or distro update.
If you do I will close this bug report because my original submission appears fixed for me.

I think that is the standard Bugzilla way, but I could be wrong.

I'm not using Linux - this is macOS with fairly simple/default configuration ("sock" FirefoxDev has exactly the same view).

I wasn't aware that this ticket is solely for Linux/Ubuntu and assumed it's general issue for problems with Start Screen. (Bugzilla suggest using existing tickets with first steps being search for those so I assumed it's ok to comment here - if not I can create separate one).

Redirect a needinfo that is pending on an inactive user to the triage owner.
:jfkthame, since the bug has high severity, could you have a look please?

For more information, please visit auto_nag documentation.

Flags: needinfo?(luigiwriter2) → needinfo?(jfkthame)

(In reply to luigiwriter2 from comment #12)

(bug 1714282) being fixed and my change to the Ubuntu fixed my font problem.
[...]
If you do I will close this bug report because my original submission appears fixed for me.

Given this, I think we can close this bug as WORKSFORME (possibly a duplicate of bug 1714282).

wojtek: sorry for the lack-of-a-response to your comments here -- if you're still seeing an issue along the lines of this bug, would you mind filing a new bug and CC'ing me (:dholbert) and :jfkthame on it? It's likely the issue that you're hitting is unrelated to what luigiwriter2 was running into. (Per bug 1714282 and elsewhere, there was some linux-specific badness that luigiwriter2 was likely hitting.)

Status: UNCONFIRMED → RESOLVED
Closed: 2 years ago
Flags: needinfo?(jfkthame)
Resolution: --- → WORKSFORME

Hmm, I'm not entirely sure it's different though I focused mostly on first item and 50% of the issue title: "Logo frame thickness so large that logos are less than half the frame size, hard to recognize or read" -- For me fonts below icons were always readable, but the sizing of the logos, and margins/padding within logo boxes were simply tiny -- see the screenshot I posted here: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1714455#c11

I somewhat "forgot" about it as I zoomed in new page to 150-170% and it somewhat "works" but I wouldn't say it's the best approach. Does having icons smaller only applies to me? I can't get older Fx version to have the comparison. It's possible that this is also macOS / retina display issue (which would kinda match the zoom level I'm using).

Please confirm if I should still file new bug for that as well (don't want to spam if not needed) :-)

@wojtek: thanks for the response. Yeah, looking closer at your screenshot, I'm not sure anything is particularly unexpected there.

It's possible that this is also macOS / retina display issue (which would kinda match the zoom level I'm using).

Thanks for this clue -- I suspect you have your macOS Settings "Displays" set to Resolution: Scaled with More space chosen -- is that correct? If I do that, I can get my New Tab page to look similarly "sparse" to yours (after I remove pocket suggestions and just have it show "shortcut" tiles).

(This is equivalent to just getting a more-gigantic monitor, sort of.)

The tiles do look kinda small, but I checked a few other apps for comparison, and Firefox doesn't seem to be unique in this sizing:

  • Chrome's new tab page has similar sized logos & similarly large amounts of padding (actually even a bit more), though they don't draw a rectangle around the tiles until you hover them so the padding isn't as obvious until you hover.
  • My Finder (i.e. file-listing) window's "Tile" view (e.g. viewing my Applications folder) has similarly sized tiles, though again the padding-box isn't drawn by default.
  • Similarly, the macOS settings app "Tiles" seem to be about the same size.

I can't get older Fx version to have the comparison.

Our "mozregression" command-line tool (installable from pip) is one handy way to quickly test old builds. If I run e.g. mozregression --launch 2021-01-01 (to run a Nightly 86 version) and compare against current Firefox Nightly, I do see that our "Top Sites" tiles did used to have larger logos and larger tiles. So, there seems to have been a redesign at some point, and I think that's what you were noticing.

I ran mozregression to find when the design changed, and it seems to have been bug 1703941. Though that seems to have been where a switch was flipped to turn on the new design; presumably the new design was discussed/developed elsewhere.

Please confirm if I should still file new bug for that as well (don't want to spam if not needed) :-)

Probably not, though you're welcome to if you like. I suspect the current new-tab design is fairly settled at this point, and there was probably a reason behind the change. (The logos typically come from favicons, I think, and favicons are often low-res images that don't look great when scaled up too much.

If you do decide to file one, https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=Firefox&Component=New%20Tab%20Page is probably the best spot.

I agree with Daniel, although WORKSFORME is a new term for me. Closure is fine.

(In reply to luigiwriter2 from comment #18)

I agree with Daniel, although WORKSFORME is a new term for me. Closure is fine.

Thanks!

(Regarding the WORKSFORME term: we use that resolution for a handful of things, including for "the bug is no longer reproducible as-described, though we're not 100% sure what fixed it", which is roughly where we are here, I think. Though it sounds like we're pretty sure bug 1714282 is what fixed it.)

I see. The Logo size limitation is related to the source of the Logos. Until the source improves or another found I can live with the status-quo with my 32" monitor. I am not sure if I am the one who responsible for closing this. If so I am out of date on how to do that. please advise.

(In reply to luigiwriter2 from comment #20)

I am not sure if I am the one who responsible for closing this. If so I am out of date on how to do that. please advise.

No further action needed; I already closed it in comment 15. Thanks!

(In reply to Daniel Holbert [:dholbert] from comment #17)

It's possible that this is also macOS / retina display issue (which would kinda match the zoom level I'm using).

Thanks for this clue -- I suspect you have your macOS Settings "Displays" set to Resolution: Scaled with More space chosen -- is that correct? If I do that, I can get my New Tab page to look similarly "sparse" to yours (after I remove pocket suggestions and just have it show "shortcut" tiles).

(This is equivalent to just getting a more-gigantic monitor, sort of.)

Actually I'm using default resolutions on both displays.

What's more - the same things happen if I only use main display and... it happens on my father's computer with Windows 10-ish (not sure what's the actual version as I don't track what MS is doing nowadays). And it was one of his gripes when Fx updated one day that the tiles on main screen were just tiny.

The tiles do look kinda small, but I checked a few other apps for comparison, and Firefox doesn't seem to be unique in this sizing:

  • Chrome's new tab page has similar sized logos & similarly large amounts of padding (actually even a bit more), though they don't draw a rectangle around the tiles until you hover them so the padding isn't as obvious until you hover.

This is a running theme but - if I wanted to use Chrome I would have used Crome ;-)

  • My Finder (i.e. file-listing) window's "Tile" view (e.g. viewing my Applications folder) has similarly sized tiles, though again the padding-box isn't drawn by default.
  • Similarly, the macOS settings app "Tiles" seem to be about the same size.

OK, but the use case is slightly different? In Finder you want to have relatively lots of items visible? And preference window has fixed small size so they can't use bigger icons.

I can't get older Fx version to have the comparison.

Our "mozregression" command-line tool (installable from pip) is one handy way to quickly test old builds. If I run e.g. mozregression --launch 2021-01-01 (to run a Nightly 86 version) and compare against current Firefox Nightly,

Oh! That's neat!

I do see that our "Top Sites" tiles did used to have larger logos and larger tiles. So, there seems to have been a redesign at some point, and I think that's what you were noticing.

I ran mozregression to find when the design changed, and it seems to have been bug 1703941. Though that seems to have been where a switch was flipped to turn on the new design; presumably the new design was discussed/developed elsewhere.

Please confirm if I should still file new bug for that as well (don't want to spam if not needed) :-)

Probably not, though you're welcome to if you like. I suspect the current new-tab design is fairly settled at this point, and there was probably a reason behind the change. (The logos typically come from favicons, I think, and favicons are often low-res images that don't look great when scaled up too much.

I remember the switch (I was using old design as long as possible until it was removed) but I don't remember other issue regarding the tiny tiles (assume this one was the one)
Regarding low-res icons -- majority of modern websites have high-res favicons that looks great when zoomed in (check example screenshots in new ticket)

If you do decide to file one, https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/enter_bug.cgi?product=Firefox&Component=New%20Tab%20Page is probably the best spot.

Created https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1791348

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