Forum Discussion
Top feedback summary for October 1
Well here's a new piece of feedback for you I haven't made or seen before. I've belatedly realised there is an issue that means I won't ever be using Edge as my desktop browser .... and it's not anything to do with anything you desktop Chromium Edge developers are doing or not doing. It's what your colleagues developing Android Edge have done.
There are, of course, compelling reasons to use the same 'brand' browser on both laptop and phone: the syncing of favorites, passwords, history, open tabs, throwing pages from the one to the other etc. I'd go as far as saying using the same browser on phone and desktop/laptop is a necessity nowadays, certainly for me. But that means anything blocking a user from using the Android version of a browser also blocks them from using the desktop version (and vice versa).
Your Android Edge colleagues, unfortunately, have made a design choice to have a bar of controls at the bottom of the screen. I HATE controls at the bottom of the screen. I simply won't use Apps that have bottom controls; I'll always choose a competitor app that doesn't instead. So, short of the Microsoft Android Edge team completely changing direction and losing the bottom controls, or adding an option to move those controls to the top - and I see no sign they are considering either - I will never even think of using Android Edge on my phone. And THAT means I won't ever use desktop Edge either (unless you make Chromium Edge able to sync favorites, passwords, history, open tabs et al with Android Firefox or Google Chrome, which seems unlikely).
Wish I'd looked at Android Edge more closely sooner, and so not wasted time on desktop Chromium Edge. Anyway, at least for this potential desktop Chromium Edge user, your efforts have been completely sabotaged by the Android Edge team.
DavidGB wrote:
Well here's a new piece of feedback for you I haven't made or seen before. I've belatedly realised there is an issue that means I won't ever be using Edge as my desktop browser .... and it's not anything to do with anything you desktop Chromium Edge developers are doing or not doing. It's what your colleagues developing Android Edge have done.
There are, of course, compelling reasons to use the same 'brand' browser on both laptop and phone: the syncing of favorites, passwords, history, open tabs, throwing pages from the one to the other etc. I'd go as far as saying using the same browser on phone and desktop/laptop is a necessity nowadays, certainly for me. But that means anything blocking a user from using the Android version of a browser also blocks them from using the desktop version (and vice versa).
Your Android Edge colleagues, unfortunately, have made a design choice to have a bar of controls at the bottom of the screen. I HATE controls at the bottom of the screen. I simply won't use Apps that have bottom controls; I'll always choose a competitor app that doesn't instead. So, short of the Microsoft Android Edge team completely changing direction and losing the bottom controls, or adding an option to move those controls to the top - and I see no sign they are considering either - I will never even think of using Android Edge on my phone. And THAT means I won't ever use desktop Edge either (unless you make Chromium Edge able to sync favorites, passwords, history, open tabs et al with Android Firefox or Google Chrome, which seems unlikely).
Wish I'd looked at Android Edge more closely sooner, and so not wasted time on desktop Chromium Edge. Anyway, at least for this potential desktop Chromium Edge user, your efforts have been completely sabotaged by the Android Edge team.
You didn't have to waste your time (as you said) if you had looked at this article first:
https://microsoftedgesupport.microsoft.com/hc/en-us/articles/360022536833-Enabling-sync-on-Android
it shows all the possibilities and limitations of the new Edge insider and Android version.
Nothing is blocking anyone from using sync between Edge desktop and Android version.
currently sync between Classic Edge and Android Edge are working at full capacity.
once the desktop version of the new Edge insider gets the full sync, the Android version will get that too. no problem on that area, things are moving forward normally.
once that is done too, there is no need to use other companies like Google or Firefox to hand over users data to them.
Well either I didn't write clearly, or you just skimmed and didn't read properly.
I made no complaint about the syncing between Android Edge and either EdgeHTML or Chromium Edge. With Chromium Edge a lot of the syncing is there and I assume the rest will appear in due course.
My issue is that these days one needs to use the same browser on both phone and laptop/desktop for the syncing, so Android Firefox and desktop Firefox, or Android Google Chrome and desktop Google Chrome, or Android Edge and (when all syncing is working) desktop Chromium Edge. Which means that it is not enough for the desktop or phone version to be good; they BOTH have to be good.
In my case, Android Edge has a design feature that makes it completely unacceptable to me - bottom controls. I will not use an app with bottom controls. Period. So I will not use Android Edge.
And because of the need for syncing between phone and desktop browser, that means I won't be using desktop Edge, even when all the syncing is working, even if they fix everything else I want in desktop Chromium Edge (like middle-clicking on favorites leaving the menu open). Phone Edge is unacceptable to me because of the bottom controls, so it won't be on my phone for desktop Edge to sync with. It's not a problem with the syncing; it's a fundamental problem I have with Android Edge design means I won't use it, so whether it syncs or not is neither here nor there.
So unless desktop Chromium Edge gains the ability to sync with a browser I will use on my phone, currently Android Firefox or Android Chrome, then desktop Chromium Edge is out of contention as my desktop browser ... and it seems highly unlikely that desktop Chromium Edge will ever sync with Firefox or Google Chrome.
Actually I'm now worrying about Firefox. Currently my default browser on Phone and laptop is Firefox, which is currently fine. But the Android Firefox 'Preview', which is supposedly a development version of the next evolution of the Android Firefox browser, has also adopted bottom controls. Which I will not use. So if the Android Firefox does eventually change to that, I will no longer use it, which will also then mean - for syncing sake - I'll have to give up desktop Firefox too.
But anyway, I wasn't posting here requesting anything, or to engage in debate with other users. I was posting just because if I was on the desktop Chromium Edge team I'd like to know reasons why people didn't use the browser I was creating, or gave up testing it. So I posted to tell them I won't be using desktop Chromium Edge any more or testing it any more, not because of anything it has or hasn't, does or doesn't do; but simply because Android Edge is of a design (bottom controls) I won't use, and browser syncing between phone and desktop/laptop is so important that anything putting someone like me off the phone version means they then automatically drop the desktop version too. So, unless the desktop Chromium Edge dev team go round to the Android Edge team and make them include an option to move the bottom controls to the top, there's actually nothing the desktop Chromium Edge guys can do to get me to use desktop Edge. They can make desktop Edge perfect, and add functions so it'll put out the trash and make and bring me coffee, I still won't use it unless Android Edge loses (or gets an option to lose) the bottom controls.
So, the desktop Edge dev team probably know this, but just in case they haven't thought about it I'm letting them know that some people (like me) will end up not using the desktop browser simply because there is something that those people really don't like abut the design of the Android Edge browser, however good they think the desktop browser is.
Some users like I usually favour bottom bar, to me it's a necessity. But you are right users should have the choice.
Edge mobile android is a sh*t browser, most sites just brake in it, especially multimedia sites. Google Chrome mobile rocks. So Developers have two options either develop edge chromium mobile simultaneously or enable sync between Chrome mobile and Desktop edge chromium ( somehow, Either enabling Google sign in or using optional extension etc, or adding separate android app to sync between Chrome Mobile and desktop Edgium. ) Hold on! don't give up yet! Google sign in is under review area. There's still a chance that they will decide in your favour. Majority of users would have no appeal to this browser if they can't directly sync between mobile and PC. So workarounds like importing from Chrome desktop is too much hassle, Like you said these days users won't just bother they will continue to use mobile and desktop Chrome. World has long become a desktop minority, Apple is losing mobile revenue, Google is only growing actually ever since inception. Don't let this be another MS failure just because you (developers) can't get sync to work.
Best wishes!
- Spoiler
WindowsUser wrote:Some users like I usually favour bottom bar, to me it's a necessity. But you are right users should have the choice.
Edge mobile android is a sh*t browser, most sites just brake in it, especially multimedia sites. Google Chrome mobile rocks. So Developers have two options either develop edge chromium mobile simultaneously or enable sync between Chrome mobile and Desktop edge chromium ( somehow, Either enabling Google sign in or using optional extension etc, or adding separate android app to sync between Chrome Mobile and desktop Edgium. ) Hold on! don't give up yet! Google sign in is under review area. There's still a chance that they will decide in your favour. Majority of users would have no appeal to this browser if they can't directly sync between mobile and PC. So workarounds like importing from Chrome desktop is too much hassle, Like you said these days users won't just bother they will continue to use mobile and desktop Chrome. World has long become a desktop minority, Apple is losing mobile revenue, Google is only growing actually ever since inception. Don't let this be another MS failure just because you (developers) can't get sync to work.
Best wishes!
the full sync capacity works right now between Android Edge and classic Edge.
once they enable full sync for the Edge insider browser, the full sync will be available between the new Edge browser and Android Edge as well.
so it's not about "they can't" but about "they are working on it"Though I agree with you that the Android Edge's engine needs to be eventually swapped with a better one such as Chromium's.
- The bottom based controls of Edge on Android is exactly why I ditched Chrome without a second thought. I have personally never agreed with design concept of placing browser tab/window controls at the top of the phone. I'm glad to be rid of the uncomfortable stretch and the in-hand phone shuffle. I do appreciate your opinion though, thats actually a fantastic point to consider. If a user doesn't like the mobile browser, it will likely directly impact their choice on Desktop/Laptop computing.
DavidGB If you are worried about the bottom bar, download the Bing browser. It's a simplified browser that supports voice input, text input, and image (both images and qr codes)input. It doesn't have favorites, but if the most important thing to you not having a bottom bar, this is your best option in the case Firefox stops. I will also try to get in contact with the Android edge developers and see if this can be accommodated.
