Say hello to the new Favorite Sidebar feature in the Edge browser

MVP

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Microsoft Edge Version 87.0.654.0 (Official build) dev (64-bit)

(This could be a controlled feature rollout meaning only available to a subset of insiders)

 

this is the new view you get when you click on favorites button on Edge toolbar

 

 

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and once you click on that Pin icon, the sidebar will show up

 

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I love this mechanism and implementation, very neat and smart! thanks

also the favorites menu no longer closes when you open favorite sites in new tabs, something I know a lot of people asked for.

 

37 Replies

@HotCakeX This looks pretty neat. It's a CFR, since none of my machines have it as of now.

How is it my Dev version doesn't have any of the new feature by default? If you said about controlled feature rollout, yeah I know about that just kind of sad I didn't get these. 

@HotCakeX Yay, we're so glad that you're enjoying it! Stay tuned for more information on it, and in the meantime, feel free to provide feedback. :)

 

Fawkes (they/them)
Program Manager & Community Manager - Microsoft Edge

I'm excited too, it came unexpected for me ^^
but since It's something I use a lot daily, i'll be able to quickly notice any changes to it :)

@Deleted I have submitted feedback directly for two aspects of this feature that are different from what I would expect.

 

Before clicking the pin button, the favorites list is to the left of and below the favorites icon. Once the pin is clicked, it snaps to the side, in a completely different position in the window.. For me, it would be smoother if the favorites list always appeared in the same place, at the side, whether pinned or not. If that were the case, it would not be necessary to move to different places in the window to click the same favorite depending on whether the favorites list is pinned or not.

 

Before the pin was introduced, moving the mouse over a favorites folder would create a flyout of the favorites within the folder. In the new implementation it s necessary to click on the folder, or the triangle beside it, to have the favorites in the folder displayed. This requires an extra click to reach favorites within the folder, which could be eliminated if the flyout behavior were available.

 

With that said, it is good to have the capability to pin favorites to the side again.

@ms4132 

The view you get when you click on the favorites button vs when it's pinned is basically the same.

the favorites still appear on the left in both views.

the only difference with Pinned version (aka when it's sticking to the right side) is that the list is bigger. that's it. everything else is exactly the same. and it makes sense. Pinning just gives you a bigger view and list.

 

when I click on the favorites button on the toolbar, I don't expect nor do I want to get a big sidebar, instead I want to get a minimalistic sidebar view, what we are currently seeing when clicking on favorites button. but the Pin button is there for whoever wants to see a bigger list.

 

I hope this doesn't change, I'll send feedback if it's necessary.

even on Firefox which is the browser of sidebars, I prefer using the normal list instead. but this design on Edge is different and it's something in between.

 

But, there is a better approach which I'm sending feedback for as well.

When user clicks on the Pin icon, that state should be remembered, so that next time when you click on favorites button, you get the sidebar (since you clicked on the Pin icon previously), until you Unpin it again, which should also be remembered.

@HotCakeX The suggestion in your last paragraph would address my feedback on positioning. If someone wants to show and hid the favorites as a sidebar, remembering the pinned status would address this. An alternative could be a Setting for Favorites to show favorites as a sidebar.

@HotCakeX for some weird reason I still haven't got this feature, even though I'm on the latest canary build. Is there a flag or something specific to enable it?

@YgorCortes No just got it automatically

@HotCakeX 

Nice :smile: Thanks for the info!

@Anoniab 

only to some of the insiders.

from my experience, they can enable/disable Edge features remotely without the need for releasing new updates.

@HotCakeX I assume this works as a side pane that pushes the page to the left, like the Side Search and Collections pane. I really don't get why the Edge team is still going this route instead of making them as flyouts, like in the old Edge

Yeah it only happens when you pin it to the side to make it a sidebar, I also prefer the overlapping behavior instead of pushing pages aside

@HotCakeX In the current state this feature is strange. In the ... menu it effectively breaks quickly browsing your favorites in a submenu, which seems counterintuitive since History and Apps have quick menus there. There's the additional issue it's slow to appear, making quickly getting to a Favorite if you don't have the bar set as always visible a much longer process now. Reported it as a bug.

@lindhartsen 

I didn't understand the first part (maybe record a video?), but the second part about slow animation, I notice it too that should be faster

@HotCakeX If you go into the ... menu you can move your mouse down and quickly get a submenu for History (shown below) or Apps.

 

example_01.png

 

With the new Favorites system that menu is gone, requiring the panel to appear separately

@HotCakeX  I'm still not seeing the option for a sidebar - nor three dots at the top of the favorites bar. Is this something that's planned for the future - because it's not there now. Pretty sure I have the latest version.

@lindhartsen 

Oh okay I think i got it, so you think it's quick because you have to click on folders inside favorites list to open them (see their contents), whereas before you could just hover over them and see their contents.

 

I prefer this new method. don't see this as a problem to begin with. I see it as an improvement because it's more stable than before. I can hover my mouse cursor over favorites folder and pass by them with out worrying that I might accidentally open them. if i accidentally open them (like in previous implementation) i have to go all the way back and move my mouse in certain way to close it.

 

also this new method takes less space which is another improvement i love. everything opens in the same specified column, it's clean and neat, no more messy.