Idea on Pinned Tabs Functionality

[Mhissa84]

I really appreciate the innovative features in Zen Browser, especially the ability to pin tabs on the sidebar. It's a great way to keep important pages accessible, similar to bookmarks in traditional browsers.

However, I’ve noticed a usability issue. When hovering over an unopened pinned tab, there's an (X) button that instantly unpins and closes the tab. This makes it easy to accidentally remove a pinned tab unintentionally, potentially losing important pages.

Since pinning a tab is an intentional action, unpinning should ideally require the same level of intention — for example, through a right-click menu or a dedicated "Unpin" option. This would reduce the risk of accidental unpinning.

Interestingly, Arc Browser has a similar feature with the same issue. I can’t count the number of times I accidentally clicked the (X), lost the pinned tab, and had to go to the archive to find it. It was really frustrating. Improving this would make Zen stand out with a more thoughtful user experience.

[vraravam]

i agree that its a usability issue. I have to also be very careful when using the mouse and clicking on the pinned tab.

But, there's a workaround in case you accidentally close such a tab: you can use the following key combination to unclose/reopen the tab within a few seconds: Cmd+Shift+T (on mac). I suspect there's an equivalent combination for win/linux as well.

[0Ky]

Reopening a closed pinned tab using Cmd+Shift+T (on mac) or Ctrl+Shift+T (on Linux/Windows) keyboard shortcut does not actually bring back the closed pinned tab, instead it will pin a blank page (about:blank). I've already reported this issue and it's tracked here: #7006.

A temporary workaround would involve using Zen Mods, a simple CSS to hide the unload and close buttons from pinned tabs, but accidental closure or unloading will still occur from pressing Ctrl + W.

[0Ky]

Based on Mozilla Firefox's behavior with pinned tabs (which do not have a close button to prevent accidental closure), I suggest the following changes for Zen Browser to enhance user experience and prevent the unintended unloading or closure of pinned and essential tabs:

1. Pinned and essential tabs should open automatically when the browser starts.
2. The unload button on hover for pinned tabs should be removed.
3. The close tab button on hover for pinned tabs should be removed.
4. Shortcuts like Ctrl + W should not unload pinned and essential tabs.

These changes align with the same behavior in Mozilla Firefox and would help ensure pinned and essential tabs remain protected from accidental actions which fixes the usability issue.