787698 - Consider disabling tab animations when they're too slow

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Firefox :: Tabbed Browser, defect)

Description

[Marco Castelluccio [:marco]]

We have a lot of performance problems related to tab animations.
Is disabling tab animations until we fix them a viable option?

(Currently with animations enabled, if you enable nglayout.debug.paint_flashing, you can see a lot of repaints of the entire chrome when you open or close a tab, without animations there's only a single repaint)

Comment 1

[(dormant account)]

This might be on ok nuclear option on slower hardware

Comment 2

[Marco Castelluccio [:marco]]

Would it be feasible to disable tab animations -after- we have done some measurements and proved they are too slow?

Comment 3

[Marco Castelluccio [:marco]]

(In reply to Marco Castelluccio [:marco] from comment #2)
> Would it be feasible to disable tab animations -after- we have done some
> measurements and proved they are too slow?

We could set a threshold (like 200-300 ms) and, when a certain number of FX_TAB_* telemetry measures are higher than the threshold, disable the animations.

Comment 4

[(dormant account)]

lets p2 this while we try to make tab animations better in bug 815354

Comment 5

[Avi Halachmi (:avih)]

(In reply to Marco Castelluccio [:marco] from comment #3)
> (In reply to Marco Castelluccio [:marco] from comment #2)
> > Would it be feasible to disable tab animations -after- we have done some
> > measurements and proved they are too slow?
> 
> We could set a threshold (like 200-300 ms) and, when a certain number of
> FX_TAB_* telemetry measures are higher than the threshold, disable the
> animations.

- Tab open/close times are less indicative than animation smoothness (frames per second). Bug 828097 would add telemetry for that.

- Telemetry is not enabled by default, so using telemetry FX_TAB_* would not work for some (most?) users.

- AFAIK, Enabling telemetry is only offered once - after the first REstart of the browser. Having one browsing session with animation enabled, then possibly disabling animation sometime during the 2nd browsing session might create a confusing/inconsistent behavior.

I suggest to instrument the first* N (1? 3?) tab animations (using the system of bug 826383), and decide upon that.

* We should choose if first means only for new users, or also for existing profiles, where "first" would mean "first time after the auto-disable system is in place".

Comment 6

[Marco Castelluccio [:marco]]

I guess this isn't going to happen.