Why is compact mode 'not supported'?

2 years ago by john89 to c/firefox

I use it all the time and have for years. Just seems like a weird feature to lock behind about.config and say it's not supported while they still support things like Pocket.

cyrus 29 points 2 years ago

It is essentially just extra maintenance of a feature in Firefox that (statistically) not many people use

As such, it's marked as "unsupported" to make clear that if any issues arise, Mozilla won't help you with those issues.

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boredsquirrel 24 points 2 years ago

Not many people use it because it is hidden away and not default.

Firefox in compact mode is about as compact as Chromium, so no issue here.

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sugar_in_your_tea 9 points 2 years ago

I think I have it enabled too and just forgot about it. It really should be a checkbox next to themes or something.

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adarza 5 points 2 years ago

it used to be visible as an option in 'customize toolbar'. it was deprecated and deemed 'unsupported' way back around v89, but at least they kept it available as a 'hidden' setting.

i use it on every pc i have firefox installed on (which is, well, all of them that aren't 'terminal only').

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sugar_in_your_tea 2 points 2 years ago

Yeah, I remember it being there too. I really can't stand the default UI of any browser, everything is just so... big and bright. I use dark theme and compact mode where possible.

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boredsquirrel 5 points 2 years ago

True, a lot of things are too inaccessible so that people even think they dont exist. Like the task manager or profiles.

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sugar_in_your_tea 4 points 2 years ago

Yup, and I use both. I only use profiles for checking stock Firefox to help support people without my setup.

Containers are also awesome and not advertised well enough, it completely replaced profiles for me.

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cyrus 3 points 2 years ago

It's hidden away behind a flag now because it hasn't been actively used for years on end.

Not the other way around.

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boredsquirrel 4 points 2 years ago

Hm, yes but active usage doesnt mean it was not used?

I never thought of doing that and for sure didnt see that button in the bottom left.

Thats like removing profiles because nobody used them, while they are hidden away behind an about:. The solution is add a button, see if it is used and then decide.

Especially as the compact mode saves a lot of screen space and is likely no maintenance effort at all.

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cyrus 1 point 2 years ago

yes but active usage doesnt mean it was not used?

If their criteria was "at least 1 person uses it at all, sometimes" then it would not have been removed 🤔

likely no maintenance effort at all.

The maintenance comes less from the code and more from making sure that every single menu added or changed in any way continues to behave correctly in three different sizes with themes and everything.

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kbal 19 points 2 years ago

The people who make it their business to go through Firefox looking for features to remove almost got it, but the public outcry against its complete removal seems to have deterred them for now.

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grimaferve 12 points 2 years ago

I remember when compact was hidden - apparently this was a change driven by telemetry. It was possible that there's an overlap between those who use compact and those who turned off telemetry. I wouldn't be surprised if something similar also occurs with Pocket being left on too.

If compact breaks in a future update, it'll probably be removed altogether. At that point, best option would be userchrome customisation.

IIRC, this change was made ahead of the impending UI overhaul. This combined with the Windows 11 getting bigger touch-friendly UI elements understandably didn't sit well with many people.

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hal_5700X 6 points 2 years ago

It may break a future update...maybe 🤷‍♂️

In about:config look up userChrome.CompactContextMenu-Enabled and set it to true to enable the setting. When enable Compact (not supported) under Density option in Customize Toolbar panel.

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boredsquirrel 5 points 2 years ago

This. It is awesome

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yoz 3 points 2 years ago

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sugar_in_your_tea 12 points 2 years ago

What startup animation? Mine just opens...

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festnt 3 points 2 years ago

that might be the joke but im not sure

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Ephera 0 points 2 years ago

Because it involves maintenance work and does not necessarily generate income...?

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sugar_in_your_tea 4 points 2 years ago

Firefox doesn't generate income, except maybe the Pocket feature. It really shouldn't need that much maintenance, just check it before doing big UI redesigns. Most releases probably don't impact it.

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Ephera 1 point 2 years ago

Well, arguably it is broken since the last redesign. You need non-compact tabs to fit additional tab infos in there, e.g. that a tab is playing audio or using your camera.

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sugar_in_your_tea 1 point 2 years ago

Eh, it seems to work on mine? I have my tabs set to a specific width, so perhaps that's helping.

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Ephera 2 points 2 years ago

Hmm, for audio playing, they do then show a speaker icon in place of the favicon, if that's what you're seeing. In the non-compact tabs, it also says "PLAYING" underneath the tab title, though. And I believe, it also shows a similar text for when the microphone or camera is in use, and they don't have icons for those...

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hissingmeerkat -8 points 2 years ago

about:config is a weird thing to lock behind ditching Firefox and downloading a different browser

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