Firefox Nightly, a special channel where users can try out the latest features and changes, received a new feature that should make life easier for tab hoarders: tab previews. You can now hover the cursor over a tab and get a thumbnail with what is happening in that tab.
With the latest Firefox Nightly update, getting tab previews to work no longer requires tinkering with the browser"s internals. In this matter, Firefox is now on par with Chrome, Edge, and other browsers with their tab preview feature.
Enjoy tab previews on the latest Nightly! pic.twitter.com/e7aFT6iF1M
— Firefox Nightly 🔥 (@FirefoxNightly) June 5, 2024
It is worth noting that there is no need to risk using unstable updates to get tab previews in Firefox. The feature arrived in Firefox 123, but getting it to work requires enabling a few options on the about:config page. If you want to try that out, go to about:config and change the following parameters:
- browser.tabs.cardPreview.enabled—set the value to "true"
- browser.tabs.cardPreview.showThumbnails—set the value to "true"
- browser.tabs.cardPreview.delaMs—specify delay time in miliseconds
With the latest Firefox Nightly release, enabling tab previews no longer requires adjusting the parameters mentioned above—they are now turned on by default for all users, making the feature more accessible to inexperienced users. You can download Firefox Nightly from the official website.
In case you missed it, Mozilla recently announced a few upcoming features and changes that will make the browser easier to use, faster, and more accessible. Firefox will soon get tab grouping, vertical tabs, a new profile management system, more customization, reworked privacy settings, streamlined menus, faster loading times, and new accessibility features. Speaking of accessibility, Firefox 130 will bring automated image caption generation.
More information about what is coming soon to Firefox can be found in a post on the Mozilla Connect website.