App Tab "Bug"

Discussion of bugs in Mozilla Firefox
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Koolaidjunkie
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Joined: April 19th, 2011, 7:51 pm

App Tab "Bug"

Post by Koolaidjunkie »

I've notice that there is a issue ("bug") when it comes to the App Tab (Pin To App Tab) feature in the new Firefox 4.
The App Tabs remain when Firefox is closed ONLY if that browser window containing the App Tabs is the last to be closed

Example: If you have two Firefox windows open. One (Window A) has a Pinned App Tab, the Other (Windows B) Does not. If you close Window A first, then close Window B. After all windows are closed, if Firefox is relaunched then the App Tab from Window A is no longer there. BUT If you close Window B first, then Close Window A, once Firefox is relaunched then the App Tab is there.

Anyone else experiencing this issue? I've searched high and low on the internet, trying to find a fix or reason for this issue ("bug") but I can not find any note of anyone else experiencing the problem.

If you have a solution for this problem, please let me know because having to "repin" app tabs is getting annoy. ](*,)

Thank you,
Marshall B
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smsmith
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Re: App Tab "Bug"

Post by smsmith »

My understanding is that your scenario is "by design". You've "pinned" the tab - meaning you want it to persist. You close that window, and on restart, that tab is also restored (because you pinned it). But, if you close that window with another open, you're telling Firefox, "I don't care about this tab anymore", so it's not restored on restart.

Try using File -> Exit (or the Firefox button -> Exit). You'll close both windows at the same time, and your app tab might be restored on restart.
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James
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Re: App Tab "Bug"

Post by James »

Yes it sounds like you are closing the windows individually with the X on title bar versus closing all instances of browser at once by way of File->Exit which the allows session restore to restore where you left off.

http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Menu%20Reference
Exit
Closes all Firefox windows, cancels any active downloads, and exits Firefox completely. If you happen to select this menu item with more than one tab or window open, Firefox will ask you to confirm your choice to prevent accidental exits. You can switch off this warning by deselecting the Warn me when closing multiple tabs checkbox in the Tabs panel of Tools > Options. Firefox will also warn you if you are currently downloading any files.
KWierso
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Re: App Tab "Bug"

Post by KWierso »

There's plans to have app tabs be global across all windows, but that didn't make it in time for Firefox 4, and nothing's happened with it since then in the development versions.
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Koolaidjunkie
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Re: App Tab "Bug"

Post by Koolaidjunkie »

This issue being "by design" in my opinion is a total flaw (complete fail.)

I have on occasion mistakenly hit the "X" in the right corner of the window containing the App Tabs. If you only have ONE tab is open (excluding the App Tabs) Firefox does not confirm whether or not you want to close the window. Even if there is another Firefox window open when the window containing the app tabs is closed, launching another window does not restore the App Tab. I never would have Pinned the tabs If I wanted Firefox to forget about then, if I did I would simply unpin them.

I hope making them "global across all windows" (as KWierso mentions) is implemented soon.

But for now I have written a small AHK (AutoHotKey) script that will monitor the window containing the App Tabs - If the "X" is click it will ask if I want to close all instances of Firefox. If yes, then the proper File>Exit procedure is executed but the script.
KWierso
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Re: App Tab "Bug"

Post by KWierso »

You can restore closed windows from the History menu.
icyitscold
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Re: App Tab "Bug"

Post by icyitscold »

@Koolaid, I was just about to report this bug but you beat me to it by a few days!! :D

This is most certainly and undeniably a bug. The official specs may not agree but in that case the official specs are wrong, App tabs are explicitly "pinned". Pinned means stay there and don't ever go away unless I explicitly unpin you. Once these tabs are pinned, they are no longer tabs in the normal sense and therefore users don't expect them to be forgotten regardless of whether they quit, close the window, or close the original window while leaving another open. Most users would think of app tabs as bookmarks which are always preloaded for them, and, of course, they wouldn't expect their bookmarks to go away if they closed the window they were saved in [while leaving another open].

Remember, in all mainstream Desktop OS's close window is supposed to just mean close window and nothing else. In that case, with the introduction of Firefox 4, should close window now come to mean close window plus unpin app tabs but only if there are other Firefox windows still open??

Now this quirk might be 'by design' in the sense that the devs intended it to work the way it does today, but if that's the case then it's a big usability issue and still worthy of a bug report! By design doesn't necessarily mean the design is good :)

I noticed that IE 9 also allows users to pin bookmarks (apps?) to the Win 7 taskbar. Not sure who's copying who with these rather innovative features but with IE's implementation the apps never disappear regardless of what windows are closed, whatever the order....

-Waiting to see what Chrome will bring to the table
Patrick
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