Firefox has those settings, too.

Whatever you select per device in Options/Preferences > Sync -> Sync across all devices is what will be shared with the Sync server for all devices to have access to depending upon what each other device as selected.

Just don't have your work computer connected to the same Firefox Account as your personal devices. You can have multiple Firefox Accounts is you care to.

And extensions are easy enough to install that why would you want Sync to do that alone?

the-edmeister said

Firefox has those settings, too.

The issue is that those settings apply to all devices, which is exactly what I don't want. When I say Chrome has this, I mean that it allows different sync settings for each device you use.

the-edmeister said

And extensions are easy enough to install that why would you want Sync to do that alone?

Who cares why I want it? I use tens of extensions, and I am a software developer, so I change PCs frequently. I like to be able to quickly install everything I need without going through the hassle of searching for 15 extensions, installing and configuring them individually. Which from my understanding is the use case of browser sync is, no? If we start questioning the usefulness of browser sync, why even offer the feature?

But thanks for the suggestion of using different accounts for work and home. It's not ideal, but at least it's a workaround.

Fcharron83 said

the-edmeister said

Firefox has those settings, too.

The issue is that those settings apply to all devices, which is exactly what I don't want. When I say Chrome has this, I mean that it allows different sync settings for each device you use.

As far as the Add-ons, yes that is an issue that I dismissed too easily considering that you have so many extensions; I am sorry for doing that.

Sorry, Sync does work to limit per device the types of data that is sent to and received from the Sync server. I am able to have only the data that I care to share between devices get shared. One type of data that I don't share is passwords; my Netbook never is used for banking (one stolen laptop was all I needed to stop synchronizing password data: and the Netbook was to have something small that I could carry on my person in a coat pocket where it was harder to "go lost" - for my job at that time, which wasn't company owned - my money and my risk of loss) and I never sync'd that type of data after that to a "portable device". I am able to keep separate passwords "file pair" on that device and have "Passwords" / "Logins" disabled in "Sync across all devices" on that device.

I haven't used Sync yet with Quantum & WebExtensions yet. With major changes to Firefox like Quantum (and the earlier Australis) I am a "late adopter" and spend a few versions slowly switching over to the "new" version.

I do sure hope that WebExtensions work a lot better with Sync that the older Legacy extensions did. Two years ago when I set up a new computer using Sync for Add-ons synchronization I was horrified with how much extension data and preferences did actually "sync" to this new PC. I wasted almost 2 weeks trying to "fix" what was missing before I gave up and just copied 3 entire Profiles over and gave up on what Sync had done. Yeah, I used 3 different Firefox Accounts for each of those three Profiles just to see what Sync was capable of. I use computers for many years; the one I was replacing was 7 years old and one before that was 10 years old, although much had been updated in those 10 years - even had a new case.

In the end my evaluation of Sync with Add-ons was that it was a POS at that time. And I am in no hurry to "test" Sync with Quantum and WebExtensions - I have no real use for Sync now. Netbook is used solely on my LAN, and one main Desktop PC, with a "backup" in another room which rarely is even used in my workshop when I am building something and need info for what I am working on from the internet. And Bookmarks is about all that I use Sync for any longer on that device.

No worries. You should give Quantum a try, though; I like it quite a lot more than the old versions. Aside from the single showstopping bug I stumbled upon a few weeks ago, where an update made web pages not display at all (quite an issue... but it only lasted a day), I have had 0 issues at this point.

And Chrome is becoming the opposite of what it was at its beginning, which is lightweight and snappy...

Cheers

I am working on getting Quantum slowly set up, my goal is Firefox 60 or 61 - both now and when Firefox 57 was first released late last year. The loss of Legacy extensions and the lack with API availability for too many extensions that I commonly use is slowing down my progress towards that goal. IMO, Quantum was "rushed out the door". It should have been delayed due to the lack of API's for extensions, which is the reason that advanced or "power-users" use Firefox to begin with. Or they should have worked harder with extension developers at having a fuller slate of API's ready for Quantum and not dribbled those API's out after the release date.

Plus, with extension Signing becoming mandatory back in Firefox 48 and the potential loss of a dozen extensions that I had modified for my own use over the years, I stayed with Firefox 47.0.1 and earlier versions since then for almost all of my browsing activity. And that makes the transition to Quantum that much harder for me now. I have 4 main Profiles, only one of which was kept up to date with Firefox releases; that one Profile I estimate was used for only 5% of the time that I was on the internet by th time that Quantum was released.

For the first time since Aug 2002 I am actually thinking long and hard at switching to a Gecko-based Goanna-based web browser which is made from Gecko and be able to keep using Legacy extensions.

For me Google Chrome was never a serious consideration, although I have installed it multiple times over the last 10 years. Plus I have "auditioned" other WebKit / Blink based browsers over the last 4 or 5 years and only Safari lasted very long (like over a week) on my PC.