843247 - Hyperlinks from other applications only open in new window when using private browsing (instead of in a new tab)

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Firefox :: Private Browsing, defect)

Description

[forticulous]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.6; rv:20.0) Gecko/20130219 Firefox/20.0
Build ID: 20130219042021

Steps to reproduce:

Using Aurora 20.0a2 (2013-02-19)
I clicked a hyperlink in email or messenger client


Actual results:

The link opened in a new aurora window


Expected results:

It should have opened in a new tab, as all my preferences are set that way.

Also, I have noticed the issue only happens when I am using private browsing mode.

Comment 2

[Josh Matthews [:jdm]]

Can you provide a page that reproduces this behaviour for you?

Comment 3

[forticulous]

Any URL will do.
To reproduce, make sure settings are set to open new windows in a new tab instead and turn private browsing on, then click a link in an email or something.  It ignores the settings and open in a new window.

Then try it again without private browsing and it will open in a new tab as expected.

Comment 4

[Josh Matthews [:jdm]]

A URL that demonstrates this problem for you would help us ensure that we're performing the same tests that you are.

Comment 5

[Josh Matthews [:jdm]]

For example, despite my test page at http://joshmatthews.net/newtab.html opening a new window with the "Open new windows as tabs" setting disabled, I do not see the problem you describe with it enabled in private browsing mode in nightly builds.

Comment 6

[forticulous]

I was just using http://www.google.com.  Just to clarify, I'm talking about clicking a link in an external application in my case Fraise which is just a text editor.
It's also possible the issue has been fixed in the nightly build as I'm using the Aurora update channel.

Comment 7

[Josh Matthews [:jdm]]

Ok, can you be more explicit about the windows you have open when you see this problem? To be clear, external links will never open in a private window. If no non-private window exists, I would expect a new one to be spawned.

Comment 8

[Josh Matthews [:jdm]]

Also, my apologies: I apparently skimmed over both the title of the bug and your first comment, because you made it pretty clear that the problem was with links being opened from other applications. I'll work on my reading comprehension skills in the future.

Comment 9

[forticulous]

Hmm. I've been using private browsing as the default for awhile now, but never noticed external links opening in new windows until the last month or so.  But if that's the behavior that's always been there that's just the way it is I guess.

Comment 10

[Josh Matthews [:jdm]]

Do you mean that you're running in permanent private browsing mode (ie. Settings -> Privacy -> Never Remember History)?

Comment 11

[forticulous]

Yeah actually that is correct.  Also the issue doesn't happen if I have it set to Settings -> Privacy -> Remember History

Comment 12

[Josh Matthews [:jdm]]

This is a legitimate oddity you've pointed out. I think we'll special-case perma-private mode when opening external links to make the experience more pleasant. Thanks for raising the issue!

Comment 13

[forticulous]

Thank you!

Comment 14

[Josh Matthews [:jdm]]

Attachment: Allow external links to be opened in private windows in perma-private mode.

Comment 15

[Josh Matthews [:jdm]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/mozilla-inbound/rev/4454f18d71bf

Comment 16

[Ed Morley [:emorley]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/4454f18d71bf

Comment 17

[Josh Matthews [:jdm]]

Comment on attachment 718638 [details] [diff] [review]
Allow external links to be opened in private windows in perma-private mode.

[Approval Request Comment]
Bug caused by (feature/regressing bug #): bug 829180 
User impact if declined: Links from external applications will always open in new windows when using permanent private browsing mode.
Testing completed (on m-c, etc.): m-c
Risk to taking this patch (and alternatives if risky): None.
String or UUID changes made by this patch: None

Comment 18

[bhavana bajaj [:bajaj]]

Comment on attachment 718638 [details] [diff] [review]
Allow external links to be opened in private windows in perma-private mode.

Please make sure to land before 3/5(tomorrow) to make sure this gets into FX20 beta 3.

Comment 19

[Josh Matthews [:jdm]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/releases/mozilla-aurora/rev/5071df232413
https://hg.mozilla.org/releases/mozilla-beta/rev/ff59832f3901

Comment 20

[Paul Silaghi, QA [:pauly]]

External links are opened in new tabs instead of new windows in perma-private mode.
Verified fixed FF 20b3 Win 7, Ubuntu 12.04 and Mac OS X 10.8.2.

Comment 21

[Tiziana Sellitto [:tiziana]]

Verified fixed on Firefox Aurora 22.0a2 – 20130407004016: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.8; rv:22.0) Gecko/20130407 Firefox/22.0


Verified fixed on Firefox 21 beta 1 - 20130401192816: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10.8; rv:21.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/21.0

Comment 23

[Tracy Walker [:tracy]]

mass remove verifyme requests greater than 4 months old