A few years ago, Google introduced Chrome “Commands”.a feature that doesn’t seem to have had much of an impact, but it’s still there, and Mozilla took due account of it when implementing it in Firefox.

In case you need us to refresh your memory, Commands arrived in Chrome 87 as a productivity enhancement aimed at bringing some of its advanced options to the front of the browser, which are usually hidden away in the app’s preferences but can be at hand for quick reference. hands.

To give you an idea, we are talking about functions such as deleting history, managing passwords and payment methods, translating pages or opening anonymous browsing… Functions that are usually just a few clicks away. distances, but which can be done more quickly and even conveniently, simply by entering the desired “command” in the address bar.

So, if you want to delete your browsing history, you can go to the relevant menu and option, or speed up the process by typing in the address bar “clear history” (without quotes). The same if you type “open incognito”, “edit passwords”, “translate page”, etc.: you will see a button with the given option appear in the dropdown list.

This is how Chrome “commands” work

For more information, and although the aforementioned feature has been enabled by default for quite some time, check out this handy article for more examples of “commands” available in Chrome and in Brave, the only Chromium derivative that maintains the option.

Firefox will do the same, with some additional differences. From the beginning, instead of being called commands, they will be called quick action, if translated as it is, from the English «Quick Actions». But apart from this detail, they are practically the same, functions available through other channels, placed in the address bar for greater accessibility.

Another difference from how it works in Chrome, also related to accessibility, is that some of these quick actions appear directly in the address bar when you focus on itthat is, when the user clicks or focuses on the address bar using the keyboard.

This is what Chrome quick actions look like

As you can see in the image, Firefox currently shows five quick actions, at least when the address bar is focused: clear history, open downloads, open web inspector, print, and update Firefox. Options all that will also appear as you type them. It remains to be seen whether those who are are all that they are, are, or will be more.

In fact, it could quite change this feature, which at the moment can only be tested in the development (Nightly) version of the browser, only recommended for testing, and only if some custom features are added in Firefox’s advanced preferences. In other words, she has time to grow up and until then it’s worth repeating, a lot could change…

… Although it does not seem, given the precedent of Chrome and the obvious inspiration of Firefox, as it has happened on other occasions with so many additional features. And vice versa, but less so.