Restore pinned private tabs

[tgtn]

I have just noticed that pinned private tabs are not restored when relaunching the browser.

All my other normal pinned and unpinned tabs, and also unpinned private tabs are correctly restored. If possible I'd also want the private pinned tabs to be restored after the browser is closed and relaunched.

[adamp01]

@tgtn - Thanks for the suggestion, I'll add it to the list and assess how tricky this will actually be.

[tgtn]

@adamp01, I've just stumbled upon a more complex negative(?!) behavior when it comes to private tabs, something for you guys to look into/discuss: it seems to me that also private tabs that have been loaded (or not?!) are no longer restored after a browser restart (and I think this only happened after the last update). HOWEVER, this might be a desired behavior, from privacy's perspective, since private browsing (tabs and windows) means destroying the history when the browser is closed. Let's say that it's ok for private windows/regular tabs to no longer be restored after browser restart, HOWEVER, I think pinned private tabs should be restored since the user has explicitly intended this, the moment he's chosen to pin the tab - in this case, load the tab with the last visited URL but disregard its history. What do you guys think?!

[adamp01]

@tgtn - Private tabs no longer being restored is the expected behaviour after the most recent update, as by definition we should not be storing any data related to a private tab. This was done as part of the work to make private tab more closely resemble behaviour of a private window.

I appreciate what you are saying around restoring a pinned private tab, although at that point it is now a semi-private tab as we are storing some data. I think it should be fairly trivial to implement in the following way:

• Add a preference to enable restoring pinned private tabs.
• Update the TabStateCache to declare the tab private onTabClose, rather than onTabSelect (this should probably be done regardless). Need to verify that this maintains current behaviour of not storing any private tab data on window/browser close.
• If the restorePinnedPrivateTabs pref is true, only update the TabStateCache to declare the tab private if the tab is not pinned or it is closed via a user action.

I will most likely implement this in the coming weeks, as I do prefer to give users the option to have as much control as possible, but it is currently a way down the priority list.

[tgtn]

@adamp01 - it totally makes sense what you are saying about the private tabs being treated like private windows and thus losing their "persistence rights" :)

You're spot on when you say that (should they be restored after browser restart) pinned private tabs actually become semi-private containers since some data (i.e.: the last visited URL) is being stored - but it's a user's choice and, as long as the user is aware of what data is being persisted, that should be fine (from the user's perspective). This, however, adds complexity to the list of "options" (and probably also to the code base): regular tab/window, private tab/window. semi-private tab-window, etc., but maybe it's something worth exploring from the product marketing perspective: if a pinned private tab becomes semi-private, should there be a clear option when opening a tab?! File -> New ->

1. Tab
2. Private Tab
3. Semi-Private Tab (history, cookies, etc. destroyed, restored at last URL)
4. Window
5. Private Window
6. Semi-Private Window (history, cookies, etc. destroyed, restored at last URL)

Bonus: pinned private tabs automatically become semi-private tabs (in terms of category).

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Adding a preference to enable restoring pinned private tabs is perhaps the simplest and most elegant solution.

Thank you for all your hard work and all your availability and dedication! I truly appreciate what you do, and the fact that you're making a difference!

PS: I've just noticed (and I was amazed) a few days ago the fact that I can open a new tab, and then, from the context menu that opens when right clicking the tab's name, I can choose Private Tab and I can also transform an opened regular tab into a private tab. This is FANTASTIC! If it's a new feature: IT'S AWESOME!!!!! If it's an old feature: I'm glad I came upon it, even if later, becasue IT'S AWESOME!