topic Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen? in Discussions

Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

tilwiti — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 10:42:09 GMT

I've noticed that the idea of implementing a Split Screen feature in Firefox has been on the list for quite some time now. It's a growing topic on the forum, with @Jon frequently merging similar ideas. From my observations, people seem to be particularly drawn to this concept after experiencing it in Microsoft Edge and Vivaldi.

I realize this could present challenges for the UI design team and developers, but I believe the boost to functionality would be significant. It's worth noting that smaller browser projects like Floorp, developed by a small team, have already implemented this feature. While there are a few extensions available, a native implementation would likely provide a more seamless experience.

For me personally, Vivaldi's approach to split screen is ideal, though I understand others might prefer Edge's implementation or a different design altogether. The key point is that split screen functionality offers a completely new browsing experience that I, and seemingly many others, are eager to see in Firefox.

In the midst of all this discussion, I find myself lacking a response from someone on the development team. I'm concerned that while this idea might not get thousands of likes, it represents a substantial enhancement to the browsing experience that could attract new users and satisfy long-time Firefox enthusiasts.

I'd really appreciate a response from someone on the Firefox team. There's been several months of silence on this topic, and I believe many users would value some insight into whether this feature is being considered. Even if it's not currently in the development pipeline, understanding the team's perspective on split screen functionality would be incredibly helpful.

Could someone from the development team please provide an update or thoughts on this feature request?

https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/ideas/split-screen-tab-in-tab-feature-view-more-than-one-tab-at-once/idi-p/3989

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

asafko — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 19:29:20 GMT

Hi tilwiti,

Split view is at the top of our backlog as we've seen multiple signals (user research, extensions use, feature requests) that it's a massive enhancer of cross-referencing in the browser. Anyone who has ever tried to copy anything from a google doc to another web application would testify to this 🙂

The very small group of folks (myself included) tasked with productivity improvements in Firefox are currently working on the implementation of the sidebar and vertical tabs. We need to get this work to the minimal lovable state and go through a few rounds of polish-feedback before moving on to other work. We also hope to provide easy-to-discover entry points via both (right-click> Tile tabs in Vivaldi is quite handy but has limited discoverability), as when we advocate for new feature development it is crucial for us to have a vision of how this feature might receive (hopefully) deserved engagement, so it's not removed once only a small fraction of Firefox users find it helpful.

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

tilwiti — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 20:28:04 GMT

Дякую за повну та змістовну відповідь 🤗

Як можна допомогти вам?

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

asafko — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 21:03:02 GMT

Ох! Як приємно!

В наступні кілька тижнів ми спробуємо опублікувати наш беклог по роботі, яку ми хочемо втілити в реальність як тільки ми закінчимо базову першу версію сайдбару і вертикальних вкладок. Зараз, ми працюємо heads down щоб закінчити цю першу базову частину, але за кілька місяців ми будемо мати можливість працювати з open source contributors, якім буде цікаво працювати з нами над елементами цього беклогу і рев'ювіти їх bugzilla patches.
Раніше, ми працювали з контріб'юторами набагато ближче, і ми хочемо до цього повернутися у більше цікавій формі ніж відправлюючи людей в getting started docs та good first bugs

Вибачаюсь за англіцизми, важко від них відмовитись коли по робочих темах не розмовляєш часо українською!

Також, можливо, як дуже тимчасове рішення, ми будемо шукати когось зі спільноти, в кого є бажання і можливість підтримати SideView extension, яке ми не оновлювали значний час і яке потребує уваги.

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

tilwiti — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 21:14:43 GMT

Щодо опен сорс контриб'юту мої можливості обмежені, однак якщо це можливо, то був би радий побачити навіть найNightlyші версії функцій, над якими ви працюєте 😊

Радий зустріти україномовних тут ☺️

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

asafko — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 21:29:07 GMT

Ой, дуже приємно, в мене тому й прапор в профілі, бо дуже гарно зустрічати співвітчизників, які використовують Firefox і хочуть, щоб він був краще!

Дуже скоро - почекайте буквально кілька тижнів. Ми хочемо показати в Nightly не тільки поточний стан, але й показати наш беклог, адже розуміємо, що важко не критикувати напівготове рішення без інформації про те, як ми плануємо його відполірувати і довести до розуму.

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

tilwiti — Sat, 27 Jul 2024 06:27:16 GMT

Дякую ❤️

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

stannikolov — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 14:56:23 GMT

The split windows view is a very handy feature. It also seems to be one of the big reasons people switch to Arc.

I think if Firefox can jump on board early will make browsing nicer and probably attract some new users.

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

fcg — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 08:33:26 GMT

If the split screen feature not coming to Firefox, I will have to change the browser app.

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

fuseteam — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 16:48:10 GMT

read the solution friend, it is coming but not before vertical tabs

in the meantime there is a addon that could serve as stopgap: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/efficiency-split-screen/?utm_source=addons.mozilla.org&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=search

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

fuseteam — Tue, 03 Sep 2024 16:47:34 GMT

thanks for confirming, i am looking forward to the day it arrives

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

fcg — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 04:32:41 GMT

Thanks, I know about the plugin, but why would I use a plugin for a feature that is available even in the Edge browser?

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

fuseteam — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 10:31:13 GMT

because the feature is coming in a future release of firefox and you may not want to switch and back and forth between browsers in the meantime?

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

ThePillenwerfer — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 12:20:54 GMT

Can't the say effect be achieved simply by opening two windows and putting them side-by-side?

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

tilwiti — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 16:48:29 GMT

Unfortunately, no. It's better to have both pages in the same window. This eliminates duplication of the address bar, allows you to group related pages, and in Vivaldi, you can even arrange them in a mosaic layout. It might seem like a minor feature, but once you try it, it’s hard to go back.

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

fuseteam — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 16:53:36 GMT

i'm using an extension that does that for me: it is not the same

one difference for example is that with a split window tab is that you can restore it as such
with two windows you.....can't
another difference that you can close both in one go

this is possible because acts as one tab

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

fcg — Mon, 09 Sep 2024 04:26:28 GMT

I've been using the Firefox-based Floorp browser for a while now. So far it's been very stable and working well. I'm likely to become a regular user. 🔥

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

tilwiti — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 07:35:00 GMT

@asafkoвітаю, фактично, Split Screen у вас з'явився в вигляді гарного розширюваного сайдбару. Дозвольте туди щось своє сувати й настане сингулярність. Хоча й не дуже повна, бо врешті-решт split screen це різні контексти. Але особисто я користуюся сайдбаром та вертикальними вкладками щодня, чудова річ.

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

Denir — Tue, 11 Feb 2025 08:31:50 GMT

Split view has become very important to me lately. I hope Firefox team adds the feature soon otherwise I will have to switch browsers which I don't want to do(I love Firefox). Even chrome is adding this feature now.

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

tilwiti — Sun, 23 Mar 2025 14:36:29 GMT

@asafkoВітаю, як Ваші справи? 🦊

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

Kvin — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 08:07:47 GMT

Hi, not long ago in the latest browsers that did not have the separation function in brave and chrome, this function has already appeared, now only Firefox does not have this function, are there any updates on this, at what stage is the development of this function, thanks for the answer!

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

Ramouz — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 13:50:24 GMT

Can't wait to see Split Screen in Firefox! Please make it like Edge's or Vivaldi's. Not as a sidebar feature but as real split screen.

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

Kish_B — Wed, 28 May 2025 20:00:25 GMT

Lifetime Firefox user and lover here - despite recent bad publicity. I too would like to chime in to request the split tabs feature. It helps when comparing 2 pages side-by-side to see small differences. I know opening 2 or more windows is an option but splitting 2 tabs is much faster and efficient. I would be okay with a 2-tab limit in one window for simplicity and stability.

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

Mus — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 20:34:23 GMT

Any ETA please? This is highly requested.. ❤️❤️❤️

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

Jon — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 20:55:09 GMT

@Mus (and others following along) - we recently shared an update here:

Here is a link to the meta bug.

We'll also share more updates in the following thread:

Hope this helps!

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

Ramouz — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 20:57:01 GMT

Thanks for the update. Can't wait to see this out as I really do need it.

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

00FF00 — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 14:08:07 GMT

Hi! Small suggestion to improve the UX of split-tabs (which mostly works great btw!)

I tend to have a... uh... large number of open tabs. The current functionality (unless I'm missing a different method) is to right click the first tab you want open, select 'add split view', which then splits the view presenting the list of tabs on the second half of the screen. This could be improved, because there is a subtle detail here I have not mentioned yet.

For example. I have four tabs, say tab a, b, c, and d.

I currently am on tab d. I would like to open tab a and b in split screen. I right click tab a, select 'add to split view'. The browser switches to tab a and presents the list of tabs in the second half of the screen.

This could be improved, by changing it so if I were on tab b already, and right clicked tab a then selected 'add split view', rather than switching to tab a and presenting the list of tabs in the second half of the screen, it would automatically open the tab I right clicked (tab b) in the second half of the screen and the tab I am currently on (tab a) would be in the first half of the screen.

Hopefully I explained that in a way that is understandable, because I think this would be a rather simple change and would greatly improve UX. It's not so big of a deal if there's only four tabs open, but my current session of Firefox has only one window and 590 tabs which is easily the most minimal session I have had open for more than a year. Lol

If this is unclear let me know and I can make a mock-up showing the step by step version of how it looks now and how it should look, though that would take more than a couple minutes so unless necessary I would rather use words 🙂 (but I'll happily make the mock if needed)

Thanks!

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

Kish_B — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 16:51:56 GMT

It has been a long wait but Split View is finally available in Firefox 149 and is working in a stable manner. I hope they now add more useful features to this functionality like synchronous scrolling. These seemingly small quality of life improvements are slowly making Firefox the best general browser available for most people.

Re: Dear developers, what do you think of Split Screen?

Ramouz — Tue, 24 Mar 2026 17:05:56 GMT

While it is great and is my main browser, I will be moving elsewhere soon. I'm really happy they have all these features now (finally!!) and also container tabs, which are awesome, but performance is poor and they've never been able to solve that. It starts fast, but after a day or two, since I have many tabs (though most are unloaded), it starts to degrade in performance. Then, visiting certain websites like X and PayPal for work freezes for a second or two before it loads them, and it's repeatable. I have to restart Firefox to fix that. Then, if a JavaScript code causes an issue temporarily on a website, then you clean the code, trying to open that site again fails (blank, nothing shows up) until you restart Firefox.

Lots of little issues like that which do not exist in other browsers, like Edge and Vivaldi. I'll probably move to Vivaldi when I have time. I was really hoping they'd fix that but no.

Performance is just not there in Firefox and I've been enduring it and suffering with it on 10 laptops for the past 18 years. For now, I'm still on Firefox and am excited to use split screen.