773456 - UI to close tab bar in phone UI is unintuitive

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Firefox for Android Graveyard :: Theme and Visual Design, defect)

Description

[Michael Comella (:mcomella) [NI reported issues only: ex-Mozilla]]

Attachment: (Imperfect) Preferred design

1) Open Firefox Nightly.
2) Hit the open tab bar button (if you just started, it should be "1" and a down arrow).
3) The tab bar slides out. To close, you must hit the active tab which is confusing – while it's sleek, I had difficulty figuring out how to close the tab bar (and even doing it twenty times or so, it is still not natural to me). As a technical user, I am concerned about the average user's reaction to this.

I would prefer the attached image – I am not artist so things are imperfect (gradients, positioning, etc.) but I suppose you get the idea. :) The plus button and raise/lower button can be switched for functionality efficiency purposes but I thought this was the most natural design.

Comment 1

[Matt Brubeck (:mbrubeck)]

This would also be consistent with the tablet UI.

Comment 2

[Michael Comella (:mcomella) [NI reported issues only: ex-Mozilla]]

I just realized you can also press the browser window of the current page to close the tab bar. Albeit, my first instinct is to look for a close button.

Comment 3

[Andrzej Hunt :ahunt]

I'm guessing the back button in the current tabs tray solved this issue?