[voidnullnil]

The entire web does this, not just Google.

Alert is pure garbage and should not have made it past the 90s. Also, basic auth popups need to go too. Not sure why browsers would ever make those focus stealing in the first place. There should not be one single way for a web application to steal focus. The current workaround is to download a buggy ad blocker (last time I used chrome, just like firefox it has no way to turn popups off).

Edit: I just remembered alert no longer steals focus on modern browsers (IIRC). But basic auth still does (at least on my 50 year old fork of firefox).

[jfoster]

I would like to point out that stealing focus is part of the browser implementation. I don't think anyone would object to less stuff (if anything) stealing focus.

If the problem is "this functionality steals focus", how about making it not steal focus rather than removing it entirely on short notice? Why don't the Chrome developers focus on fixing their browser?

[paulryanrogers]

Ugly and limiting as they may be, I find standard UI widgets quite easy to leverage as a dev and as a user.

Though they may need to move beyond the line of death to mitigate spoofing.

[sam0x17]

basic auth is super useful for protecting staging sites, however.

[dylan604]

>(at least on my 50 year old fork of firefox).

Since you're obviously from the future, can you give me tips on some stocks or sporting events to "invest"?

[habibur]

That's a way of saying "decades old".

Not to count years literally.

[dylan604]

yes, and it's also understood that people are not really from the future with the information that I requested. Did you really think that was what I believed so that you needed to pedantically explain it to me?

[habibur]

Thought you meant he was wrong to claim "for 50 years".