1733587 - Let browser.download.improvements_to_download_panel pref ride the train to release

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Firefox :: Downloads Panel, enhancement, P3)

Description

[:Gijs (he/him)]

+++ This bug was initially created as a clone of Bug #1732347 +++

This is a meta bug for tracking issues that need to be fixed before we can enable the work that was done for removing unnecessary window prompts (Unknown Content Type dialog) whenever the user downloaded a file by default.

We don't have a firm date for this work right now; we'll want to enable on nightly first and fix a number of issues before we consider riding the train to release.

Comment 1

[Morgan Reschenberg [:morgan]]

Added bug 1589391 as see-also since it wasn't originally filed on this project, but it is an [access-s2] issue and should be fixed before the improved panel hits release.

Comment 2

[:Gijs (he/him)]

Attachment: Bug 1733587 - have the downloads improvements ride the 97 release train, r?RT!,mhowell!

Comment 3

[Pulsebot]

Pushed by [e-mail]:
https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/autoland/rev/a6e409deeeaa
have the downloads improvements ride the 97 release train, r=RT,mhowell

Comment 4

[Alexandru Michis [:malexandru]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/a6e409deeeaa

Comment 5

[:Gijs (he/him)]

Release Note Request (optional, but appreciated)
[Why is this notable]: Affects millions of users every day.
[Affects Firefox for Android]: No.
[Suggested wording]: Firefox now has a new optimized download flow. Instead of prompting every time, files will now download automatically. They can still be opened from the downloads panel with just one click.
[Links (documentation, blog post, etc)]: For now, you can use https://docs.google.com/document/d/1H0Uw7oNgATAN1Ji_MYj7loaY_H-GUmnkNKvwraeHWgQ . We'll try to get this into SUMO ASAP.

Comment 6

[Ryan VanderMeulen [:RyanVM]]

Add to the Fx97 beta relnotes, thanks.

Comment 7

[Mathew Hodson]

The pref was disabled for Firefox 97 by bug 1753096.

Comment 8

[Karl]

I still don't get why it is considered an improvement if my choice of link-clicking action is overwritten for several dozen filetypes and I have to reset it manually. I've been offered a checkbox "always do this in the future" in the "always ask" prompt every time since I can remember, and the fact that thousand times I decided that I want to have this choice each time individually rather than skip this dialog step for this file type makes it a deliberate choice by me, even if it was the initial default.
Now, that's through, I've reset them all to "always ask" and just hope that nobody decides to mess with this choice AGAIN any time soon.

I am also puzzled how obtained metrics showing increased clicking on the download panel that now appears when previously the "always ask" prompt allowed the user to choose "open" is considered proof that the new feature is desired by users. That's just like digging a hole in a path, watching people fall in and declaring "people really wanted that hole to appear, see: more people fall in than when it wasn't there! They must love it!"

Now I can only hope that the mess in my Downloads folder will stop by offering a separate folder choice for transient storage.