absurdidealist Orion does not use Safari tab groups. I understand you are used to the way Chrome does it, but can you explain what is exactly wrong in Orion's tab group implementation?
23
Tab Groups Similar to that of Google Chrome
Vlad added the Clarification tag .
- Edited
Although I think the Chrome's tab groups aren't a "superior" feature, having both would surely help since Orion's window groups cannot be used in a single window, while Chrome's tab group allow users to manage multiple groups in a single window.
In fact, I use Orion's window groups as an equivalent of Chrome's profile. (I know it's different)
- Edited
some reasons why chrome's tab groups are better:
- you can have multiple in a single window. this way, there is no context switching, which is awkward and can cause you to lose focus
- everything is in the tab bar, so you know what tab groups you have. tabs and tab groups also both exist together in the tab bar, instead of in a separate place
- you can also quickly preview the tab group contents without clicking any buttons or hovering anywhere
- they can be assigned a color, helping you organize with color
- you can "close" the tab group, leaving just the name. this way, you know that the tab group exists, but doesn't distract you with having a lot of open tabs in the tab bar
some downsides of orion's tab group implementation (some also apply to safari's implementation)
- it can be awkward when you have say, 5+ tab groups, which creates many windows in mission control, making it unwieldy
- having each tab group for each window causes you to need to switch between windows, and this context switching often causes loss of focus
- there is no way of distinguishing them other than through the small label (eg no color coding)
- you cannot preview the contents of another tab group without (1) clicking on the window icon (2) hovering over the tab group u want to see
- tab groups are shown in a more obscure location and harder to navigate through than existing directly in the tab bar
downsides to chrome's implementation
- can be confusing with too many things in the tab bar (tabs and tab groups indicators)
- cant easily manage other windows without navigating to them
benefits to orion's implementation
- more familiar and easier to navigate for some, bc uses existing tech of windows, and can navigate between them in mission control
- less development costs
- unified place to manage all tab groups(windows) and tabs
I cant think of as many benefits for orion's version
4 months later
Current Orion do have single window tab group switching, however, you only can use a single group at a time, not very easy to move one tab from a group to another group.
Chrome's tab group implementation is like Orion's vertical tab's nested tab option. Easily drag tabs between groups and expand/collapse groups but horizontal.
7 days later
- Edited
@Vlad
Would you consider adding tab groups to Orion?
Although I'm a ml engineer with limited knowledge on macos softwares, I think adding a Chrome-style tab group will be easy since the existing nested-group option is very similar to it.
The difference is:
- A Chrome tab group isn't a tab (important!!). It's just a label.
- Since it's a label, no multi-level nesting (no tab group under a tab group)
Also, since this kind of tab group overlaps a lot with the existing nested tab, I think no user would want to use both at the same moment.
Hence, in Orion, we can just Chrome's implementation as "nests". And let the user choose how the nests should perform; 1-no nests, 2-chrome-style, 3-original-style.
Thanks!
p.s. Adding bulk operations (multi-select ops) on tabs shares a lot in common with this issue. So implementing both would be great! Please see https://orionfeedback.org/d/411-select-multiple-tabs-for-bulk-ops-horizontal-and-vertical/11
- Edited
Microsoft Edge has a really nice tab group option where you can group tabs together with a clearly defined label that you can set yourself. It looks super clean and clear. If you were to combine this with tree tabs, it would probably be even better.
If only notes tabs were re-nameable and could each hold their own contents. Alas, that suggestion was marked as nofix.
The window switcher on top is nice, especially since you can name windows. However, for me personally if I were to use windows as groups of tabs I would have a dozen windows open at all times, which I'm guessing could negatively impact performance and clutter up my desktop. And this will sound silly but with so many windows stacked on top of each other, you lose the lovely transparent background effect of the tab bar with a nice dekstop wallpaper 
I'd love to see a feature like that. Having to use even more windows to group tabs together is IMO pretty inconvenient when you want to quickly switch between tabs in different groups. For example in my main Edge window I had a group for all Jira tabs, a group for all documentation tabs, group for all development tabs, a group for all Azure DevOps tabs, and a bunch more and kept switching between them.
Tree style tabs kind of give me a similar feature, I can just put all Jira tabs in one tree branch, but it's less... "visible"(?) so to speak compared to the bright colours of Edge tab groups.
I would have a dozen windows open at all times, which I'm guessing could negatively impact performance
It does not. Every browser with native tab groups (Edge and Safari) has to have those tabs open somewhere. The fact they are not in sight does not mean they are not consuming memory and resources.
Here is for Safari: https://eclecticlight.co/2021/11/12/how-safaris-tab-groups-consume-memory/
Edge is of course even worse.
And this will sound silly but with so many windows stacked on top of each other, you lose the lovely transparent background effect of the tab bar with a nice desktop wallpaper
This is actually a valid argument, but we feel it is a small concession for keeping the browser lightweight.
when you want to quickly switch between tabs in different groups
Can you explain how is swtich in Orion slower? There are also keyboard shortcuts you can use.
Vlad It's not a huge difference, but with groups in Edge I just click once to select the tab I want because I never hide the groups. in Orion it's either 3 clicks, first the switcher, then the window, then the tab, or a shortcut and a click (+ having to remember that the Jira group is number 4)
7 months later
I have been using Tab Groups in Edge and they are really well done for me. I realize this is a personal choice. I don't prefer to have multiple windows in Orion for groups (but will give it more of a chance).
The Tab Group name does take up a slot, but it allows for easy seeing the whole space and context shifting quickly. The tabs to the far left are "pinned".
8 months later
Merged 11 posts from Tab groups inspired by Edge.
2 months later