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Full screen mode works differently

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Firefox just automatically updated itself today. Now I notice that full screen mode (shift-command-f) works differently. Before, it would hide the menubar and all of the toolbars. Now all it hides is the menubar!

To me, "full screen" means full screen. Sometimes I just want to hide of all that annoying clutter added in by all my extensions. Now I don't see a way to do this.

Firefox just automatically updated itself today. Now I notice that full screen mode (shift-command-f) works differently. Before, it would hide the menubar and all of the toolbars. Now all it hides is the menubar! To me, "full screen" means full screen. Sometimes I just want to hide of all that annoying clutter added in by all my extensions. Now I don't see a way to do this.

All Replies (11)

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I just tried that. I get Firefox taking the whole screen when I do that. The navigation toolbar and the tab bar autohide, so they appear when the cursor is moved to the top of the screen, but when it is moved down, they disappear again. I am using Snow Leopard, however, not Lion.

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Yeah, the older version did hide everything. However, I think Mozilla updated Firefox v14.0.1 for Mac OSX Lion to be more "Mac like" and to work like the full screen in other Mac apps by switching to a new space whenever in full screen mode. Unfortunately, it now fails to hide all the browser "furniture" when in full screen.

I like Chrome's implementation better. It has two modes: full screen with furniture or full screen without it (and you show and hide it by mousing to the top edge of the scree). I don't see such an option if Firefox.

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I have Lion 10.7.4 and the new Firefox 14.0.1 does fail to hide the tabs and address bar in full screen mode. This is unacceptable; I NEED true full screen mode for the graphics work I do. How do I undo this "upgrade" and go back to the previous version of Firefox?

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I agree, this is not what I was hoping for with full screen.

Three things I'd change: 1. Bring the tabs up to the top of the screen instead of preserving the real estate where the window control buttons were 2. Auto-hide everything with the menu bar by default. Have settings in about:config to allow for adjustments (e.g. leave the navigation bar always showing) 3. Start in full screen mode if in that mode on previous shut down. Currently, Firefox doesn't retain this in its save state

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See also:

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Oo0Bailey0oO

1. With Mac OS, Tabs on Top does not save any space in full screen or otherwise. It merely moves the tabs above the other bars, but they do not go on top of the title bar.

2. How do you auto-hide any toolbars on Mac OS?

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Hi,

I realize now that I did a "me too" post and didn't really offer you a solution. Sorry about that. To explain myself though:

For #1, if the tabs are set to be on top already, I mean the space in between there and the Mac menu bar. In the regular screen, it's there for window control buttons (maximize, minimize, close). In full-screen mode, there's nothing there and I'd like to see it removed.

For #2, I'm agreeing with you essentially. Hide all toolbars with the menu bar so you have an actual full screen like the legacy version (pre-14.0.1). Bring them back if you hit the top of the screen. Auto-hide again after a short delay.

So just to be clear, when I said "things I'd change" I meant "things I'd change if I had the power". I wasn't proposing a solution at that time. However, I am proposing a solution now.

More accurately, I'm endorsing cor-el's post to AliceWyman's post which references the bug on BugZilla that has a nightly build with a test version of auto-hide.

You can download the build and set "browser.fullscreen.autohide" to true in about:config. It's a little awkward in my opinion, but see what you think.

Regardless, you can create a Bugzilla account vote up the bug as well.

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I'm disheartened by this and hope it will be corrected soon. My concern is that it is not recognized as problem by the designers and is quite intentional. I just don't understand what seems to be huge public unawareness of the desirability of a fullscreen experience. The display is an aesthetic experience. It's art. Pages can be very beautiful. Even if they are not, why would anyone want the clutter of a toolbar always to be present as a distraction and reducing the effective size of the display? If the page is artful, say a well designed magazine page why would you want a toolbar across it? Designers seem fearful of the "I gone into full screen mode and can't get out!" complaint. For god's sake, public, hit the escape key! Don't design for us as if were are stupid.

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I'de like to have it this way: Hide all the «clutter» when in full screen mode, but then show more of it (bookmark shortcuts, tabs and menus) when moving the cursor to the top of the screen. It is also desirable to have the same full screen shortcut as most osx programs (ctrl-cmd-F, not shift-cmd-F), or to have the possibility of changing it at will.

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This isn't a solution, just a quick fix. I found that if I disengaged all toolbars (navigation toolbar, for instance, which is the only one I use at the top), and, through preferences, tab, uncheck 'always show the tab bar.' I get a cleaner screen. Whose ever idea it was to fiddle with the full screen, please, unfiddle and bring back a proper full screen.

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I feel silly. For the first time in years I changed my Firefox persona just now.

Regarding #1 above, the persona I had was adding extra space for the Mac window control buttons but the default Firefox theme gets rid of it. The default looks pretty good actually!

I thought I'd come back and clarify that in case someone else has the same issue.