Firefox's biggest redesign in years brings back Compact Mode
The new Firefox design is here
Mozilla is rolling out a sweeping new Firefox design with version 157 across desktop and mobile, refreshing colors, icons, and themes without hurting performance. The update reintroduces Compact Mode, adds a theme picker and wallpapers, and lets users pin shortcuts to the New Tab page. Mozilla says the browser remains independent, open source, and privacy-first, with the same user controls over AI features and browsing.
Firefox has done a lot of growing over the last year; now it looks the part.
- anonthrownaway
OMFG! Look at the massive amount of space between the stupid pill shaped tabs - this is the exact opposite of what I want as a tab hoarder! If I wanted to use a shitty safari UI that sacrifices usability for cutesy looks, I would use Safari.
I am still having to use an extension (Sidebery) because Firefox failed to implement vertical tabs half as good. On my MBP, I have two rows of small panel icons to switch between 2 rows of 8 different categories of tabs (16 panels). Below that, I have 3 rows of pinned tabs on each panel (24 pinned tabs). Below that, I can see 24 open tabs without scrolling. That's 48 visible tabs per panel and with a single panel click, I can see a different set of 48 tabs. That makes a total of 768 tabs accessible via a single click. [edit] I should add that I can see 32 characters of the tab title so it is easy to know at a glance what the tab is about. [/edit] Now that is an amazing UI/UX - not some designer pill shaped tabs (that Safari has had for years).
Mozilla: why in the hell do I need to trust some extension builder to give me an amazing UI/UX? Instead of copying Apple's bad decisions - innovate!
p.s. I don't get why in the hell anyone who has more than 10 tabs open at once isn't using vertical tabs? Especially when most monitors have more horizontal pixels than vertical.
- n4bz0r
The UI was tidy and nearly perfect, now it's all over the place: weird paddings, different border radiuses even within a single element, clashing background colors, and boy, do I love rainbow gradients everywhere.
Update: for those unhappy with the changes, you can roll them back for now:
about:config -> browser.nova.enabled -> false
- hattar
I wish Firefox would stop rolling out redesigns, color themes, and other visual tweaks every couple years and instead focus on features and bugs.
Improve Adblock capabilities, better tab and session management, improve sync, improve site css and js management, built in dark-mode.
Hell, just look at the list of most used extensions, it’s a great place to start understanding what users want.
- gray_-_wolf
Out of curiosity, if you use the split view, why? I never understood what it can do that my window manager cannot, but maybe I am overlooking something?
- palmotea
Let me guess: even more whitespace, hiding stuff for a "clean" look like a baby toy.
- thetallgeek
I want the page headings to look like tabs, not pills. You don't have to be different for the sake of it
- bananaquant
Meanwhile, support for Firefox from web developers seems to keep on sliding.
Whenever I have to fill out a new web form on a random site, there is about 50% chance that it will break. Regrettably and unsurprisingly, they do work perfectly in Chrome-based browsers.
- osener
I usually try to keep an open mind but wow this is so bad. I was a loyal Firefox user but between the memory and perf issues and now this, I've now switched to Helium. I miss the "Multi-Account Containers" but that's about it.
They just had to look at Arc for what people want out of the future of browser design and instead they committed this own goal.