Saw this feedback: https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/fwhlva/address_barawesomebar_design_update_in_firefox_75/fmq6771/

I've now found that it's especially difficult on my laptop's touchscreen (and don't get me started on the trackpad!).

Sorry to moan on so much, I can tell you've put a lot of effort into this feature, but it is such as usability killer for me.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Set browser toolbar to touch
2. Show bookmarks toolbar and populate bar with bookmarks
3. Open a new tab by tapping the + symbol in the tab bar
4. Attempt to open one of the bookmarks that appear directly below the address bar

What happens:

The touch target is smaller than it was previously, making it harder to hit. The bookmarks themselves are also partially obscured and have a shadow overlaying them, making the text harder to read.

Expected result:

It should be as easy as it was in <75 tap on bookmarks in the bookmark toolbar.

My preferred solution here is bug 1627861.

I think touch is a valid concern here that should be discussed with UX.

The team plans to make some changes to ensure the bookmarks toolbar entries stay usable on touch screens.

(In reply to Marco Bonardo [:mak] from comment #2)

The team plans to make some changes to ensure the bookmarks toolbar entries stay usable on touch screens.

Not only in touch screens, in desktop is annoying too

The drop shadow of the megabar also makes the bookmarks harder to read, especially for users with poor eyesight.

(In reply to marczellm from comment #8)

Why tweak the bookmarks toolbar? There is nothing wrong with it. Everything wrong is with the new address bar.

We discussed this with our UX designers yesterday and came to the conclusion that the bookmark items are really too slim for comfortable touch use regardless of the new address bar design.

needinfo verdi for feedback on my patch.

(In reply to Dão Gottwald [::dao] from comment #9)

We discussed this with our UX designers yesterday and came to the conclusion that the bookmark items are really too slim for comfortable touch use regardless of the new address bar design.

I had suspected that this would be the solution. The patch (as far as I can tell) modifies the padding in all toolbar customization modes, not just touch mode.

I think a more localized fix works better here, since if not, we basically regress the look and feel for people who preferred a short bookmarks bar (which I understood to also be a goal) - see your comment 2 in bug 1577340.

(In reply to Asif Youssuff from comment #13)

(In reply to Dão Gottwald [::dao] from comment #9)

We discussed this with our UX designers yesterday and came to the conclusion that the bookmark items are really too slim for comfortable touch use regardless of the new address bar design.

I had suspected that this would be the solution. The patch (as far as I can tell) modifies the padding in all toolbar customization modes, not just touch mode.

It adds a bit of padding for normal mode because users with a touch screen may occasionally use it without enabling touch mode. The patch adds more padding for proper touch mode, and it doesn't add any padding for compact mode.

IMHO, the problem is that only are thinking on big screens with big resolutions, try this in a laptop with resolution of 1280x720 with standard density adding more padding to bookmark toolbar as proposed. Lose more and more screen to add a nice effect?

And think in people with visual problems. The shadow of new megabar on top of texts difficult very much the reading of favorites or folder names.

(In reply to Dão Gottwald [::dao] from comment #14)

It adds a bit of padding for normal mode because users with a touch screen may occasionally use it without enabling touch mode. The patch adds more padding for proper touch mode, and it doesn't add any padding for compact mode.

Thanks for the explanation. Clearly I didn't look at the patch carefully enough.

Dear Mozilla developers, please be so kind to review the activity diagram I posted as an attachment in bug 1627861 (see also comment https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1627861#c24). The solution presented there may eliminate the need to make the bookmarks bar bigger (as is suggested as a solution here).

Making the bookmarks bar bigger to solve megabar issues will probably irritate even more users, to be avoided after the backlash the megabar already caused. This solution won't cover the bookmarks when the user is not interacting with the address/megabar.

Update from verdi:

I like the added top and bottom padding of the bookmark. Can you also add 1px to the top margin so the top of the bm box is just touching the bottom of the expanded bar instead of just under it (purple one instead of the green one)?

Shadow is also reduced?

(In reply to gwarser from comment #30)

Shadow is also reduced?

Not at this time. We might want to investigate that in a separate bug.

(In reply to Marcin Raczkowski from comment #32)

Why are you continuing on this horrid path of altering other elements of the UI instead of making a expansion smaller by 2px?

... or checking my solution in Comment 27, which prevents overlap with elements beneath the address bar when the user is not interacting with it?
Would really like to hear feedback on this... Why could it work? Why wouldn't it?

(In reply to Ruben from comment #33)

... or checking my solution in Comment 27, which prevents overlap with elements beneath the address bar when the user is not interacting with it?
Would really like to hear feedback on this... Why could it work? Why wouldn't it?

See comment 9.

(In reply to Dão Gottwald [::dao] from comment #31)

(In reply to gwarser from comment #30)

Shadow is also reduced?

Not at this time. We might want to investigate that in a separate bug.

But on the picture it does not look like "live" in my Firefox. Maybe it's because difference in size/dpi/disco-highlighting.

https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/bb328e9ca301

Comment on attachment 9139417 [details]
Bug 1628243 - Tweak bookmarks toolbar for touch access.

Beta/Release Uplift Approval Request

• User impact if declined: see comment 0
• Is this code covered by automated tests?: No
• Has the fix been verified in Nightly?: No
• Needs manual test from QE?: Yes
• If yes, steps to reproduce: see comment 0
• List of other uplifts needed: None
• Risk to taking this patch: Low
• Why is the change risky/not risky? (and alternatives if risky): We're only adjusting some CSS padding and margins in the bookmarks toolbar
• String changes made/needed:

Comment on attachment 9139417 [details]
Bug 1628243 - Tweak bookmarks toolbar for touch access.

Minor CSS fix for a commonly-reported megabar regression. Approved for 76.0b6.

How can we see what changes have been made? I'm currently running Firefox 75.0 on macOS.

https://hg.mozilla.org/releases/mozilla-beta/rev/903e4bdc6cc2

So if I understand correctly the next version of Firefox is 76.0 and I will see the changes then?

Yes, or you can try Nightly now.

Firefox 76 will be released on May 5th

Verified this with Touch option enabled using Firefox 76 beta 6 and Nightly 77.0a1 2020-04-20 under Win 10 64-bit and Ubuntu 18.04 64-bit.
We also used a touchscreen device with Win 10 (Arch for touch Lenovo Yoga).
The items from the toolbar bookmark are more easily to select when the address bar is in focus.

The Touch option is not available under OS X.

Target milestone reflects when a change landed on mozilla-central.