Auto PIP when tab is changed

[bufu]

Give us an auto-PIP option that enables PIP automatically when I change from a tab that is showing a video to another tab. When going back to the original tab and that video source is shown, disable it again.

When multiple video sources are available, make it so that the last viewed tab with a source is shown in the auto-PIP. It should also be possible to have multiple PIP instances open (like it is now) but the ones that are enabled manually should also be disabled manually.

[asafko]

Hi folks!
Unfortunately, PiP work we're not staffed to work on PiP improvements actively this year.

However, we've got some good news — the engineering team is in the process of reviewing a contributor patch for auto-PiP, and hopefully, collaboratively, we'll get it to the point where it can ship. We'll keep you posted on the progress!

[Skjiisa]

This is something I love from Arc that bugs me when I come back to Firefox

[Loebe]

Also Opera does it that way. And as a youtube user, thats the feature that keeps me hooked to Opera. Even when i'd love to try different browsers.

[blu]

It's weird that it was said to be in development in Feb last year and now there's no capacity. Firefox already lags behind other browsers which have even smaller teams. Not sure what you guys are cooking over there, but it better big else this browsers future isn't looking to good.

[asafko]

Hi folks,

Daniele, a Firefox contributor led this patch to completion, and @mconley reviewed it to make this long-requested and much-desired feature happen. Huge kudos to Daniele and Mike, and if you have a moment, please give them a shoutout!

If you are a Nightly user, you can turn the feature on this way *right now*:

- update to the latest Nightly,

- go to Settings > Firefox Labs and check the Picture-in-Picture: auto-open on tab switch checkbox.

If you are a Release channel user, you will be able to activate the feature once Release 130 is live on September 3.

We want to keep the feature in Labs for a release or two to see if it needs any additional tweaks before it becomes a permanent setting.

[Kvin]

This is great, but will there be a possibility of auto RiP when minimizing the browser window and switching to another window and program?

[PocketRocket]

Yeah, What is the point of auto PiP if auto PiP cannot work when minimizing the browser window and switching to another window or program?

[asafko]

@PocketRocket I understand your frustration about not having a feature that would make your workflow easier and more pleasant, and I share your opinion that it would indeed helpful.

I think it's quite civil to acknowledge that even when a feature does not satisfy your personal needs, there are a few hundred million folks using Firefox. At least the author of this request thinks there's a point to auto-PiP on the tab switch.
These acknowledgments go a long way and serve as a motivational point for Mozilla's volunteer contributors and reviewers, who focus on other projects but carve out time to work on feature requests from the community.

I would encourage you to create a request to auto-pip when changing applications here on Connect and consider contributing a patch to make this work happen:

In case this sounds interesting:

Getting started docs: https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/setup/index.html

Good first bugs: https://codetribute.mozilla.org/projects/ff?tag%3Dgood-first-bug

[Agentvirtuel]

Hello

I've tested
https://www.youtube.com/embed/Jh7pUJbwUCg

About the sidebar, that's another topic https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/improvements-to-the-firefox-sidebar-are-on-the-way/m-p/55...

[Jon]

This is an awesome community + Firefox collaboration  👏 a big thanks to Daniele, @asafko, @mconley, @bufu, and all of you for your role in getting this landed in Nightly! Check it out and keep on sharing your feedback - let's keep this conversation as productive as possible. Thanks again everyone! 

[all-x]

looove to see already on nightly.

[nayz]

Thanks for adding this. Release 130 can't come soon enough.

[okay_okay]

this is great thanks!

[rouxken]

Hello,
I have a quick question.

Does it work with visio conference tools like Zoom or Google Meet ?

I remembered that in Opera, the auto-pip works also with visio conference and there are command buttons available like mute, video, etc.

Thanks

[babolivier]

Hello there,

Just wanted to share a quick nugget of feedback on this feature.

I've been using it for some time now and I really like it! Thanks a lot to the great folks who made it happen 🙂

My main issue with it is that sometimes I use YouTube to play background music while I work, in which case the auto-PiP feature gets a bit in the way. When I switch tabs, the main options I'm given with the PiP player are either to switch back to the tab and keep playing the video, or dismiss the player which pauses the video - there isn't an option to dismiss the player but keep the video playing. I've managed to work around this by dismissing the player and using the media keys on my keyboard to start the video again, but it's more of a somewhat cumbersome workaround than a real solution.

I wanted to mention this here in case there's interest in addressing this small UX issue, but again I otherwise really like the feature 🙂