How to: Switch to Firefox, while keeping Safari-level usefulness

[woolypants]

As I explained in a different thread, macOS 26 Tahoe is so visually awful that I could no longer stand using Safari (after literally decades). Yes, I turned off transparency but it was the circular/lozenge-shaped UI buttons that just broke me. A hideous throwback. So inefficient in use of space. Just poor design.

So, I've switched to Firefox. It's blazingly fast compared to Safari and also Edge, which I have to use on my work Mac.

These are the things I've done to try and make it more Safari-like, for usability and also so my muscle memory isn't challenged each time:

1. During setup, import history and bookmarks from Safari. Don't import passwords. See #2 below.
2. Apple's official iCloud passwords: Turn off Firefox's own password management and install this. It will autocomplete passwords and even 2FA codes you receive by text (but not, it seems, those that are emailed?). Firefox is compatible with passkeys. You just need to authorise it when prompted for the first time.
3. Reload in Address Bar: Puts the reload icon in the right of the URL bar, where it is in Safari.
4. Sticky Pinned Tabs: Makes pinned tabs a little more like Safari's excellent implementation, in that clicking any links in a pinned tab will open them in a new tab. This means the pinned tab is more likely to stay what you've set it to be, and you won't navigate away from it. Safari's implementation is cleverer than this, in that it allows you to browse within the same site within the pinned tab, but any non-site links appear in new tabs. But this extension is close.
5. Type about:config into the URL bar, then search for browser.uidensity. Double-click it and enter 1. You should see the Firefox UI shrink to a more macOS-like size (e.g. not eating as much of the program window).
6. Reopen closed tabs with Cmd+Z: Firefox defaults to a silly key comination. For Cmd+Z, as in Safari, you'll need this simple extension.
7. Open new tabs next to the current tab: Firefox opens all new tabs at the end of the row of tabs. You'll need this simple extension to make it open tabs next to the currently selected tab.
8. Close button at the left rather than right of a tab: Google how to create a userChrome.css file, and then add this code:

.tabbrowser-tab .tab-close-button {
   opacity: 0;
   margin-left: -4.5px !important;
   margin-right: 2px !important;
 }
 .tabbrowser-tab:not(:hover) .tab-close-button {
   display:none;
 }
 .tabbrowser-tab:not([pinned="true"]):hover .tab-close-button {
   opacity: 1;
   margin-inline-end: 0;
   /* OLD CODE before Fx113:
   -moz-box-ordinal-group: 0 !important;
   NEW CODE for Fx113: */
   order:-1 !important;
   display:unset !important;
 }
  .tabbrowser-tab:not([pinned="true"]):hover .tab-icon-stack {
   -moz-box-ordinal-group: 99999 !important;
 }
 .tabbrowser-tab:not([pinned="true"]):hover .tab-icon-stack:not([indicator-replaces-favicon]) {
   display: none;
 }

Delving into Firefox's settings is useful. You can rearrange the new tab page to show more recent sites, for example. And don't forget that any site icon that appears in the new tab page can be pinned by clicking and dragging it, or clicking the three dots alongside it. This can make a pretty good match for the Safari new tab page.

Themes: There are a zillion of these, and most are hideous. I find that Google Chrome Light looks acceptable and not distracting in Light mode. YMMV of course. Most themes just try too hard, but this has been a problem for literally decades.

What I'm still missing:

• A way to make the new tab icons pop-up when the URL bar is clicked, which I really miss from Safari. I don't especially like Firefox's URL bar approach, as venerable as it is.
• Share button, so I can send a URL to -- say -- my wife, without having to copy and paste. You can right-click on a tab and scroll down the (sadly) lengthy pop-up menu to select Share, and then get at most of the usual share options that way.

 

[!!!]

Themes: There are a zillion of these, and most are hideous. I find that Google Chrome Light looks acceptable and not distracting in Light mode. YMMV of course. Most themes just try too hard, but this has been a problem for literally decades.

I use Kumo gray, it reminds me of the older OS X style.

A way to make the new tab icons pop-up when the URL bar is clicked, which I really miss from Safari. I don't especially like Firefox's URL bar approach, as venerable as it is.

I don't understand what this means, can you elaborate?

Ctrl+Z to undo a recently closed tab. Bizarre that no browser other than Safari offers this. This can't be done via Settings' app keyboard shortcuts tool, because it's not a menu item. Apparently you can hack a config file but it's just too damned complicated for me to bother with.

You can press CMD-SHIFT-T to re-open a closed tab. I know it sucks that you cannot remap this, unfortunately the FF developers decided to avoid using Cocoa and instead their own hacky solutions that don't play well with native features.

Tab close button (X) at left of a tab, rather than right. Seems you can hack the Firefox chrome UI file to get this, but it's likely to break on updates.

It doesn't break unless they redesign the UI, and I wouldn't consider modifying CSS to be "hacking", you're allowed to do it.

 

[aespana]

You can also go to about:config and then write compact to enable the compact mode. Then go to other settings under the menu list(i don't remember well) and then select Compact Mode (it says that is not longer supported or something like that.

That makes the upper tab of Firefox much smaller and in my opinion, much better.

 

[woolypants]

You can also go to about:config and then write compact to enable the compact mode. Then go to other settings under the menu list(i don't remember well) and then select Compact Mode (it says that is not longer supported or something like that.

That makes the upper tab of Firefox much smaller and in my opinion, much better.

Thanks. That didn't work for me. After some googling, it seems that nowadays the option to use in about:config is:

browser.uidensity

This immediately shrinks the URL and tab bar. It can then be turned on and off within the customise toolbar screen.

 

[woolypants]

I'm finding Firefox is attempting to sleep the screen when videos are playing.

Apparently this can be avoided by setting media.video-wakelock but this is already configured for me.

 

[aespana]

Thanks. That didn't work for me. After some googling, it seems that nowadays the option to use in about:config is:

browser.uidensity

This immediately shrinks the URL and tab bar. It can then be turned on and off within the customise toolbar screen.

Interesting. I just checked the option in Firefox for windows and it says 1 so I guess that compact mode is the equivalent to 1 in this new setting.

I tried to go to compact mode in about:config and I found it.

And then if you go to Menu, more tools and personalize toolbar:

Maybe they will finally erase this settings and move it to another side using the browser.uidensity code to modify the UI size

 

[woolypants]

I use Kumo gray, it reminds me of the older OS X style.

I don't understand what this means, can you elaborate?

You can press CMD-SHIFT-T to re-open a closed tab. I know it sucks that you cannot remap this, unfortunately the FF developers decided to avoid using Cocoa and instead their own hacky solutions that don't play well with native features.

It doesn't break unless they redesign the UI, and I wouldn't consider modifying CSS to be "hacking", you're allowed to do it.

There's an extension that will add Cmd+Z for reopening a closed tab: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/safari-like-tab-reopener/