Nova design and multiple tab contrast

Ralpha — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 21:53:32 GMT

After a Firefox update that enabled the new Nova theme. Here are my immediate thoughts:

First it looked okay, but then I wanted to switch to an other tab that I already had open, and something did not feel right. This might just be a habit, but the distinction between the tabs did not feel right. It was not clear where a tab started and where it ended (in the top bar), something felt wrong.

After finding the `about:config` -> `browser.nova.enabled` toggle I switched a few times back and forward to see the difference. I see there is not much of a difference. (see screenshot, my color style applied to Firefox).

I see there is not much of a difference. But to me there is a difference in feeling. (or just old habits/familiarity)

But given all this I would like to request an option to add an outline around the tabs that are open, but not active. I tried to find this option in https://color.firefox.com but could not find it in there. I want a box (with rounded corners is fine) around tab similar to the thin oranje line I have around my active tab. Just so I can add a tiny bit of contrast around each tab.

Also note that the yellow container tab line color is WAY to similar to the red color in the Nova style. With mixed tabs I can not see the difference that well when next to each other.

Other then that the new design looks nice.

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Nova design and multiple tab contrast