Firefox Containers Preview

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• Hacker News
• I am in too many MS365 orgs. Firefox containers are the best solution to manage this, but, I simply have too many issues with Teams (especially with Teams org switching, sometimes needed when someone invites your org account into another) and I find myself back in Chrome and Edge, deleting config folders etc (all in Linux). It’s not fair!!!
  by teekert
• Multi-Account Containers paired with Container Proxy allows for some really cool setups. I especially like the options to use socks proxies. Hope they will add proper proxy support later.
  by svl7
• I should not have to:

  - Install add-ons like "Temporary Containers"

  - And if some people do they should certainly not have to deal with a bloated container list with temp container names

  - Just let me select how I want this "containers" feature - like "open all links in unique temp containers" (unless I select otherwise or set otherwise for certain websites, then go to that container), maybe let me select a sub rule like "based on domain" or "subdomains" (group tabs/windows)

  - I should not have to go and toggle "Limit to designated sites" in every bloody container I have created and I have created (had to create!) way too many already.

  There are apparently other container add-ons like Temporary Containers (and a Plus ones as well) and Auto Containers but I really should not have to do all that.

  MAC is a great add-on and far head of any browser out there in this regard but the feature has been sort of "contained" for far too long and not been made flexible/usable enough.

  by crossroadsguy
• This is great, and the direction Firefox should focus on: creating user-first features that other browsers won't and extension authors can't.

  I only wish it was more automated. Every site should automatically get its own container.

  How much of the anti-tracking value is defeated by non-cookie browser fingerprinting?

  by xnx
• I use profiles for this, I wonder what the tradeoffs are between the two approaches. I've actually been thinking about building some tools to make it easier to create and manage profiles on the fly. For me I really think profiles are better since the boundaries are harder - there's no worry about accidentally hitting the "log in with Google" button and clearly identifying myself to a site or similar, because I read the news in a separate profile from my Google account. And it would be nice if those sort of guardrails were very intuitive and easy to set up by default. But I feel like containers may be too squishy.
  by lukeschlather
• Good that they are integrating that into the main browser.

  For me the big use case is having different Google accounts active in one window. Work and private. And when I was doing freelance projects, I sometimes had 3 or 4 different Google accounts active. Plus assorted stuff tied to those accounts. Using different colors for each makes it easy to tell apart the tabs.

  Another use case is if you are testing the same app for different customers with different credentials. I do this a lot and I have dedicated containers for each customer so I can easily switch with out having to log out and in a lot.

  And of course some companies that can't be trusted with cookies, like Facebook, get isolated. I open that container less and less these days. But I still check every few months. I also keep my bank's website in its own container just on principle.

  by jillesvangurp
• Firefox's Multi-Account Containers changed the game for me back in 2018 or 2019, and is what got me to switch back to Firefox for 95% of my personal browser use. The "Always open {{domain}} in this container" and the ability to open a specific container with a keyboard shortcut seem like small things, but I can't imagine life without them anymore.

  I never understood why it was set off to the side in an (official, first-party) extension, because I was always afraid they would one day stop supporting it. Now when I explain to people why I prefer Firefox, I don't have to explain "There's this extension, don't worry it's official, that allows me to..." I can just say "It has containers built-in. They're great. Try them."

  by chao-
• I’ve been using Firefox Containers for years through Mozilla’s Multi-Account Containers extension.[1] Now that container management is available directly in Firefox, I’d prefer to use the native implementation if possible.

  Mozilla notes that the extension still adds some functionality:

  > “Installing the Multi-Account Containers extension developed by Mozilla provides a few benefits on top of the native container functionality like site-specific container assignments, syncing across devices, and integration with Mozilla VPN or your own proxy.”[2]

  I don’t currently need any of those additional features, so the native version would probably be enough for me. What I haven’t been able to figure out is how to switch without losing my existing setup. Are the containers created by the extension already shared with Firefox’s native container manager, or is there some migration process? Can I safely uninstall the extension and keep my existing containers, names, colors, icons, cookies, and active sessions?

  [1] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account...

  [2] https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-use-firefox-contain...

  by pentagrama