Tabs

[Glenn1963]

Any chance we'll see tabs implemented like Firefox Android has, which is like the way the desktop version does tabs?

Thanks!

-G

[x-15a2]

What exactly are the functional differences between PM4A and FFM tabs?

[Moonchild]

You have tabs. Just tap the tabs icon and you can browse through them.

[x-15a2]

Tabs in action:

PM4ATabs.png

[roseman127]

Hey! Just spotted something I have never noticed before. In the picture above ("Tabs in action") there are 3 icons in the upper left with an orange bar underneath the leftmost one.
Apparently clicking ("tapping") on the facemask (middle icon) opens a private browsing session.. and clicking on the leftmost one (looks like a keyboard key on edge) goes back to the normal (non-private) browsing session.
But I cannot for life of me figure out what the rightmost icon (two arrows making a circle, almost like a "reload" icon) does.
I click on it an nothing happens.

Did I miss something during my formative RTFM years??

[Moonchild]

It's the Sync icon.

[Glenn1963]

You have tabs. Just tap the tabs icon and you can browse through them.

Call them what you want, those are pages I can switch to using multiple touches.

These are real tabs, just like the desktop version. Viewable, selectable, closeable on the actual browser screen.

THESE are tabs.png

[LimboSlam]

I got to admit, actual tabs (like desktop browsers) would be convenient for me and possibly others. Now it doesn't have to be the default look, but an option available for those who want it.

[Moonchild]

It's just a different approach. Using "desktop style tabs" you have to be more accurate in your selection, you won't have thumbnails/previews of the other tabs anymore (in case you haven't noticed, that is one of Pale Moon's defining features, also on desktop), and in general it doesn't follow standard practice for section selection or browsing inside mobile apps. You operate a mobile device different than a desktop PC; as such, the UI should cater to this, and desktop tabs are not catering to this.
Also of note would be the different scale of mobile devices: these desktop tabs might perhaps work on large-screen tablets, but not on small-screen phones.

[x-15a2]

@Glen1963,
you provided desktop tabs, which we are all familiar with. How about a screenshot of your mobile device using FF tabs?

[Moonchild]

@Glen1963,
you provided desktop tabs, which we are all familiar with. How about a screenshot of your mobile device using FF tabs?

I think the screenshot shows FF on Android, actually.

[Glenn1963]

How about a screenshot of your mobile device using FF tabs?

Yes, that is a screenshot from my 7" Android phablet running FF Beta 38.0

They're easier to use, plus they have that same Tabs Button that, if you click on it, brings up a full page of tab previews.

I'm also running an add-on that adds that Close Tab "X" in the address bar, which makes it easier as the "X" is larger.

Seems like the option to choose how you display tabs would be a nice feature for PM.

[Moonchild]

Seems like the option to choose how you display tabs would be a nice feature for PM.

It would also mean having two different UIs to program and maintain. You already indicated an inherent problem right there, needing an extension to add a larger X because the desktop style tabs don't give you enough control space to work with. Swiping the tabs to close them is a standard mobile device practice (and in line with the OS) which is currently present in the way Pale Moon works, as well. Switching to the desktop style tabs would also do away with that, etc.

I don't think it's a good idea to depart from OS integration this way.

[Glenn1963]

Pretty much all extensions add functionality. To suggest that having one (not needing one) proves there's a problem is a pretty big indictment of the lack of features in all browsers.

I would contend that most Android apps, like PM, don't have actual tabs, so swiping is not any "standard" for closing tabs. What we have are just pages, named "tabs". They don't look like or act like tabs as already standardized and defined by desktop browsers. And if you really wanted, couldn't code exist that allowed one to swipe a real tab off the page?

But it's obvious I'm not going to win this argument and that's fine, I was just asking.

Thanks for the feedback!

[Glenn1963]

Having said that, one more swipe at this (heh, see what I did there?)

Chrome.png

Google Chrome on Google Android.

[Moonchild]

I just don't see a need to add code overhead for this because it just doesn't work well on mobiles, and I don't subscribe to this "one UI for all devices" getting the lowest common denominator. Desktop tabs have limited use on mobiles because of their design being focused on desktop use and desktop input methods, causing issues like what was already indicated needing high accuracy to simply close a tab.
That "tabs" on mobile are named after their functionality and not their shape is just a matter of semantics, and makes sense for e.g. tabs you have synced from your desktop to your mobile (you don't want to call it something different and confuse people). They ARE tabs on the device synced from, after all.

Not sure why you posted a Chrome UI in your last message, though. If that is what Chrome does, then Chrome will run into the same usability issues Firefox does.

[Glenn1963]

I posted it because it's Google on the Google OS, and as such defines standard Android mobile device practice.

[x-15a2]

How about a screenshot of your mobile device using FF tabs?

Yes, that is a screenshot from my 7" Android phablet running FF Beta 38.0...

Sorry for that post, I guess I shouldn't look at images first thing in the morning on my tablet! My apologies!

[Glenn1963]

Sorry for that post

No worries, they did a pretty good job duplicating the desktop version.

[LimboSlam]

So I guess the majority have mobiles........ Well that's to bad.