Firefox 3.5 beta 99 – Get Multitouch Gestures Back!
I just updated to the newest beta of Firefox 3.5 and it’s apparently beta 99. This is pretty funny because the previous one was 4. I think it’s just an indicator that they’re pretty close to a release candidate.
One thing I really like about Firefox (at least these beta versions) is that they support multitouch gestures on my Macbook Pro. Pinching zooms out, un-pinching (spreading?) zooms in, three finger swipe up goes to the top of the page and three finger swipe down goes to the bottom. This is really cool.
One of the weirder ones is that twisting with two fingers lets you go back and forth between tabs. I thought it was wacky at first but now I think it’s very useful. For some reason, the default value for this gesture is disabled in the newest version (beta 99). It’s also disabled in Shiretoko, the nightly build. I tried looking in the preferences to control this but they weren’t in there. Then I remembered about:config.
To get the twist thing back, type “about:config” into the address bar. Then find the settings that say “browser.gesture.twist” The setting for “browser.gesture.twist.left” should be “Browser:PrevTab” and the one for .right should be “Browser:NextTab” like so:
Voila! Your twisty tab changing gestures will be back!
Comments
Leave a Comment
Comments are moderated and won't appear immediately after submission.
Thanks for posting this, I was upset when I thought they had gotten rid of the twist gesture.
Thanks for that, I was unhappy with the removal of the twist as well. That was a great post.
No problem guys! I was pretty upset so I figured there were others as well.
thanks so much, I was wondering where my twist went. The multitouch gestures also work on multitouch displays like tje hp tx2 and the dell xt2, by the by. It’s really useful for tablet browsing!
Thank you as well! I was upset!
Ace, cheers
Thanks a million! I just downloaded the latest beta onto my new mac, and i was wondering my the twist wasn’t working, but now it is thanks to you!
Thank you so much! I missed it about a week and now I`m happy having found the answer!
Thanks! I just came across this tip. For anyone wondering, this does work with the full release of 3.5, too, not just the beta. Also, an additional tip: after opening about:config, just type “gesture” in the filter box at the top to see all of the relevant settings. I set swipe down to browser.gesture.swipe.down to Browser:NextTab and browser.gesture.swipe.up to Browser:PrevTab, since I found the default (scrolling to the top and bottom of a page) pretty useless. Then I set browser.gesture.twist.left to cmd_close (to close a tab) and I added a new setting browser.gesture.twist.left.shift (twist left while holding shift) which I set to History:UndoCloseTab (to bring back the previously closed tab if I do it by mistake). Then I set browser.gesture.twist.right to cmd_newNavigatorTab (open a new tab by twisting right). Finally, I set browser.gesture.twist.latched to True to prevent the twist gestures from happening continuously. I love it. With simple mouse gestures I can go back and forward, zoom, scroll, switch tabs, close tabs, and open new tabs — basically everything I do in a browser on a regular basis.