179
#Firefox doesn't need any new features to be more attractive for users, it just needs to make CSS theming more accessible
Also don't add advertising crap that is opt-out and only configurable via about:config.
this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2024
179 points (100.0% liked)
Firefox
450 readers
5 users here now
A place to discuss the news and latest developments on the open-source browser Firefox
founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS
load more comments
(3 replies)
Anyone who thinks they know what needs to happen for Firefox to regain market share, needs to consider what would happen if someone forks Firefox and makes that happen.
There's no way that CSS theming is it. And in general, "not doing something" isn't going to be it, either.
they need to offer a better alternative to Electron. once that happens, you'll have Firefox everywhere. People will code their SPAs to run in Firefox first, recommend it to their users, and accelerate the development of better APIs.
Ah, so it should just be better! I wonder why nobody thought of that yet :P
(Sorry, I'm in a sarcastic mood, but you get my point.)
oh don't get me wrong if I had a plan for it I'd be doing it. I've always found it really weird given the impact that Electron had in app development, why Firefox never tried to ride that train. I know of one short lived effort to take the engine out of the browser.
Usually the answer is limited resources with unclear payoff, i.e. even with Electron's success, it's not clear that there's room for an alternative in the market, and it'd be a lot of effort to do.
Honestly, I don't see why CSS theming is important. The customization is nice and all, but that's not going to make people switch to Firefox. There are many other things that could be improved, like adding tab grouping. I use this extension called Tree Style Tab which I cannot live without. Firefox having something like that by default instead of an extension would be nice.
However, having said that, OperaGX did find quite a lot of success by simply making it easy to theme the browser, so I can see where they are coming from.
Vertical Tabs are in the Nightly build, already. It is a very rudimentary implementation, still. Personally, I use Sideberry though.
Only reason I use Chromium is PWAs (Web Apps). Which is why I made an extension that opens links from Chromium in Firefox.
Got Slack running in your work profile on Chromium? Opens links in Firefox work profile.
I should probably release this.
Same here. I have to trust/use an extension and third party desktop application (Progressive Web Apps for Firefox) to get this feature to work and not have to rely on Chrome/Edge/etc.
I can easily see less patient or understanding users dropping Firefox if they find out it doesn't work with Progressive Web Apps.
My problem with that extension is the separate profile requirement (so new links can't open in a specific profile), and some things (like Slack) don't fully work outside Chromium.
My solution works like this:
- Slack open as PWA in Chromium in profile Work
- Click link to http://that
- Extension captures the request, cancels the new tab/window, sends the URL and profile name to a small service running on
localhost - Service opens Firefox with same profile to URL
The extension is set to skip this process if the base URL is the same as the current site (Slack.com/google.com/etc).
Note: Why would someone down vote you for a helpful response? Sheash.
@RmDebArc_5 @firefox I believe they really need better tab organization (without the need for extensions). just basic tab grouping like chrome is a very important feature.
Agreed. This is the only reason (besides the built-in fake VPN) OperaGX is popular. All browsers have pretty much the same feature set. OperaGX's biggest strength is CSS customization, Firefox's biggest strength is extensions, Edge's is being the Windows default and Chrome's is it's image of "fast and secure browsing".
All Firefox needs to be is a jack of all trades. But still prioritize it's main distinction.
It should also ship with a better default CSS theme.
And stop forcing websites into darkmode. Part of the reason I use resist fingerprinting is for theming.
Main thing I want is to override site css. Who cares what the browser itself looks like.
Bad for privacy (potentially)
Zen browser is Firefox with easy css theming
Maybe start rendering pages right?
Nah, get chromium and web devs to adopt web standards
Most of the time its the fault of the developer if a page only works in chrome.
Does not FF leak its tabs in ram?
I think that's been fixed for good while now.
You don't hear about it anymore
Not a fix but having Mozilla coded PWAs could help a bit. Rather than 3rd party.
I like theming , I am already a Firefox user. I think the sad reality is that for more adoptions , in the order of numbers that chrome puts up , Firefox needs to be a default application ; the common users doesn't want to customize anything ( my hot take ).
I don't think it is important that Firefox gets to those numbers as long as they can generate enough revenue to keep going.
Not a hot take. Most regular end users are lazy, not tech savvy, or do not care. Not meant as an insult, it is just reality. I used to be a SysAdmin and this was always the case. This is why IE got big, and why Chrome and Google Search got big and to a larger extend why Apple's offering got big in their ecosystem.
Google trying to kill adblockers Barbara Streisand Effect them into the spotlight, magnitudes more than their own existence had merited to most average users in the last 15+ years, at least in the USA.
And even now, I still know tons of end users who do not use adblockers.