Firefox 159

[agen (Agen Schmitz)]

Originally published at: Firefox 159 - TidBITS

Mozilla has released Firefox 159 with a few updates for macOS users. The Web browser now uses the native macOS share picker (which shows recent contacts alongside AirDrop, Messages, and other apps), enables you to search open tabs using Command-Shift-A, resolves an issue where quick gamepad button presses were being missed in Web games, and stops the Replace button in Apple Intelligence’s Writing Tools from inserting the clipboard contents instead of the rewritten text on some sites. The update also makes saved passwords available from the sidebar by default and addresses a rapid growth in memory usage when sites such as the Zoom Web app were left open in a minimized window. Firefox’s Smart Window beta can now watch Web pages for changes such as price drops or restocks (type /watch in the chat to set one up), though that beta feature is rolling out gradually to English-language users in the US and Canada. (Free, 164.8 MB, release notes, macOS 10.15+)

[josehill]

I haven’t run into any problems with Firefox 159, but it is interesting how disorienting a simple changed button shape can be.

For quite a while, Firefox has used a downward-pointing wedge in its upper right corner as its “List all tabs” button. When I looked for it in Firefox 159, I couldn’t find it, and I didn’t even think to try clicking on the new button that looked like some sort of search widget in the same location.

Sure enough, Mozilla changed the look of the “List all tabs” button, presumably to highlight that the menu also includes a “Search all tabs” functionality. (If you hover over the button without clicking, a “List all tabs” hint still appears, and the button is referred to as the “List all tabs” button in the Firefox documentation.)

The image below compares the “List all tabs” appearance in FF 158 (left) vs FF 159 (right).

The brain is a strange thing.