778585 - Allow "Chromeless Windows" with no toolbars

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Toolkit :: Toolbars and Toolbar Customization, enhancement)

Description

[David Higgins]

Attachment: wwc.mp4

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:14.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/14.0.1
Build ID: 20120713134347

Steps to reproduce:

What's the purpose of this bug report?

Currently there is no such implementation for Chromeless Windows that exists right now in any browser right now. With a little persuasion, hopefully we can, as a design / developer community, get the browser vendors to implement Chromeless. This page aims to help with that. Scroll down to see a mockup demonstration of what a Chromeless window is, and how it might look if implemented.

What are Chromeless Windows?

Chromeless windows differ from fullscreen Windows in that they can be resized, and a new UI can be built on top of them according to the site designer's wishes.

Chromeless Windows are like normal browser windows, however everything is removed from the surrounding area of the page. These include toolbars, menubars, close buttons, or any other embellishments the browser vendor has decided to include by default.

Why do we need Chromeless Windows?

Wouldn't it be great if the power of CSS3 / JS could enable a designer / developer to customize how a browser window looks? Imagine the freedom of expression allowed for a designer / coder who is not limited to a simple viewport encased within a cumbersome looking "Chrome" based window? Currently we have a fullscreen (JavaScript) API in Firefox. Why not go the extra mile, and implement a Chromeless Window feature too?

Comment 1

[Matthias Versen [:Matti]]

>Wouldn't it be great if the power of CSS3 / JS could enable a designer / developer to customize how a browser window looks?

No, that would be a big security issue and I'm sure that no browser vendor will implement this. The webdesigner could spoof the URL in the URLbar, the security information for that page and many other things. I don't want any remote site to decide what my browser UI should look like.

>Why not go the extra mile, and implement a Chromeless Window feature too?
security

Comment 3

[David Higgins]

I think you're missing the point. Everyone always throws up the "Security" reply to this. Just implement a policy! Let the user know he's entering Chromeless, just as one does with Fullscreen.

Comment 4

[Matthias Versen [:Matti]]

I think you are missing the point.
Parts of the UI are considered as a security sensitive area in every browser. 
That includes the URL bar and the Site identify button. Allowing remote content to control the UI for those elements is a no go in any case. Additional to the warning when entering the user should always see the difference between the browser UI and remote content.
Creating a resizeable window without UI is already possible (popup window).

Anyway, i think Dao would be the right person to look at this.

Comment 5

[Jesse Ruderman]

Maybe for "installed web apps"?

Comment 6

[Gregory Pappas [:gregp]]

Wouldn't it be great if the power of CSS3 / JS could enable a designer / developer to customize how a browser window looks?

No