1764642 - Show local tabs in tab search above remote tabs, by default or as an option

Status: NEW

(Firefox :: Address Bar, enhancement, P3)

Description

[Asif Youssuff]

Spawned from bug 1760344.

When doing a search for open tabs in the address bar (prepending the query with %), Firefox shows remote tabs above local tabs.

This feels wrong to me, since local tabs can be switched to, and feels more in line with the idea of searching "open" tabs.

The help documents say that "Add % to show only matches in your currently open tabs.", and although remote tabs are "open" elsewhere, actually selecting that result doesn't open that tab - it opens the same URL as an opened tab on another device.

It is still valuable to get results for pages that are open in other devices, but ranking pages above tabs I can switch to via the awesomebar feels like an odd choice to me.

This should at least be an option, but I think the default behavior ought to also be changed. There is some precedent for options around the search results UI - for example, the "Show search suggestions ahead of browsing history in address bar results" option also controls result order.

Thanks!