Firefox adds option to remove 'List All Tabs' button after user backlash

[harlan4096]

Mozilla released Firefox 131.0 a few weeks ago. This kicked up a storm amongst users who were upset by a change. What's all the fuss about?

Firefox responds to user feedback about the List All Tabs button

Firefox users were unhappy that Mozilla had added a new "List All Tabs button" next to the plus button (new tab button). Was it a new addition? No, it has always been there, you just may have not noticed it. The old style used a downwards arrow (Caron symbol), which was quite minimalistic. The new style for the List All Tabs button has a bigger icon.



The fact that many people started complaining about the button does prove that the old icon was not noticeable and this perhaps unused by a lot of users. That's why Mozilla changed it to a bigger icon. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Mozilla did the right thing, I just wanted to point out what could have inspired them to change the style.

Anyway, the primary complaint from users was this: why can't we remove the List All Tabs button in Firefox? A few also raised the question of why the button existed, when Firefox View serves a similar purpose. That is a good point, and Firefox View can be removed if you don't like it.

So, what was the idea behind making the List All Tabs button permanent, aka non-removable? According to some comments from developers, it was done because the button contains the hidden tabs sub menu, and this acted as a preventive measure against add-ons that may hide tabs maliciously, or extensions that may not have a good UI to re-show the tabs. Naturally, this response was met with criticism from users, which gained the attention of the developers who then agreed to make the button removable.



I'd like to point out a comment from another developer, who stated that Mozilla was working on migrating some of the button's functionalities into other areas such as the sidebar, vertical tabs and tab groups. He went on to explain that the dev team may reconsider the need for the button after those tasks have been completed. Okay, that sounds interesting, but the fact that a Mozilla dev recommended editing the userChrome.CSS to hide the button seems rather silly, but some users edited the CSS file. Others complained that there should be a toggle in the browser to allow users to choose what they want to use. I get it, I'm not a fan of unnecessary changes either, but it didn't bother me.

There's too much drama about this, I don't really care about the aesthetics, but it got me wondering, is the button useful?

Continue Reading...