Alot of people here hate on anything non-apple, Safari probably has the same thing, but in more concealed writing.
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Firefox Browser Gets Tab Groups
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Firefox is dead to me. They lost my respect when they ditched 'privacy' over a month ago. https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-firefox-i-loved-is-gone-how-to-protect-your-privacy-on-it-now/
That's basically what you're doing, but sometimes instead of closing a window entirely (which you may still do), you just switch the window to a separate set of tabs related to different task or project.
I have like a dozen projects at work, and since we use Google Docs and Sheets a lot, each one tends to have quite a few of those, plus specific Adobe review links, etc, maybe a client's online file portal, etc. I leave them all open at once under the Tab Group corresponding to the project. When I need to switch to another project, I hit the menu and pick another project and instantly its dozen or so tabs are all open.
I sometimes end up with a tab open that doesn't belong to the group I'm in, or I've opened out of an email in a generic non-grouped window. So, I right click that tab and "send" it off to the right Tab Group. It disappears from view, but later when I open that Group, the tab is right there waiting.
Honestly, this all sounds a lot more clunky than it is. In real life use it's quite fluid.
That said, as others have mentioned it may make more sense in a work environment where there are harder boundaries between projects. In my personal life, I use it occasionally but it's just not as necessary.
Controversial take: MacOS itself doesn’t truly look at home on macOS anymore.
Bookmark folders are static, and you have to manually add/remove/reorder pages to update it. Tab groups automatically update as you close or open tabs. For stuff I don’t expect to change, I use bookmark folders. For stuff that changes regularly, I use tab groups.
Mozilla can’t even be bothered to place the close tab button on the left where it belongs on macOS.
Been using FF for 20 years and it has certainly had some growing pains but it has been very solid for the last few years. I love the ease of adding extra utilities, trying that in Safari had me nonplussed apart from the fact it’s just kind of ugly to me. The tab groups is going to be a big help when I’m comparing things.
Chrome has the exact same consents, just worded differently.
Mozilla phrases it as you giving them permission to use the data. Google phrases it as 'we will use your data to XYZ'... 'we will share your data with XYZ'...
Legally, the terms of use and Privacy policies are identical. In practice, Firefox has stronger default privacy settings restricting the info that is shared with third parties, where as Chrome's privacy settings are always set to maximise cookies, tracking and google ad revenue.
Firefox with uBlock Origin and Sponsor Block is still the best browsing experience because it blocks 100% of ads - including embedded video (sponsor) ads on YouTube.
For casual users, it might not be useful. I use tab groups at work and they are a major improvement. I manage multiple projects and much of my work happens on various web pages/services. During a given day, I am frequently switching between projects. Each project has its own set of web pages and I use most of those every day with some pages temporary. With tab groups I can have all of the tabs for each project available and only those tabs, then I can switch to another tab group for a different project. Using tab groups means having a management number of tabs for each project. It's not efficient to keep opening and closing all of those tabs. Using different windows would just be a cluttered mess and browsers don't always bring back the windows when you restart. Overall, I tend to have at least 200 tabs open segmented between 4-5 project and some other utility groups. Without tab groups, I would be lost among the tabs.
You didn't highlight the rest of it "to use that information to help you navigate, experience, and interact with online content as you indicate with your use of Firefox." They are not claiming ownership of your content, just that when you type or upload something they can use it as you are requesting. It's a kind of stupid legalese that is intended to protect them from a litigious public but makes it sound like they are mustache twirling villains.
It's not trying to be groundbreaking. FF had an earlier version of this but they took it out years ago. Users have been asking them to bring back the feature and now they have done it in a more streamlined way.
Bookmarks are static and hard to manage. Tab Groups lets you keep a large number of tabs always open and then switch between different groups. You can use Tab Groups for different projects, for research tasks where you open a lot of tabs, for groups of reference tabs. You can switch quickly without needing to close and reopen all of the tabs.
Too little too late Mozilla. I still use Firefox myself as any other Chromium* option is a no go for me, but this is all too late to try to grab new users. Most users have long since abandoned Firefox and they've moved on...Most Firefox users are Linux users or Windows geeks. To those 3 guys, I say stay classy and keep rocking it!
What you're talking about is going into the Bookmarks menu, then going to a folder, then picking "Open in New Tabs". OK cool. But what if you want to quickly switch to another set of tabs? You 1) open a new Safari window, 2) go through the Bookmarks > [folder name] > Open in New tabs.
Now try the same thing in Tab Groups. 1) Open the list of Tab Groups in the Safari toolbar and pick the group you want. Done. If you want to switch? Go to the same menu and pick another group. The entire window switches to that other group. You can switch between projects very, very quickly this way. I do it like 20 times a day.
If you're genuinely curious, make a couple Tab Groups from your existing bookmark folders and try switching between them. It's very slick.
Yep, this is identical to my use case. It's so much faster than bookmarks. When I'm in meetings it really speeds things up when I seamlessly jump from project to project versus rooting around in a bookmarks menu or favorites bar.
And unlike bookmarks folders I don't have to go through the drudgery of saving and organizing bookmarks -- the Safari window for the project is an ever-evolving set of tabs that reflects what I'm working on without my having to do anything but open tabs in the right group.
Lol, I'm sure I sound a bit fanatical about this feature, but honestly I think it saves me 30 minutes a day because I always have the exact tabs I need right when I need them.
Orion is still rough around the edges but is being rapidly developed. I've been using it for at least a year or so, pretty happy with it. By the makers of the Kagi search engine.
I use Firefox as my main browser. Not because it is the best, but I fear Chromium might take over. A singular web engine (Safari being only available on Apple products makes it somewhat unique) is never good.
We that are old enough remember the bad old days when Internet Explorer reigned and Microsoft tried to take over the HTML standard fear a singular web engine. Like, <marquee> anyone?
Using Firefox as much as I can is to me an act of resistance against Google steamrolling the internet.
We that are old enough remember the bad old days when Internet Explorer reigned and Microsoft tried to take over the HTML standard fear a singular web engine. Like, <marquee> anyone?
Using Firefox as much as I can is to me an act of resistance against Google steamrolling the internet.
This is incorrect. No, with recent update (happend at the beginning of this year) Firefox jumped to the top of the worst consents.
Again: this is not correct. No other browser had or have such aggressive consents. If you want to trust Firefox and continue using it, you are free to do so. But there is no point in sugarcoating and pretending that it is different than reality shows.
Interpretation:
• Yes, under a literal, maximalist legal interpretation, Firefox’s new clause is arguably the most powerful consent users give — even more explicit than Chrome or Edge, which rely more on obfuscated tracking and implicit consent.
• This clause puts Mozilla in control, even if they never exercise that power.
• That control is a risk, even if their current behavior is benign.
⸻
Final Verdict (worst-case lens):
🔺 Yes — this clause, if abused, represents one of the most aggressive and sweeping user data consents in mainstream browsers.
Mozilla could have more legal authority over your input than Google or Microsoft — even if they haven’t yet exploited it.
So while Firefox still behaves more ethically today, this clause gives them the potential to pivot, making it a serious concern for those valuing privacy not just in practice, but in principle.
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