Firefox/Features/Lessen App Update Displayed UI

Status

Team

Open issues/risks

• AUS will need to be updated (see bug 459972).

Stage 1: Definition

1. Feature overview

To reduce update fatigue, don't display application update download and notifications user interface unless necessary.

Twelve hours after an update is downloaded the user is told to restart Firefox by the display of the application update user interface. Instead of always notifying after twelve hours and possibly interrupting the user the notification should only be displayed when it is important for the user to apply the update (e.g. when the update contains an important security fix the user should be notified). From analyzing crashes (questionable source), approximately 15% of users run Firefox longer than 12 hours and would be affected (see bug 659425 for details).

This feature falls primarily in the Experience category (from the "Discover, Experience, and Connect" vision statement.)

2. Users & use cases

• Users that seldom restart Firefox

3. Dependencies

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4. Requirements

• Needs to lessen the amount of times the user sees user interface associated with an application update
• The decision when the notification should be displayed must be controlled remotely (the update xml) and have a default amount of time
• Needs to pass a security review (Lucas Adamski agreed with the general approach in meeting on May 24)
• Needs to have tests

Non-goals

• Implementing a background method for updating the application (bug 481815)
• Avoid having to ask for administrator password (bug 481815)
• Preparing an update asynchronously to a copy of the application (bug 307181)

Stage 2: Design

5. Functional specification

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6. User experience design

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Stage 3: Planning

7. Implementation plan

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8. Reviews

Security review

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Privacy review

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Localization review

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Accessibility

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Quality Assurance review

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Operations review

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Stage 4: Development

9. Implementation

Next Steps & Open Issues

• bug 659425 - get average session length from crash stats and Test Pilot studies - Robert Strong - complete
• bug 657472 -'Tune' the time to wait before displaying the update been downloaded / restart notification and provide ability to override in the update xml - Tim Taubert.

Related Bugs & Dependencies

• bug 353804 - Automatic update does not check for newer versions before resuming an update download on startup - Tim Taubert - in progress
• bug 659181 - 'Tune' when the updater dialog is displayed - Robert Strong. Currently working on what 'quickly' means as it relates to when the dialog is displayed.
• bug 481815 - Provide a Windows service to update applications without asking Administrator password
• bug 394984 - Unable to update on mac if admin user is not the same admin user as the person who installed firefox
• bug 529746 - App update should request elevation when the user doesn't have privileges to update

Stage 5: Release

10. Landing criteria

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Feature details

Team status notes