An option to disable the "mute tab" button
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samlachance last edited by
If I pull the handbrake on my car, I expect handbrake operations. I do not expect the window to open or close based on the state of the handbrake.Problem here is that I think we're thinking of two different situations. I'm thinking of ads playing at inopportune moments, I think you're thinking of media players (maybe pandora or spotify) playing in the background.
I'm going to alter your metaphor slightly, and say that the handbrake is the mute functionality (it fits better anyway). Your complaint is that if you're on the highway going 70mph, you don't want to accidentally hit the handbrake. Fair enough.
I'm saying that if I'm rolling down a hill towards a lake, I want everything from turn-indicators to windshield wiper controls to turn into a handbrake and flash red at me.
You're not wrong that it should probably be in settings, but simply getting rid of it by default as has been suggested is a badly engineered solution.
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devilears last edited by
Metaphor besides, I don't particularly care what the defaults are as long as I have an option to change it somewhere.
This is still a gripe in the Opera Developer previews, but it isn't an issue in the official Opera Releases.
The standard opera://flags option to disable the mute buttons works in the official releases. I hope it stays this way, then the defaults can stop the car from running into the lake, as it were.
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devilears last edited by
In version 41.0.2353.46, I can no longer disable the mute button.
It's really annoying to have a mute button, which controls media, on a tab, which is completely the wrong place for this setting in any event.
Please, just unbreak the opera://flags where I could disable the mute button before.
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devilears last edited by
Hello,
it is really hard to grab a tab with the mute symbol, when sound is being played. I'd rather have it removed and get a hotkey for muting, as it also is very painful if loud music suddenly is turned off.
Thanks,
KimYou're right, Kim. I hate this mute button and I just want to remove this gremlin. Featuritis is really bothersome and it it is beginning to ruin the Opera experience.
Even worse, underlying engine settings are now masked and there is no alternative to configure them now. Poor design decision, in my view. If Opera is going the Chrome and Firefox route whereby options are shoved down our throats then Opera has lost its edge for me.
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devilears last edited by
Regardless, I did log a bug for this and hopefully Opera will give it attention.
Problem area: Problem viewing or interacting with website
URL: opera://flagSummary: Cannot disable mute button on tabs in Opera Developer 41.0.2323.0
Description:
The Chrome engine has flags which allow one to disable the annoying mute button that appears on browser tabs. The field in question is #enable-tab-audio-muting and it appears on the chrome://flags page.Opera masks this flag and it is not possible to adjust this setting on opera:// flags.
This was available in the stable Opera editions. It may be that the chrome engine has been masked or some features have been disabled in the Developer editions for some good reason, but I feel that the standard chrome engine flags should not be masked by Opera. Extend them, sure, but don't modify them or override them or completely remove them.
Steps to reproduce:
- Open opera://flags
- Search for 'mute'.
- There is no Tab audio muting UI control flag, only zuul.
Actual result:
The annoying mute button still appears on tabs.Expected result:
The mute button should not appear on tabs. Please unbreak or unmask this chrome engine feature so users can have more control over their browser.The bug thread is here:
DNAWIZ-5650
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devilears last edited by
One thought might be to move it to a right click context menu. make "mute tab" the first item on the list if there's sound coming from the tab.
This is actually there, so all that is arguably needed is an indication of which tab is making the noise.
But there's no more ways to get rid of the mute button that sits on the tab.
It still works in Chrome, thankfully.
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leocg Moderator Volunteer last edited by
Breaking functionality is a bug.
Mute tabs work as it should. The fact that Chrome, a different browser, has a different flag doesn't mean that Opera or any other browser that does not offer the same experiment are breaking any functionality.
Flags are not settings. Flags are experiments that developers can turn on and off at any time.
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devilears last edited by
Breaking functionality is a bug.
Mute tabs work as it should. The fact that Chrome, a different browser, has a different flag doesn't mean that Opera or any other browser that does not offer the same experiment are breaking any functionality.
Flags are not settings. Flags are experiments that developers can turn on and off at any time.You can't disable the mute button. You could do this before. I would like to still be able to disable this annoying mute button, especially since the right click context menu makes it redundant.
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leocg Moderator Volunteer last edited by
You can't disable the mute button. You could do this before.
Nope, it was never possible. What you could do was disable the experiment itself. As there is no experiment anymore...
I would like to still be able to disable this annoying mute button, especially since the right click context menu makes it redundant
So you should post here or on the blog explain why there should be such option, if possible with a good user case to support your request.
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devilears last edited by
OK in addition to logging a bug with the user case, I am posting it here. I am explaining why there should be such an option. What more can I do to give a convincing user case? Do you need to see the look on my face when this annoying mute button surfaces, or when I can no longer disable this retarded experiment?
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devilears last edited by
Note that I am not requesting the complete removal of this annoying mute button that somehow made it onto a browser tab, of all places. I am merely echoing the request made by other users for user choice in the matter. I do understand that some people may very well want to click on their tabs in order to mute media that is running on the page, despite there not being a rational use case for such a scenario. The idea behind configuration settings is a win-win scenario.
As an user, I merely want to be able to disable this annoyance, and any other feature that some developer thought was a great idea but that annoys the living crap out of me. Your other others feel the same, considering I did not start this thread and it was an annoyance long before it annoyed me, and that some users do want to use it. A configuration setting makes it possible for both of us to use Opera and enjoy it.
I am not interested in getting semantic about what constitutes a bug or not, I merely want to enjoy the same functionality that Opera had previously offered me and which is no longer working. What is more is it won't take anything away from those who want a mute tab button.
All features should enjoy the same standard: Use them if you want, disable them if you do not want to use them. In my view, a feature should not leave the experimental stage under any circumstances, until the user configuration options for such a feature are completed too. Which includes the option of disabling it entirely. Just like you can disable ad blocking, battery saver and the proxy entirely if you do not wish to use them.
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leocg Moderator Volunteer last edited by
OK in addition to logging a bug with the user case, I am posting it here
You should not use the bug report system for requests.
I am explaining why there should be such an option.
Sorry but you didn't say anything valid so far. Saying that such option should be implemented just because other browser has it is not a valid argument.
Also is invalid saying that the button should not be there just because the option appears somewhere else. Redundancy is common in softwares.
What more can I do to give a convincing user case?
Providing a valid one may help.
Do you need to see the look on my face when this annoying mute button surfaces, or when I can no longer disable this retarded experiment?
Nope, personal opinion or preferences don't matter for them to decide if something will be implemented or not. you need to show why implementing what you want may be useful and good for the users and not just for you.
Use them if you want, disable them if you do not want to use them
Or just don't use them.
In my view, a feature should not leave the experimental stage under any circumstances, until the user configuration options for such a feature are completed too
This would be an utopia. Not only in browsers or softwares there will be features that you will not be allowed to disable.
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devilears last edited by
I would love the option of not using this annoying mute button, but I do not have such a choice. You see, the button is on top of the tab, and as the person who started this thread told you already, if you click on a tab to switch, then you mute that tab.
This is contradictory to user expection, and it is in fact a bug.
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devilears last edited by
Make that user expectation.
Perhaps if you answer my questions, then I can provide you with a reason that you can understand.
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devilears last edited by
Nope, personal opinion or preferences don't matter for them to decide if something will be implemented or not. you need to show why implementing what you want may be useful and good for the users and not just for you.
Yep, personl opinion or preferences do matter to decide if something will be implemented or not otherwise this silly mute button would never have seen the light of day. This looks like a vanity project some lone ranger developer did while drunk.
Personal preferences always matter. That's why you have this thing called Options.
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devilears last edited by
Sorry but you didn't say anything valid so far. Saying that such option should be implemented just because >other browser has it is not a valid argument.
As mentioned, if you read my comments, Opera had the option to disable this annoying mute button on the tab.
Not other browsers, Opera. I even gave you the version numbers.
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devilears last edited by
Description:
I click on a tab to switch to that tab. Meanwhile, that tab has media playing and the media is now muted. One click does two things because of a mute button appearing on the tab.My objective is to switch tabs, or do other tab-related operations. Contrary to user expectation, media that is contained on the page is now muted.
Steps to reproduce:
- A broswer has various tabs open, of which one is playing media.
- Click on the tab that is playing media.
- Hear the media mute.
Atual result:
The tab switches as expected, but contrary to user expectation, the media is also muted. A mute button appears out of nowhere when the mouse hovers on the tab, and users can't help but click on this mute button.There is no way to disable the mute button that is on the tabs. There used to be one in Opera. There is no longer such an option, so you cannot choose not to use this annoying mute button.
Expected result:
A setting under Options to disable the mute button that appears on tabs.Heuristic evaluation:
All media related settings should ideally be grouped together in the same logical place, while all tab related settings should ideally be grouped together in a similar logical place too. This is why it is sloppy user interface design to put a media-related control like a mute button on a tab. The logical place for a mute button would be with other media related buttons (pause, play, skip, volume - hey, actually not the kind of thing a browser should be doing in the first place), while tab-related settings are expected to appear on the tab.This is why it's a good idea to put an X on the tab, for closing the tab. This is a tab-related setting. Or putting a new tab button on the side of the tabs where the new tab is expeted to appear. Also a tab-related setting. Or putting a pin tab option in the right click context menu, but there's no sane reason why a mute button, which is not even a tab related setting, should enjoy preference over any tab-related option on a tab.
Furthermore, Nielsen's heuristics offer the suggestion that user control and freedom are paramount. It's perhaps a good idea to read over Nielsen's heuristics before putting something unexpected like a mute button on a tab, and then making it do surprising things when in reality all that could be argued for is a system status notification there. For example, showing which tab is making the noise is a good idea. Making it suddenly change into a button when the mouse hovers over it and then mixing in media controls with tab controls breaks so many common sense user interface guidelines that the person who implemented this feature creep was clearly acting on a limb.
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