832931 - [UX] Private browsing icon should show explanation on hover and click

Status: NEW

(Firefox :: Private Browsing, enhancement)

Description

[Dan Wolff]

My system: Aurora 20.0 (2013-01-20) on Ubuntu 12.10 (Unity)

When opening a private browing window the purple mask icon is shown to the left of the tabs (great), but if you're new to Firefox you won't understand what it means.

Steps to reproduce:
1. Open a new private browsing window
2. Hover the purple icon
3. Click the purple icon

What happens:
* Nothing, the icon doesn't react at all

Suggested solution:
2. (hover) Two things:
   - A tooltip explaining what private browsing is is shown (e.g. "Private browsing: Firefox won't remember any history for this window")
   - The icon changes color/reacts so that it's apparent that you can click on it
3. (click) A new tab is opened, displaying "about:privatebrowsing"

Comment 1

[(no longer active)]

Stephen, what do you think?

Comment 2

[Ioana (away)]

This sounds more like an enhancement request, but it would be quite useful for new Firefox users.

Comment 3

[Dão Gottwald [:dao]]

Needs UI directions or agreement on what's been suggested in comment 0.