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The rough idea for animations would be slightly complex but it would roughly look like getting the areas of both the targetted tab to be focused and the currently focused tab, take all of the tabs in between them and shift them to the right or left depending if you are targetting the left side of the current tab or to the right.
On the second to last demonstration, the last two tabs are left untouched in terms of tab horizontal positioning, while on the final one all of the tabs are shifted to the rijght to make space for the first tab's expansion and transformation into the address bar. And vice versa for the right side being transformed into the address bar and hence the entire left side of the browser becoming shifted to the left.

    Vlad There are in fact three requests which somehow were expanded because of my mistake in posting the vertical tab spacing from the compact mode on the 32nd post. I should have made another post regarding that issue on October 31st instead of lumping that additional feature request in the same area, because now people are confused between vertical tab spacing being named "compact tabs," and the people who support it being lumped in together. So what would be the best is a community poll regarding this.

        Our (still very rough) thinking about this is something like this

        Basically it is one "row" like Safari, but keeps a usable, fixed address bar on the left side and then has a place for dynamic tabs on the right side. So it accomplishes compactness but without jeopardizing UX.

          Just to clarify, what many Firefox castaways (myself) are looking for when we asked for a compact tabs option:

          Conventional UI yet looking for more vertical space - that is, separate tab bar and address bar (two row) - but reduced pixel height for address bar and tab bar. The user benefits apart from increased real estate in 13" screens, there is space for extensions in the address bar, and the tab bar can fit in more tabs without scrolling or reducing in width.
          Currently, with the present compact option in Orion, just shaving off a few vertical pixels in tab bar height will probably satisfy these set of users.

          ( Separate issue: with the Version 0.99.109-beta, it seems Orion always shows the tab bar even when only one tab is open. Not sure, if this is a bug or intended change. The expected behaviour is when only single tab is open, the tab bar should not be present.)

          There is another set of users who would prefer "Safari 15-style" compact mode - that is where the address bar and tab bar is clubbed together. They are not necessarily looking for vertical space saving(?), if I understand correctly.
          I am not a fan of this UI since it compromises too much on tab area +extension icons, but would leave it to the UX experts and community to take a call.

          Separate from this is the coloured tab option. Again, I am not a fan of this as I prefer my browser chrome and content to be separate. For immersive mode, I would look to go full screen or focus mode.

            Pluto

            Currently, with the present compact option in Orion, just shaving off a few vertical pixels in tab bar height will probably satisfy these set of users.

            We tried reducing the height of tab bar but decided that the few pixels were not worth the cramped look. Do you feel strongly about those few pixels?

            Separate issue: with the Version 0.99.109-beta, it seems Orion always shows the tab bar even when only one tab is open.

            Yep, will be fixed.

            There is another set of users who would prefer "Safari 15-style" compact mode - that is where the address bar and tab bar is clubbed together.

            We will make this an option.

            Separate from this is the coloured tab option. Again, I am not a fan of this as I prefer my browser chrome and content to be separate. For immersive mode, I would look to go full screen or focus mode.

            This is my preference too, but I understand that are other users who prefer colored chrome.

                Vlad

                Vlad We tried reducing the height of tab bar but decided that the few pixels were not worth the cramped look. Do you feel strongly about those few pixels?

                Ah! I strongly do - My reasoning was simple - logically, when I select compact option, address bar and tab bar both should reduce in height. Currently, only address bar reduces in height.
                However, I understand there is a difference between my theory and mockup and actual implementation. If you feel it is getting too cramped for most users, I will leave this to the developer/designer judgement. 🙂

                Thank you for being responsive and considering.

                      Oh I absolutely love this! The address bar and tab bar height ratio look better and not cramped at all. I would totally go for this.

                      If you could push me an update with this, I can happily test it out.

                      7 days later

                      I want a compact view in Orion that's EXACTLY like Safari (including same width and height).

                        Merged 1 post from Compact View like Safari.
                          4 days later

                          Vlad That reminds me of Internet Explorer 9 which (iirc) was the first browser to adopt such design. It’s definitely better than Safari’s compact mode in terms of UX. If that’s your vision, we just need to agree on an optimal size for the fixed address bar or should it be user-adjustable?

                              adorabilis Yes that is the idea. Not sure how would we let the users adjust the address bar in this case.

                                  6 days later
                                  Vlad changed the title to Compact tabs .

                                    Vlad while I actually like the overloaded Safari 15 compact tab bar, I get it's controversial and indeed not perfect — irrational I know! "Hey, a new shiny to play with!" 😁

                                    For me the slim approach you've shown here is the most user-friendly as it reserves maximum toolbar space to you know, actually grab and move the damn window! That's what IS sorely lacking in both the Safari 15 compact tabs and in Firefox's approach.

                                    So, as much as the new Safari tabs are "fun" to be pragmatic I'd vote (fwiw!) for you to stick with your current approach and 'just' optimise via your "Compact Size" approach to balance space and keep maximum usability.

                                    Whereas the IE-like "compact tabs with fixed position address field" feels like it could be a bit unnerving / confusing for a selected tab to 'jump out' of its previous tab order — when that tab order (by default) can give context as to when/where/how a new tab was opened, but only if default behaviour were to open new tabs next to their parent, instead of your current approach of adding them to the far end of the 'tab stack'.

                                        7 days later

                                        transeunt So this leaves two options, simply take the idea of compact tabs from Safari, or place the address bar completely on the left and unfortunately as a side effect unwittingly duplicate it as another tab in the tab bar.

                                        • Vlad replied to this.

                                            Fortrikka in our suggestions address bar serves as address bar, it is not a tab (and I risk saying this, nor it should be in any sane approach to UX design)

                                                14 days later

                                                Leo_Edwards Safari 16 does not exist yet, that is for the future macOS 13 release.
                                                Safari 15 does exist, and its iconic feature at first was it's compact tabs, but Apple reverted back to the normal separated toolbar due to controversy.

                                                    But its not removed and still available as option. Safari is not my default browser, but together with with the sidebar is nice. Anyway tabs on left and extension support is still better. ;-)