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Feature #299

closed

Remove favicon from URL bar

Added by Anonymous over 5 years ago. Updated 3 months ago.

Status:
Closed
Priority:
3.x
Start date:
Due date:
% Done:

0%

Estimated time:
1:00 h

Description

Both Firefox and Chrome have removed favicons from the URL bar to prevent malicious sites from setting a padlock, tricking the user into thinking the site is an HTTPS site.

An added bonus would be reclaiming some of the cramped space in that top bar.

Reference:

https://msujaws.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/an-update-to-site-identity-in-desktop-firefox/

Actions #1

Updated by Soren Stoutner over 5 years ago

  • Assignee set to Soren Stoutner
  • Priority changed from 2 to 3.x

1. Privacy Browser does not use a lock to indicate HTTPS connections, so this concern does not apply.

2. Reclaiming precious space in the UI is a valid consideration. However, the favicon does not just display the icon, but tapping on it also displays the SSL certificate information. If it were removed from the interface, that functionality would have to be moved somewhere else, probably somewhere in the options menu.

My general impression is that I am not included to make any changes in this regard right now for the following reasons:

a. I like the way it looks to have the favorite icon displayed. It is something I miss from some other browsers.

b. If I did implement a change, it would be an optional display option, so the user could decide if they wanted the favicon to be displayed to the left of the URL bar or if they wanted it to be hidden and an option menu item used to access the SSL certificate information. This is doable, but having multiple interfaces is more complex than might be readily apparent, and increases the time in the future that must be spent on regression testing to make sure that some aspect of this multi-interface design doesn't break when some other seemingly unrelated feature is added.

As such, I am unlikely make this change unless there are a large number of users who are in favor of having it. I will leave this feature request open. If you would like to see this happen, please add a comment below. If there are enough comments from enough people I will revisit the idea.

Actions #2

Updated by Soren Stoutner over 5 years ago

It is quite possible that with the addition of tabbed browsing in the 3.x series, the favicon might move to the tabbed interface, which would resolve the issue with space in the URL bar. https://redmine.stoutner.com/issues/22 After tabbed browsing is implemented I will revisit this issue if anything additional needs to be done.

Actions #3

Updated by Soren Stoutner almost 5 years ago

  • Status changed from New to Closed

Tabbed browsing did indeed move the favorite icon to the tab interface, so it is now no longer on the URL bar.

Actions #4

Updated by ask low 3 months ago

Removing favicon from URL bar or tabs ? I'm confused by this ticket description.
As far as I read from the previous comments and blogs of soren, removing the favicon from tab visibility does not prevent sites from grabbing it in the first place. Am I right ?

PS

Btw I always thought that disabling Images shouldn't render favicons because they're images too. But they still do.

Actions #5

Updated by Soren Stoutner 3 months ago

Some browsers do not display the protocol part of the URL (HTTP or HTTPS), but only display a lock icon if the URL is encrypted. On some of these browsers, this lock icon was displayed next to the favorite icon. Some malicious websites that were not encrypted started using an identical lock icon as their favorite icon in an effort to confuse users.

As explained above, none of this affects Privacy Browser, so this feature request was closed without action.

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