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defcon1
Strollin' around
Status: In development

Make tabs visually distinguishable from another (as they once were)

Lately I can't visually tell where one tab begins and the next begins, except by referencing the "X" (close tab) buttom, since it's all white text on a black background.  How about making them look like actual tabs again or alternating the colors or something?   

The visual appearance should follow the function. Being able to distinguish one tab from another is a functional issue. Compare the attached screenshot (old vs new appearances).  The old way is clearly superior from a functional perspective.

At least give us an option in the Settings. It doesn't have to be a default (though I suggest it should be). 

34 Comments
RichardT
Making moves

The add-on 'Tab Mix Plus' no longer works with current version of Firefox, however, it had options to change the color of the active tab's background and its text. It was easily distinguishable from other tabs. It also had the option of changing the colors of loaded and unloaded tabs. It would be awesome if these features were added to Firefox.

Great program. Thx.

Status changed to: Trending idea
Jon
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hey all,

Here with an exciting update…

Your idea has been upgraded to the status of “Trending idea.” This means it’s now one step closer to reaching our internal teams for review—learn more about The Idea Journey.

Please keep the conversation going (the more details, the better) and stay tuned for updates 😃

-The Community Team

steel835
Familiar face

Okay, then please, make the separators optional (theme checkbox or config item).

Btw, they would look perfect on the high contrast themes for people needing such visual aid (though I didn't find a default Firefox high contrast theme)

stephy1771
Strollin' around

"Trending idea" LOL. People have complained about the reduction in contrast and usability since the changes were rolled out almost one year ago. If you need more details, Firefox/Mozilla, just read all the feedback you received last summer/fall.

See also these Reddit threads:

https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/p3cgc1/help_ff_91_changed_my_tabs_and_i_just_want_it_to/

https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/npxncg/is_there_any_way_to_revert_to_the_old_layout/

https://old.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/p2d9vn/had_to_revert_to_esr_delayed_updating/h8kevbg/

For the record I still hate the floating tabs with no dividers, but it was too much work to go into the config stuff after every Firefox update, so I'm living with it but it has really made me want to switch to a different browser.

stephy1771
Strollin' around

Yes, please make the tabs visually distinguishable from one another and make it more obvious which tab is the current one instead of making it float.

Many comments and specific issues regarding the newer versions' appearance are detailed in the old feedback pages, such as here: https://mozilla.crowdicity.com/post/720099.

kalo925
New member

I really don't enjoy the tabs design in FF right now. My eye don't feel like I can always pick out the open tab or others. Something strange for my eye to see. I don't have previous versions to compare, but compared to other browsers FF is worse. I guess they are all white with no segmenting for the other tabs. Doesn't work for me

rayf
Employee
Employee

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread! I'd like to follow up by saying that we are officially working on design explorations for this problem and should be moving into the development phase shortly thereafter! Thank you for your patience and for sharing your concerns on this topic.

Status changed to: In development
Jon
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hey all, 

Your idea has been shared with our product team, and we're happy to report back that this is 'In development' (currently in the design exploration stage). Keep the conversation going and stay tuned for updates 😃

-The Community Team

Anonymous
Not applicable

On my (Linux) version of Firefox, at this moment, I can distinguish tabs easily and am wondering what the fuss is.

But since so many people seem to see a problem, perhaps this is a problem with some themes rather than the design language per se?

I'm perplexed.

KERR
Making moves

KERR_0-1658367524391.png

Totally agree, I think this is something Chrome and Edge get right. The FF tab strip is kinda vague. I usually just use Tree Style Tab (with userChrome.css to hide the horizontal tab strip):

KERR_1-1658367762000.png

Not sure I can see the benefit of "make the tab strip all blend in together in the background", but I'm no designer.