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Comment by dmlittle | Hacker News Reader

I really like container tabs (you have to enable them in about:config - privacy.userContext.enabled and privacy.userContext.ui.enabled). It allows me to have multiple AWS accounts open at the same time without having 2 different browsers or one account open in private mode. I have 2 main containers I use: production and staging.

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Or you can install the multi-account containers add-on in FF57: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account...

Do you know what the difference is between this extension and the native support in FF57? It seems to me they are one and the same. Could it be this was an extension that is now natively part of FF Quantum?

The decision was made to expose the relevant WebExtension APIs required to build containers uis to add-ons, rather than shipping with a specific containers ui.

With the add-on there's a useful button you can put in the navbar that lets you easily edit the containers and add sites to always open using them. I didn't know you could even do the later until I started using the add-on.

Honestly not sure. I just read about it in another thread talking about Firefox and some people there were saying that the extension replaces having to go into about:config.

The addon supplements it IIRC.

Thanks. This add-on got me one step closer to start using FF57 altogether.

> It allows me to have multiple AWS accounts open at the same time

I didn't think much about container tabs til I read this. This will be awesome for me. Thanks!

I use containers to log in to Google and Facebook so I don't leak cookies on other websites. Then again, I block those cookies/trackers anyway, so eh.

Chrome has this as a first-class feature, "People." I have one window open for personal, and another for each of the AWS accounts I have access to. Sounds from your description like FF can do this at the tab level?

Yea, firefox has profiles as well. Containers are different and apply your browsing context based on the tab. Super useful, you can also configure sites to open in a certain container.

I do wish I could just pin an entire window to a container, but overall the flexibility is worth it. (I abhor having more than one window open per app at a time.)

I am unfamiliar with it, but the profile manager in FF does not seem to be on the same level as Chrome. In Chrome you can change the profile and reopen your previous tabs by clicking in the top right.

With FF, you have to quit FF and type in the terminal 'firefox -P'.

They are not at the same level.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/profile-manager-create-...

Containers are really bad at saving your workspace: tabs with a profile so I can just shut down work at the end of the day or on a weekend.

You don't have to quit FF to do this, and you can use about:profiles.

> Containers are really bad at saving your workspace: tabs with a profile so I can just shut down work at the end of the day or on a weekend.

Sure they are, ensure your "open tabs from last time" pref is selected in settings.

Yes, that's correct. The containers feature enables profiles on a per-tab basis. As someone who does a lot of account switching, it's a killer feature for me. I would imagine some users would not really find it necessary.

Yes and it's color coded so you know what container each tab is associated to. By default all tabs are in the default container. You can long-press the + tab icon to select what container the new tab belongs to (I believe this is FF58+ only) or File > New Container Tab > Select Container. Here's a screenshot of two AWS Management console tabs with 2 different containers.

https://i.imgur.com/1gtX1Om.png

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think "People" also saves the browser session to a third party server so that you could resume the session from another machine. That's definitely not something I want.

Chrome has a sync feature that does that with or without using People, but AFAICT People doesn't require using that feature.

Only if you log in and enable sync I think.

Containers are different from profiles. Firefox has both. Containers are within a single profile (and thus can be opened within the same window) and let you do things like ensure certain sites get opened in certain containers only (at least, I think that feature is still there). Containers are a first class feature as well, however there is an addon for supplementing their behavior.

Firefox also has profiles (about:profiles) but with less UI around it so it's annoying to use.

Nice! I never knew this existed. This will make my life easier using sites that don't really have multiple account management.

I’m using Container Tabs to work with 3 different Twitter accounts in the same browser window. A killer feature!

Is there also a proxy/VPN support per container? That would be stellar :)

No, not in containers. I use different Firefox profiles for that purpose.

I don't believe that is an option right now.

How did you define custom containers? I only see the 4 defaults of personal, work, banking, shopping.

To enable it in FF57 you have to enable the options in about:config (I believe it's enabled by default in FF58). Go to about:config in your browser and enable the following flags: 1) privacy.userContext.enabled and 2) privacy.userContext.ui.enabled

Once they are enabled, you can create under Settings > General > Tabs > Settings

Ah, got it. I use Nightly; there's a Container Tabs > Settings page in Preferences. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!

Or go ahead and install https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account...

Makes it simpler and more accessible.

Wow, thanks for the link. That makes things a lot better; the accessibility features are great.

Whoa. Didn't know about that. Definitely going to give FF a shot now. Thanks!

Exactly what I need. Thanks!

pretty sure this will be the best thing I've learnt today!

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