Here’s what we’re working on in Firefox
Here’s what we’re working on in Firefox
At Mozilla, we work hard to make Firefox the best browser for you. That’s why we're always focused on building a browser that empowers you to choose your own path, that gives you the freedom to explore without worry or compromises. We’re excited to share more about the updates and improvements we ha...
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to be faiiiiiiiir, the way they’re going about it is very reasonable. i’d rather have no AI but, if i had to have it, i’d rather have that than anything else.
The use case they mention (generating alt text for images in PDFs) is something that couldn't work otherwise and, even if it isn't perfect, can be a big help to people with visual impairments, while at the same time doesn't get in the way of the users that don't need it.
If they keep focusing on these kinds of features instead of going fully Clippy like Google and Microsoft are doing, I think it's fine.
Sugar, salt & nicety, gestalt. Such was the formula for to produce the paragon of prepubescence!
If AI object/scene recognition is done locally, wouldn't it increase the memory footprint of the browser process. Also how many objects can it identify if its run on a modest 4-8 GB RAM system? One more question is would they ever introduce anonymised telemetry for these generations?
If it works anything like Firefox Translations does, the model is only downloaded on-demand, so it wouldn't affect your browser usage if you don't use the feature.
Tab Grouping, Vertical Tabs, and our handy Sidebar will help you stay organized no matter how many tabs you have open -- whether it’s 7 or 7,500.
I hate the corpo talk as usual but hope they can squeeze out a really good tab manager. Container tabs and proper adblock is the best thing Firefox has, and would be nice with a third Ace in their hand.
Could we have HDR support instead of AI? Does anyone even want all this AI stuff companies keep pushing?
For context, the part where they talk about AI:
We are approaching the use of AI in Firefox -- which many, many of you have been asking about -- in the same way. We’re focused on giving you AI features that solve tangible problems, respect your privacy, and give you real choice.
We’re looking at how we can use local, on-device AI models -- i.e., more private -- to enhance your browsing experience further. One feature we’re starting with next quarter is AI-generated alt-text for images inserted into PDFs, which makes it more accessible to visually impaired users and people with learning disabilities.
I mean, this is not "slapping an LLM on top of the software and calling it AI", it's integrating it into the browser in usable ways.
One usage of a local model is the local translation feature which was ... kinda nice? Not having to go online to translate? Pretty cool right?
This is similar here with the alt text, seems like a force for good?
Feels like they're fulfilling what they said in the first paragraph of the quote.
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new tab wallpapers, streamlined menus: Eh, whatever.
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vertical tabs, better settings UI: I guess it's probably useful for someone if they do a good job.
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AI-generated alt-text for images in PDFs: Oh fuck right off.
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Customizable hotkeys: I can't believe you're still not doing it. Wasn't it the number one requested thing on Mozilla Connect? Do it, Mozilla. It's so easy, and so obviously needed. It would serve as a meaningful sign that you've become less user-hostile.
AI-generated alt-text for images in PDFs: Oh fuck right off.
why so negative? this is actually great for accessibility, especially when the majority of people don't care about alt text (especially in pdfs)
AI-generated alt-text for images in PDFs: Oh fuck right off.
Why is this bad?
I kind of resent having a pdf editor in my web browser at all. Putting a giant LLM-based image classifier in there seems inadvisable even if it was going to do something more useful than suggest alt text for images you add to pdfs.
Accessibility tools that can describe images, as well as pdf editing, are fine things for Mozilla to work on but they really shouldn't be done as part of Firefox alone. Image describing has way more uses than just what's found in the web browser, and should be a system-wide thing. There's no point in each application having its own. Doing it only for things inserted into pdfs compounds the absurdity. If the accessibility APIs that exist can't handle it, it's time to propose a better one — and maybe go ahead and implement it on Linux. Solving the problem properly would be a more ambitious goal, but one that seems appropriate for an organization with the stature of Mozilla.
Auto-generated alt-text for all images on the web where it's missing, and an AI that can reliably detect when it's probably worth doing, or do it on request through some kind of api designed for accessibility tools, as an optional extension for people who need it: Now that would be more interesting.
Vertical tabs has quickly become the deal breaker feature for me personally, for any browser. I am on desktop, horizontal tabs are so senseless there in hindsight as most screens are wider than they are tall.
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So I read that line about it being things we requested and people are not requesting wallpaper stuff 😂
It's thousands for tab grouping and less than a hundred for wallpapers. Seems like when they tried to rebrand bookmarks as collections and were determined to push them.
It has 374 thumb ups here:
https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/ideas/wallpaper-in-new-tab/idi-p/172
And was suggested here multiple times:
https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/let-s-chat-about-the-firefox-new-tab-page/m-p/7632#U7632
The moment Firefox adds back tab stacking, I'll go back to it so fast my pc won't even finish booting
Is there a difference between tab stacking and something like tree style tabs?
Yes, completely different to me
You could make the title more compelling than "a thing we're doing"
I kind of love that they are not click-baity.
I guess basically skipping putting anything in the title definitely falls under that description 😅
I'd really like container tabs to be a thing. It's a UX nightmare, but I'd really like to keep social media crap at bay.
All i want is a better inbuilt android downloader .
Firefox is my favorite browser, ever since version 1 way back in the days. I only wish they would not add too much nonsense by default. Also reading this marketing talk here feels waste of time, instead of talking like a human to human and not like a robot writing a marketing article.
If they really add AI to Firefox, then I might change my default browser. It would be the first time I say good bye in what, 17 years or so (since I use it)?
they also posted on threads that they're working on tab grouping and native profile management too (ala edge and chrome):
Any browser which only offers an AI inclusive release, I won't use.
If any company that produces browsers really, truly, cared about their customer base, they would offer an AI release and a non-AI release.
Edit: It's unfortunate to see that we have reached a stage as consumers that even daring to suggest an option be provided results in such responses. Good luck to all of you when you decide you want an option when a business does something you don't like with a product because clearly you'll have no one interested in listening to you.
At this point, AI is pretty much any line of code that the marketing team thinks sounds smart. It's really not a hill worth dying on.
What if the AI doesn't activate unless you explicitly choose to do so?
Or if the “AI” is just some nested if-statements…
If it provably disabled all functionality and features of the AI, then I would find that acceptable.
So your idea is that visually impaired people should just cry about not having alt text on a lot of images? How would you solve this problem of recognising what's in an image without AI? I hate generative AI in most cases as well but I swear people hear AI and are so blind from anger that they fail to see what it actually is used for
No, actually if you read my comment my idea is that they can use an AI release of the browser, while people who don't want AI in their browser can use a different release without it.
In response to "So your idea is that visually impaired people should just cry about not having alt text on a lot of images?".
This is a loaded question. You shaped the question to be this way so that it would contain presumption of my being guilty of not caring for the differently abled when I have never done such a thing.
My comment just suggests that options are good for consumers, in this case the option of being able to choose if you want AI in your software.
If you have a real argument against that idea that is not predicated on presumptive guilt regarding a topic different to what I was talking about like in your first response, feel free to let me know what it is.
To clarify for you, my saying "Users should have a choice of whether AI is in their browser" being met with your "Then you must hate blind people and want them to cry" does not follow and does not constitute an argument to the contrary.