The rounded corners aren't enough please increase them more.
Nova theme compatibility
Nova currently seems to break compatibility with some existing theme settings. There are quite a few UI elements that either aren't addressable through themes at all, or don't consistently use the colors specified by the theme.
I've marked the affected areas more clearly in the attached pictures.
Elements that aren't properly addressable using themes
-Some UI elements, such as the border around the search/address bar, don't seem to be addressable through theme headers.
-The search bar color is slightly different from the color specified by the theme.
-The inactive search bar doesn't follow the rest of the theme and appears to use a different color. It also doesn't seem to be independently addressable.
-With vertical tabs, the tab background/color doesn't match the rest of the theme. It appears to be tied to the toolbar/search menu color, rather than using the appropriate theme color.
-The default purple Nova theme doesn't seem to be fully reproducible/addressable using the available theme headers.
-The background color of pages such as Settings, About, Configuration, etc. doesn't appear to be properly addressable using themes.
-Likewise, the background color of the sidebar/settings menu doesn't seem to be addressable.
Theme header inconsistencies
Some of the theme headers also appear to be broken or behave differently in Nova, particularly with the vertical tab configuration.
There also seems to be some inconsistency in what a particular header controls depending on the configuration. In other words, the same theme header can correspond to different UI elements in different configurations, which makes themes difficult to maintain and can cause them to break when switching between configurations.
These should consistently control things like the selected/highlighted text color and the default text color in the field, but the behavior doesn't always seem consistent.
It would be great if Nova could make these UI elements consistently respect the existing Firefox theme headers, rather than introducing additional hard-coded or indirectly controlled colors.
Also, as a separate UI suggestion: it would be nice to have an option to hide the URL bar icons, or only show them on hover, for a more compact/minimal address bar (See the last picture).
The Tabs really do not look and feel good. They seem disconnected which makes the Browser feel dreamy and floaty, in the bad Way. I associate it with the Instability of Dreams rather than the Creativity of Dreams.
And it doesn’t even look fun. It’s bland.
I propose a much more grounded and dynamic Shape: Sharp Corners at the Bottom, rounded at the Top.
Also note how the rounded Corners use a Squircle Shape, not a Circle Shape. And how the slim “pinned Tabs” are optically compensated by having noticably less Rounding at the Top. I didn’t think about it when i was drawing it, it came naturally because i was drawing it and not designing directly in Software.
This Drawing shows how it would look like in the horizontal Tab Bar and in the vertical Tab Bar.
I feel the Color Gradient should also go from top-to-bottom, not left-to-right, because the darker Color being at the bottom would also suggest Weight in a pleasing Way.
Finally, as a Part-Time UI & UX Designers myself, i have a valuable Design Philosophy: Always design as a crude Drawing first because the best Ideas only come from that tactile Experience, which is free from the Constraints of existing Computer Code. Wherever possible, the Computer should be for implementing Designs first made by tactile Means, not for making new Designs from Scratch.
