Feature request: Tab Groups

Matthew

I was told that Orion has a similar UI to Safari but allows installation of Firefox plugins. I switched from Firefox to Safari because I can't do without tab groups.

Firstly, I had the unpleasant experience of importing my 40 Safari tab groups into Orion, which implements tab groups as separate windows. This nearly crashed my system.

There seems to have been a discussion about this already here, but the developer has prevented further commenting, because I guess he does not want to hear any more from the many users who don't like the poorly thought out UX decision to ditch tab groups for some kind of window history scheme: https://orionfeedback.org/d/468-tab-groups/21

Many users have explained at length in the above thread why they prefer tab groups in Safari. They have ben ignored.

I just wanted to say that there is no way I am going to use Orion at present. The few extensions I miss from Firefox do not compare to the massive workflow boost provided by tab groups.

Tab groups allow me to organize my work all in a single window, including moving tabs between groups. Safari's UX is a far superior method of managing my research workflow. Tab groups also do not bring my system to a near crashing halt as happened when all my tab groups, imported from Safari, opened in separate windows in Orion.

I am also not very impressed with developers who have such low regard for feedback they receive from users. I'm not going to put trust in software designed under such an ethos.

Vlad

Matthew Hi Matthew

A browser window is by definition a group of tabs.

Orion just does this transparently while Safari 'hides' these windows. You can read more about it here:

https://eclecticlight.co/2021/11/12/how-safaris-tab-groups-consume-memory/

The reason importing tab groups into Orion 'nearly crashes your system' is because Orion had to load all these during import. In Safari most of these windows are 'closed' and unloaded and loaded on demand. But for us to import it, we had to load all of them first.

I think the feature that you are really looking for is the ability to switch windows in place, which is coming in next release of orion.

I am also not very impressed with developers who have such low regard for feedback they receive from users.

I am sure that you will realize that the opposite is true. This browser is literally built by the user feedback. That is the whole pupose of this site and the reason so many users keep posting feedback here.

meuthu

I'm surprised this isn't a feature in most browsers. I've never used it in Safari, mostly because it wasn't a feature when I used Safari. The best implementation of grouped tabs I've found to be in Chrome, with the ability to collapse and color-code the groups. As far as Orion browser, the vertical tabs sidebar I find visually unnappealing and a waste of space. As for named-windows, it's function is nowhere near the same as grouped tabs from a UI perspective. For those of us who utilize a more visual workflow implementing this feature is premium. Named windows are not something I prefer to sort through when I create windows of different tab groups as well. (As in each window can have multiple tab groups within it for further organization.) Named windows in this case would be an added benefit on top of grouped tabs. There also exists an ability to save these tab groups and their respective organization between sessions.

meuthu

Vlad What is meant by "switch windows in place"? The ability to access a window without having to click on a dropdown?

Vlad

meuthu It means when you select a window it replaces it inside the same window. Basically same as Safari 'tab groups'.

meuthu

This doesn't sound anything like tab groups. The point of them is for provisionally efficient visual organization. If you want to say a window is by definition a group of tabs well, ok yeah, 1 group of tabs. It isn't this though - https://blog.google/products/chrome/manage-tabs-with-google-chrome/
This is essential for research and development. And I don't think I'm of the minority here. As I've mentioned before sometimes this is used to organize multiple windows with multiple tab groups, e.g. prioritized windows based on level of importance, each with categorized tabs representative of elements of a project.

Vlad

meuthu

This is essential for research and development. And I don't think I'm of the minority here.

We use number of upvotes as the indicator of demand for a feature from the community.

pantulis

meuthu

Hello, the current RC will be promoted to beta in the next days. From the screenshots that have been shared in the Discord group, I think that UI-wise covers what Safari Groups do and it's not a solution like Chrome's "Tab Groups" --which I do not enjoy, btw. Also, it allows you to nest trees of tabs (a la Tree Style Tab in Firefox), which is currently not possible in Safari.

I think you will be better served if you wait for the next beta and see what you do not like, the current Orion beta version uses Windows as the same metaphor as Tab Groups and it took me a little while to get used to it.

meuthu

Vlad

Looks like it was the 16th most voted suggestion until the post was locked. I see votes are still enabled but developer resistance has been made apparent in favor of a non-correlative feature.

Vlad

meuthu The post you linked to asks for "Tab groups like Safari". Orion has this already (and goes beyond what Safari has). What is you ask exactly?

grahams

I know one of the things I miss from Tab Groups in Safari is that if I have a Safari window open set to a tab group, any externally opened links (for instance, if I click a link in an email) doesn't open in the tab group window, but instead opens in the most recent non-group window (or creates a new one if there is none).

This allows me to have a tab group/window whose contents are relatively static without new tabs opening in them (unless I explictly do so).

Vlad

grahams This can be a separate feature suggestion (and please elaborate with a video)

artem

Tab groups have been standard across chromium browsers for many years. I find them absolutely essential for grouping projects at work. Separate windows do not provide the visual relief that group coloring and naming do.

I’m surprised this doesn’t have more upvotes.

artem

They’re very simple:

They have a color and name
They are collapsible
They can be reordered among non-grouped tabs and dragged across windows

artem

Also, this would require the multi-tab select: https://orionfeedback.org/d/411-select-multiple-tabs-for-bulk-ops-horizontal-and-vertical