The Firefox addons page shows that they are still publishing 2024.12.4, so you are current.
Version 2025.1.0 was published on Edge Jan 14th and Chrome Jan 17th. Mozilla takes its sweet time approving extensions, typically, trailing by about 2 weeks.
I use Firefox and the extension version is 2024.12.4. I have a question regarding “Folders”. I have some items not assigned to a folder. In the folder list there are two folders, one named (uncategorized) and one named (Items with no folder). If I assign an item to “No Folder” it does not show in any filters. Is this just a quirk?
Ok so what do I do about Firefox? I removed the add-on again and reinstalled it. No change. I removed the Safari extension and reinstalled it and got the new UI.
So why is Firefox behaving any differently? Is it again a case of the fact that I am self hosting? But if that is the case, how come Chrome and Edge, and now Safari, are on the new UI? I am using FF 134.0.1 on Win11 Pro, but still 23H2.
I fully agree with your critiques and questioning the motivation for this redesign (waste of money). I find it too bloated and “zoomed in,” such that it’s actually adversarial to doing what I need to do quickly. I haven’t had to consider alternatives for years, but if the UI stays like this I might drop BW, since it’s barely more convenient than just keeping KeePassXC open. BW please roll back this garbage or offer a choice. Old UI was better.
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AngrySwede (boy, does that name fit)— it seems to me the best statement they can make is to keep listening and making requested changes. Which they have done. I don’t need them to come here and defend anything, or explain anything.
As someone who was VERY unhappy, I’ve been keeping up with changes, and they have resolved 99% of my issues. That’s the best “statement” I need.
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Most likely, yes. Prior to version 2025.1.0, the new UI was only visible when a server-side feature flag is set, which has been true for the Bitwarden cloud servers, but not for on-prem servers (self-hosted users). My understanding is that the feature flag was removed in version 2025.1.0 (hence why you see the new UI in Chrome, Edge, and Safari), but your Firefox browser is still using version 2024.12.4 of the extension. Edited to Add: For Firefox users who are not self-hosted, versions 2024.12.3 and 2024.12.4 of the browser extension do use the new UI.
Apparently “most likely” (meaning most likely the self hosting) was the wrong answer. It has nothing to do with self hosting. As others have since noted, the Firefox add-on has not been updated yet. Mozilla is the culprit. Oh well.
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@pierre12345 No, Sorry, but that’s wrong. The Firefox extension is on the new UI since around Christmas. (every extension, beginning with version 2024.12.1, got the new UI - but not every app store (Mozilla, Apple…) approved the extension right away, that’s why the new UI arrived later on Firefox) @grb 's explanation seems about right.
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I saw @TheAngrySwede post, which has since disappeared, but I just want to add that the people you mentioned can easily be asked anything during Bitwarden Events (Vault Hours). They’re almost always present and respond to questions live. So, if you’re not happy that they’re not actively engaging here and are only collecting feedback, you can join the upcoming Vault Hours 48 on January 31.
I personally use this method because it’s an easy way to have direct contact with their team or see what updates they’re preparing next. I also recommend this approach to anyone who wants to share their opinions or suggestions in a different way.
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Unless you have turned off automatic updates and are stuck on version 2024.11.2, the persistence of the old UI in your Firefox browser extension is indeed caused by self-hosting (as I already explained above — I have edited my previous comment to clarify it for you).
Why would you ruin bitwarden? Mature software should never be updated, except for security fixes. Please roll back, and stop changing things. This new version is a disaster.
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WHAT?!? As someone who developed and then maintained/updated a supply chain management system for 30+ years, I can unequivocally state you always and continually update your systems. Good software is like a shark… move forward or die.
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Cf. any classic mature software like most *nix CLI utilities. But let’s not go down a philosophical rabbit hole; we’re only here to discuss Bitwarden. Situation is that it used to be good and now it is bad. We can go over the myriad changes that made it bad, but long story short is a roll-back is in order. There was no need to change anything, and there likely never will be.
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Enumerating your concerns would be helpful. Perhaps you have observations that we have not yet encountered, or your reaction could be the one that tips the scales to get a capability reimplemented. It has become clear over the past 30 days that Bitwarden is receptive to constructive, actionable feedback that helps them determine and prioritize which features to add/restore.
Also clear is that Bitwarden seems disinterested in “rolling back” and living in the past, preferring to focus on forward-facing improvements.
The easiest way to accomplish that likely is to use Firefox, as it allows blocking extension updates. Then, read the Bitwarden release notes and perhaps the github notes on a monthly (at least) basis to decide if you believe each update constitutes a “security fix”.
I personally do not subscribe to this theory because almost every release mentions (in github) “bug fixes”, which bad actors tend to review to see if they can develop an exploit. And if they succeed, the vendor likely will not have tested upgrading many versions at once, leaving me at greater risk of upgrade complications.
But, you do you and I’ll do me.
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Fair. The problems that bother me the most are:
- The UI for Folders. I have all of my items sorted into hierarchically nested folders. The unorganized mess of “All items” is useless. The tiny “Folders” dropdown doesn’t even fit inside that tiny dropdown, so it gets scrollbars, and it shouldn’t be stuffed into a dropdown anyway. Folders are of primary importance. If any improvement was to be made, it would be around the UX of hierarchical nesting, as I bet most people are unaware that’s even possible. But hiding folders inside a dropdown makes the UX of the whole addon terrible, painful, and insanely misguided.
- Cached state is beyond obnoxious. When I click on the addon, I want to work in the context of the current tab — not the context I happened to open a few minutes ago. I constantly need to click the back arrow to close what should be automatically closed. There is absolutely zero utility to preserving state.
- If you click to open the addon dropdown, then click on one of the dropdowns such as “Type”, and then hit Esc to close the Type dropdown, the whole addon dropdown closes instead of just the interior one.
I do use Firefox. But realistically you’re right that it’s impossible to pick and choose security updates while somehow rejecting everything else.
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When I brought up the issues with them taking folders away from the vault I was trolled relentlessly here. Just know I fully get where you’re coming from.
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It’s as if we had a library full of carefully organized bookcases, when the bookcase manufacturer suddenly demanded that we must now keep all the books thrown on the floor.
What’s the troll’s perspective?
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@bryan Thank you for some details!
To 1. (“folders”): @grb made a list to the topic of folders - maybe you would like to see if that matches with your critic or something is missing there: Usability issues (UX) in redesigned UI (2024.12.0) - #774 by grb
The “tiny dropdown” can get a bit wider - you may want to experiment with “wide” or “extra wide” (Settings → Appearance). If you use organizations, that dropdown shares it’s width with another field, what I think is not a good solution.
Another suggestion that @MFKDGAF made first I think (and that has also to do with the Vault tab only having the “All tems” view with the new UI), is, to give the user the choice to enable/disable display of:
- All items
- Folders
- Items with no folder
To 2. (“persistence”): Obviously not everyone uses the extension the same way… I think the “cached state” was implemented, because there is a long-standing call for a more “persistent state” that doesn’t resets itself all the time (see this feature request: Persistent Bitwarden UI and maintain unsaved data but that does imply more than just the “persistence”).
In connection to that, there was a suggestion about implementing a “Home” button in the extension, that can get one back to the start at any time. Would that be an acceptable alternative for you? (not that I can implement that… in fact, as far as I see, there is not even a feature request for that yet)
To 3.: Hm, just a thought to that: I think for the entire extension Esc closes the extension window. As far as I can understand what you mean - having at one spot a different meaning for pressing Esc would be “confusing”, I think. - If you want just the dropdown to close, you can click pretty much anywhere else to in the extension window to close the dropdown. - But maybe I’m just more used to that from other apps so that I don’t find this too inconvenient? Or did I get completely wrong what you meant?
I check Reddit and the forums every time I get mad at the recent Bitwarden update.
I am not going to maintain a subscription to a service that appears to be working against its users.
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