Firefox tab groups are here

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Why people hoard tabs

  • Many treat tabs as “soft bookmarks” or a lightweight TODO system: open = in-progress task; closed = done.
  • Tabs often stand in for better tools: broken/overwhelming bookmarks UIs, limited history search, and fragile page state (forms, scroll position, app sessions).
  • Common patterns: research sessions (shopping, docs, debugging), RSS/HN reading queues, project workspaces (Jira + docs + dashboards), and long-running “someday read” material.
  • Some explicitly prefer forgetting/letting things “fall off the radar” versus curating bookmarks; others feel real stress from huge tab counts and periodically declare “tab bankruptcy.”

How Firefox tab groups fit into workflows

  • Many see native groups as a way to:
    • Bundle project-related tabs (per ticket, client, system, or topic).
    • Hide whole contexts to reduce visual clutter while preserving state.
    • Replace using separate windows as pseudo-groups.
  • Users who already rely on Chrome/Edge/Vivaldi/Safari groups or Firefox extensions (Simple Tab Groups, Sidebery, Tree Style Tabs) are considering moving to the built-in feature if it gets parity (hierarchy, multiple layers, better separation, sync).

UX, discoverability, and rollout complaints

  • Feature is present in recent versions but gated by progressive rollout; many had to flip browser.tabs.groups.enabled in about:config.
  • Confusion over creating groups by drag-and-drop; easy to trigger accidentally, hard to avoid when just reordering tabs. Right-click “Add tab(s) to group” is preferred by some.
  • Early limitations noted: mandatory naming prompt feels like friction; only one grouping layer; tab groups don’t sync between devices or map cleanly to containers or profiles.
  • Some miss the older Panorama-style “full-page” tab view and distrust Mozilla after past removals.

Performance and extreme tab usage

  • Multiple reports of stable use with hundreds to tens of thousands of (mostly unloaded) tabs, especially with extensions that discard/suspend tabs.
  • Others say Firefox on some systems (often Linux) still hits OOM or slowdowns, requiring manual unload scripts or session managers.

Trust, direction, and criticism of Mozilla

  • Mixed reactions: enthusiasm for finally shipping a top-requested feature versus frustration it lags Chrome/Edge and mimics their design.
  • Skepticism about Mozilla’s priorities: AI “smart groups,” telemetry-driven decisions, ad/partner revenue, and neglect of containers, profiles, and long-standing bugs.
  • A subset doesn’t want tab groups at all and disables them, preferring minimal tabs, strong bookmarking, or note-taking instead.