In Firefox 68, which is scheduled for release on July 9, instead of Awesome Bar enable a new implementation of the address bar - Quantum Bar. From the user's point of view, with a few exceptions, everything remains the same, but the internals are completely redone and the code is rewritten from XUL / XBL to the standard Web API.
The new implementation greatly simplifies the process of extending functionality (supports the creation of add-ons in the WebExtensions format), removes hard bindings to browser subsystems, makes it easy to connect new data sources, has higher performance and responsiveness of the interface. Of the noticeable changes in behavior, only the need to use Shift+Del or Shift+BackSpace combinations (previously worked without Shift) is noted to remove browsing history entries from the result of the prompt displayed at the start of typing.
In the future, the process of gradual modernization of the design of the address bar is expected. Already available , which reflect some ideas for further development. Basically, the changes relate to honing the little things and ease of use. For example, it is proposed to increase the size of the address bar with focus, displaying hints as you type in a block adjusted to this size, without using the entire width of the screen.
In the search results offered as you type, it is planned to highlight not the text entered by the user, but the proposed part of the search query. Firefox will also remember the state of the address bar as you type, and return it after shifting focus outside the address bar (for example, the list of recommendations used to be lost after temporarily switching to another tab, but will now be restored when returning). For icons of additional search engines, it is proposed to add pop-up explanations.
Several experiments are also planned for the future to evaluate the feasibility of implementing some new ideas:
- Display when activating the address bar (before typing) the 8 most popular sites from the Activity Stream;
- Replacing search toggle buttons with shortcuts for opening a search engine;
- Removing a separate search bar from the Activity Stream pages and the start screen of the private mode;
- Displaying contextual hints for working with the address bar;
- Intercepting Firefox-specific search queries to provide explanations of browser functionality.
Source: opennet.ru