Sync Workspaces with tabs between computers
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At the moment (from Vivaldi desktop 6.9) I can see the workspaces I have created on other computers, but I have to recreate them manually on each computer I need the workspace on, and they don't stay in sync.
I hope you can expand the sync functionality to keep workspaces in sync across all my computers.
Meaning, if I create a workspace "Work" with 3 tabs in it on computer 1, the new workspace appears automatically on computer 2 as soon as that instance of Vivaldi syncs.
If I close one of the tabs in the "Work" workspace on computer 2, it is automatically closed on computer 1 as well.
This follows the discussion in https://forum.vivaldi.net/topic/85001/sync-workspaces/161?_=1724926513798 which was closed after the new sync functionality was introduced in 6.9.
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@bjarteao so, not just sync as we've understood the idea for years, but sort of a live-shared-session?
Am I crazy, or would that not increase the load on the Sync system significantly?
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I don't think it necessarily has to sync any faster/more often than the current sync.
My point was that the sync of workspaces, in my opinion, should actively open and close tabs on computer 2, when changes are done on computer 1.
The goal is to start working on computer 1 and then seamlessly continue my work on computer 2 later in the day with all the same tabs available in the synced workspaces, not to continually go back and forth.
Except the sync of open tabs, I think this is how sync generally works. Bookmarks, for example. When I delete a bookmark on computer 1 it is deleted on computer 2.
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@bjarteao yeah, I like the bookmark example you mentioned at the end, so people can understand the real idea.
As you mentioned, workspaces are currently only available in synced tabs panel, but it basically requires you to have a main computer for all workspaces and open their tabs in other PCs from the synced tabs panel, but it's not ideal if you have stacked tabs because you have to stack them manually in every PC.
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@bjarteao
Hi, just one aspect because I cant vote for your request.
I have a 1000+ tabs, 30 workspaces session running on my main system but I would never want to have this running on my laptop or my other Vivaldi installs.
Now, if needed, I create a duplicate of a workspace I need on the laptop, open all tabs from synced tabs, done.
If I delete it later sync should not delete it on the main system.
I guess many users like your request but I would have to stop syncing tabs and this would be very bad.
A separate setting for tabs and workspaces would be needed, no idea how complicate this is.Cheers, mib
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All good points made here, and it's possible that this would require too much of the sync job.
What I see as the first step of actually implementing this feature would be something like this: Keep the syncing of workspaces and tabs like it is now, but allow me to create a workspace locally from the remote one I can see in the Windows window.
This new local workspace should have some shared property with the remote workspace (an id of some kind) so that the sync job knows that the local and the remote workspace are connected and perhaps in the future can be kept in sync.
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@bjarteao you know what, I think Vivaldi did the wrong choice by syncing everything in the Windows feature.
Why is there a Sessions feature if it doesn't sync at all? It is a local feature, you cannot restore a session in another PC and keep it synced between them.
Later you can think about other features discussed here, but what if you just want to create a session to be shared accross different PCs? You can even have multiple sessions acting like bookmarks, so your tabs don't have to be restored automatically at all. I really think the Sessions feature isn't that helpful right now.
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Closing that previous request as resolved and not actually delivering workspace sync has just dissolved any trust I had in Vivaldi.
I'm done.
This comment will be marked as off topic I'm sure, but I'm terribly frustrated.
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@rawkode I agree
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I have to be frank- incomprehensible (and quite annoying) how Vivaldi can offer so many novel QoL features, but despite the overwhelming evidence it caters to users who hoard tabs, no straightforward workflow exists for migrating them across systems, automatically, manually, whatever.
so, not just sync as we've understood the idea for years, but sort of a live-shared-session?
Am I crazy, or would that not increase the load on the Sync system significantly?
I don't think anyone wants it to be a constant sync (at the very least no-one needs that functionality). In my eyes it breaks down as such:
- Set up a json, csv, or txt format which can be edited by a user, with the purpose of retaining all the url's, tabs, tiles, stacks, workspaces, etc, along with any aliases users might assign.
- It shouldn't be integral to Vivaldi's process of maintaining tabs/sessions (I assume many other factors have to be monitored behind the scenes), it just needs to work like when you export/import bookmarks across browsers.
- Grab/update like a screenshot, automatically whenever a window closes. Allow the user to rename them, but at minimum/by default, timestamp them.
- If it's too much bandwidth to maintain those across scores of users in the cloud, offer it locally, again, the same way other browsers maintain bookmarks, with the ability to select where files get saved.
That last bullet point is a major sticking point because of how things presently work:
- Sessions are locked to an installation of Vivaldi; despite being described as import/export, there's no option to move them out of a given install, let alone an indication where/how they get saved.
- To copy sessions to another computer, you have to know where on your hard drive they get saved (for Windows users, under the hidden AppData directory), as well as the fact that you need three separate folders- else the process fails or you lose the names of your various workspaces.
- The file names don't even match up. Saved sessions are also not possible (or at least unclear how) to delete.
- In my attempts to migrate what felt like half a dozen times, maybe one attempt worked in a way that I liked, but that along with one or two other attempts eventually made Vivaldi crash on open, with no choice but to reinstall.
In the end I copied all the url's out of my various workspaces; I'm grateful Vivaldi has a button to do that on one click, but I wish it could be done across all workspaces.
I pasted them all into a txt file, sorted and pruned them. Now I'm using the Chrome extension Bulk URL Open to copy them out of that file in small groups, one at a time.
I guess I ultimately prefer a clean slate over fumbling around with the weird files which maintain workspaces, but there has to be a more straightforward solution.
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Concerning the workload for the sync server, I don't think it would be any worse than it is now. The only difference would be that the tabs I see in the other windows section are now open by default, but not loaded in my current instance.
However, I'd probably been reasonably happy to at least have something like bulk open under Synced Tabs, to restore the other computer's layout
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I was so confused when I installed and signed into Vivaldi on my work PC after meticulously setting it up last night on my home PC. I assumed (reasonably, I think) that workspaces and tabs synced. One browser, exactly as I left it and as I need it, no matter where as long as I am logged in. I hope this is an implemented feature soon.
This is a significant flaw that should be prioritized. Otherwise, perfect browser. Glad to have found it.
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Check out Edge workspaces. I'm surprised this thread has not mentioned them.
They can:
- sync across devices
- be private (default) or shared between multiple people
- be named. The window title in Alt-Tab is the workspace name
- be closed and re-opened, resuming where you left off
- support "locked" tabs
- so you can have a workspace for common tasks with a set of starting tabs when you open it
- locked tabs can navigate to new pages
- closing a "locked" tab will, rather than close it, navigate it back to its starting URL
- support tab groups, just like any other Edge window
- automatically re-open when you restart Edge
I recommend trying Edge workspaces. Then we can suggest that Vivaldi implement feature parity or use them as inspiration. We can share screenshots from Edge as examples.
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@cspotcode I completely agree, Edge has this sync working great, really don't understand why it's not a priority for the Vivaldi team. Seems like a basic QoS thing.
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@cspotcode this is exactly what i thought the "workspace sync" feature request would be, but sadly it was just that you can see other tabs essentially.
At least it would be nice to be able to edit the work-spaces of other devices so you wont have to create duplicates etc on each device.
I tried to have Vivaldi as my main browser but missing synced tab groups or work-spaces is just wasted time since I have to recreate and/or update everything on each device every time I make a change.Seeing that the synced session request is 7 years old I am not that hopeful that this will ever happen.
Unfortunately because the only browser apart from Safari that is able to provide real synced tabs/spaces/groups is Edge I have to stick with Edge.
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Unfortunately, workspaces now are almost equivalent to tab groups, so there is no point in daring to use workspaces.
I used workspaces when they were first implemented in Edge and I don't understand why workspaces are not synchronized in Vivaldi.
Vivaldi is very good, but I am very sad that I have to use another browser because of this. -
@akurakuu I don't think we will see soon any real workspace or tab group sync.
THis is the only thing so far that is keeping me from not using Vivaldi as a main browser -
@ioannis07 See you later Vivaldi, what a joke of a browser for professional users. You would think that people would be willing to pay for such a useful work tool.
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@mv888 Ok bye, don't slam the door
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@chrisdlc119 I found a good use for Sessions when I first discovered it, but I lost interest when I found that instead of restoring the session in the Workgroup it was originally created in, it just opened it in the "Start Window" Workspace, or maybe it's a new Workspace with no name? I just know it pops up at the top of the list.
