> Firefox simply wanted it to be more obvious that the address bar is in focus the moment you open a new tab.
Is that it? Because I'm still trying to figure this out! I'm just really surprised that this was a problem for a substantial number of users—the address bar already had a very prominent focus state with its thick blue outline.
I'd even argue that indifference should be the goal when making design changes; make subtle changes over time instead of the complete overhauls that are common today.
If everyone is indifferent, why did you change anything?
Also, people quickly get used to suboptimal UI and all kinds of UI bugs. Fixing those bugs improves the experience for new users while acclimatized users will be indifferent or even hostile to the change. It's a classic dilemma for long-lived products.
Either I never noticed or that very prominent focus state was invisible in the theme I installed. So yes, it was definitely one of the most regular issues I had with Firefox and now it's fixed. Not in the most elegant way but it works for me.
Indifference among people already using Firefox is a good outcome if it is viewed favorably by people new to Firefox, which is who I would guess these kinds of changes are aimed at.
Let me know if I've got the issue wrong.
