[Feature request] In browser printing

[ryno1337]

Why/User Benefit/User Problem

so user can print from mobile browser, there is no print option in browser

What/Requirements

add print option to browser menu

Acceptance Criteria (how do I know when I’m done?)

┆Issue is synchronized with this Jira Task

[Gabriel85]

Any progress on that?
It a very important feature for people without a PC (like my 85 year old grandma). Plus all the big boys (like Chrome and Samsung Browser and even Fennec) support it! I'm sure it is a dealbreaker for many people..

[mohibo]

any progress?

[zilexa]

I am a Firefox user since v0.6, I also use it on Android and run my own Firefox Sync server.
I understand and I am grateful a new Android version had to be build from the ground up.

But a year since I switched to the new Firefox for Android and still impossible to print!

MOZILLA, are you aware how many people shop online? Probably all your users. And they return lots of stuff. You need to be able to print.

The fact this still isn't possible makes me want to break with Firefox and Mozilla completely. It's incredible.

[plwt]

User feedback: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1369904

[RokeJulianLockhart]

Would implementation of this provide the webpage to the OS to print with external software?

[aaronwi]

2 years later and still no printing? this is why everyone is abandoning firefox, it's garbage

[benyaminl]

@aaronwi meanwhile, use SingleHTML save and use nightly... it really powerful for now at least..

[Erudition]

Wow

[aaronwi]

@aaronwi meanwhile, use SingleHTML save and use nightly... it really powerful for now at least..

a nightly alpha build is not suitable for daily use.

[plwt]

User feedback: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1380196

[benyaminl]

@aaronwi meanwhile, use SingleHTML save and use nightly... it really powerful for now at least..

a nightly alpha build is not suitable for daily use.

In theory, but the nightly on android is much more stable then the stable branch. I already use it for 2 years, never look back to stable.

[headbank]

@aaronwi meanwhile, use SingleHTML save and use nightly... it really powerful for now at least..

What is SingleHTML? Would help if you explained this.

[benyaminl]

@aaronwi meanwhile, use SingleHTML save and use nightly... it really powerful for now at least..

What is SingleHTML? Would help if you explained this.

SingleHTML is a extension that save page as one single HTML. And you can open it also on android using HTML browser.

and

[headbank]

Right, so it's actually called SingleFile ... correct name helps us find it ;) (There is a project called SingleHTML and I was trying to work out its relevance!)

This does sound like it could be a handy workaround in some cases. I expect it will have some issues with more Javascript-heavy pages though (depends on how sites use JS for rendering, and how the addon actually operates). Also I note from one of its reviews that it injects a "button" at the top of the rendered page (providing access to various metadata) which will often be undesirable when printing is the intended application. (Maybe this feature can be disabled in the addon's settings?)

It's worth mentioning in #219 too.

[gildas-lormeau]

This does sound like it could be a handy workaround in some cases. I expect it will have some issues with more Javascript-heavy pages though (depends on how sites use JS for rendering, and how the addon actually operates).

By default, SingleFile does not execute or save the JavaScript. It just saves a snapshot of the displayed page. The processing time depends more on the complexity of the CSS and HTML, and the weight of embedded resources.

Also I note from one of its reviews that it injects a "button" at the top of the rendered page (providing access to various metadata) which will often be undesirable when printing is the intended application. (Maybe this feature can be disabled in the addon's settings?)

I confirm it can be removed by disabling the option "User interface > display an infobar when viewing a saved page" in SingleFile.

For this use-case, I would also recommend to enable the option "Annotation editor > annotate the page before saving" in SingleFile. The annotation editor allows removing unwanted elements in the page.

[Ansarmughal99]

Print page and view page as pdf is roll map for Firefox this year. Firefox team confirm this on twitter

[chriswitthuhn]

Any news on this? I see notes about road map for 2022 but we are a pretty good chunk of the way though the year and have seen nothing more specific than 2022.

[dahamsta]

Two and a half years now.

[benyaminl]

@Ansarmughal99 Would you please mention/put the link here? Thank you

[jr-johnson-support]

JR on the Customer Experience team here:

We have been tracking google play store reviews noting this request since May 2022 and seen 70 request thus far.

A few more reviews noting this are usually added monthly.

[pyr0ball]

@jr-johnson-support would a few more help push the devs into considering this? I don't like doing that but if it'll get the features we want...

[headbank]

@pyr0ball I think the comment you reply to is itself the "push" you are looking for ... I doubt there is any formal pathway between what's happening in the Play reviews and the dev team, hence why those on that side are raising the issue here.

However please be aware that there is movement, however slow it seems, if you know where to look. Printing support has been dependent on Save To PDF support (because of how printing on Android works), which has been very busy lately and is finally getting ready for release - see Bugzilla.

The Bugzilla bug for printing is quiet now but it will now be able to move forward, I'd suggest subscribing to it (and there is another ticket here too) if you want up-to-date overview of progress.

I dunno where work is at on the printing UI (we don't see all that they do in public) but at least once Save To PDF is live, there will be a workaround by printing from a PDF app that does support printing.

[jr-johnson-support]

@jr-johnson-support would a few more help push the devs into considering this? I don't like doing that but if it'll get the features we want...

Headbank explained things pretty well on this front. What I will add is this:

In general, a few more request for a specific feature is not what will get that feature over the line to get implemented. There is a multitude of reasons why work on a feature will happen or wont happen. As headbank noted, there has not always been a formal pathway between various channels mobile users are posting and the dev team. My team is working towards improving visibility of the most common user issues and feedback across these channels.

As noted above, there are lots of moving pieces and dependencies that mobile team has to work with. This can make it hard to work at the pace which some users want and expect.

[pyr0ball]

@headbank @jr-johnson-support
Thank you both for your explanations! It's always nice to get a little insight and have a few more places to look for answers/status

[cpeterso]

It's not printing to paper, but "Save as PDF" will ship in Firefox 108: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1780639

[headbank]

Also, there is now actually someone assigned to the Bugzilla window.print() bug :)

Although at the same time it's been downgraded from "defect" to "enhancement" :(

[Matt-17]

Still no news?

[csadilek]

Moved to bugzilla: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1808755

Change performed by the Move to Bugzilla add-on.