Mozilla Firefox developers are working to add rounded bottom corners to Linux builds.
Native support for curvy corners would nix the need to use a third-party GNOME extension to force rounded corners in the esteemed web browser.
Applying radii to all four corners of the Firefox window would help make the browser look more ‘at home’ when run in floating windowed on Ubuntu (and on other Linux distros that use GNOME) as many modern GTK apps use them.
Here’s what Firefox (stable) looks in Ubuntu 23.10, with its normal sharp corners:
And here’s how the same corners look in Firefox (nightly) on Ubuntu 23.10:
Subtle change, granted. But stare at the bottom corners of the browser and you’ll notice that the pointy bottom corners oare not present in the Firefox Nightly screenshot. This helps the browser look in keeping with the Nautilus file manager, adjacent.
Mozilla’s Emilio Cobos Álvarez explains more about the effort on the code-hub tracking the change:
“The implementation is uglier than it needs to be. We basically need to override the GTK styles for the window decorations with the desired radius.”
”This is because of […] Adwaita on gtk3 doesn’t provide a bottom corner radius [and] even if it did we couldn’t reasonably query it. Using the titlebar radius makes sense here,” they add.
You can “see” the curvaceous lower corners in action in the latest Firefox nightly builds for Linux.
Assuming the changes made to support them don’t introduce errant issues we should expect to see bottom rounded corners reach developer, beta, and eventually stable builds in due course.
Of course, an app (however esteemed) rounding its window borders isn’t a life-altering change in the grand scheme. But not everything needs to be; their introduction plugs a minor visual gap some will have noticed when using it alongside other modern GTK apps on Linux.
Thus, this change enhances consistency – and more consistency equals more polish and makes for a better overall impression. Resolving minor niggles/papercuts (especially if doing so is somewhat trivial/low hanging fruit) is very much worth it.
Also: it just looks so good.
Thanks Dominic (spotted on Mastodon)