Make tabs visually distinguishable from another

[defcon1]

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). 

[dimelives]

Please bring back Windows Aero compatibility and connected tabs. Ever since version 89, the appearance of the browser has become so washed out and hard to distinguish. Having Windows Aero in earlier versions lent contrast to the tab bar background and the tabs within it. Now, it's just one long, monotonous block. Also, reconnecting the tabs to the body of the webpage it represents would help the user to be certain which tab is open. That's what a tab definitively IS, after all - a small part sticking out from the body. As it is now, since version 89, with all of the tabs (including the active one) as floating buttons, with very little difference in their tone, it is very difficult to keep track of where you are. I realize that these changes were made in an attempt to "modernize" with Windows 10/11's blocky, monotonous looks, but I'm afraid that in doing so, a degree of user-friendliness was sacrificed. At the very least, please give us OPTIONS to re-enable these features if desired. I think you'd find that many users would make use of them. Thank you for your attention.

[Jon]

Thanks for submitting an idea to the Mozilla Connect community! Your idea is now open to votes (aka kudos) and comments.

[Krille]

In one of the redesigns the background color for the current tab in the tab bar was lost. Bring it back to make it easier to spot the current tab. The current very faint border around the current tab isn't enough.

Also bring back the frame around inactive tab buttons in the bar.

By no means make the tab buttons any larger or change the shape! Just copy the design of the current tab button to the inactive buttons and give the current one an additional background.

[Jon]

Thanks for submitting an idea to the Mozilla Connect community! Your idea is now open to votes (aka kudos) and comments.

[Jon]

Thanks for submitting an idea to the Mozilla Connect community! Your idea is now open to votes (aka kudos) and comments.

[steel835]

No offense, just interested - are you really struggling with distingushing tabs from one another or you just don't like this UI language? For me having a favicon as an visual anchor point is enough (like, a tab can't have 2 favicons, plus, I usually search for the favicon or a word, move a mouse there to click it, see that the whole tab is highlighted and now I see that I click in the right place, so the separator thing wasn't really important for me earlier). Now they show a default icon even for those tabs that don't have it. Also, currently many websites (and modern design overall) use this approach of having less solid lines or separators to clean out the visual clutter and make it more appealing visually, because spacing usually works well too (for example, look at the header of this Mozilla Connect website - no separators, borders or even icons, yet distinct buttons with text on them)

But if it's not an eye itch and really a problem for some category of people, then maybe it really worth to bring it back. I'm just wondered how it feels like exactly.

[defcon1]

Also: it's nearly impossible to see which tab is active.  The "highlighting" of the active tab is so light as to be nearly indistinguishable from the surrounding tabs.  This needs to be fixed as well.

[Krille]

Yes, please. However the inactive tabs should not have black text on a darker grey background since this reduces the contrast of the text and hinders readability. Make sure to use colors with a decent contrast.

Also vote here: https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/ideas/make-the-current-tab-easier-to-spot/idi-p/3926

[defcon1]

Responding to steel835: I'm really struggling. I'm an end user, not a developer, and don't know anything about the "UI language."   I really miss the old days of early operating system GUIs where all the different areas of a window were clearly distinguishable from one another. The easy-to-understand boxy look of everything made it much easier to visually distinguish different areas of a window compared to the modern "stylish" sea of black.  If you go on Google Images and look at screenshots of Gnome 2.0, Mac OS 9, Windows 2000, the window appearances were much better. Several of them had a gray background for multiple areas of the window interface, but separated by dark lines, adding contrast and helping guide the user's eye to the area that the user needed to be looking at.

[MateusRodCosta]

I believe what could help here is just having a small vertical line between each tab so it can act as a separator, that way you could actually distinguish one tab from the other.

[RichardT]

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.

[Jon]

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]

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]

"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]

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.