Zen Browser updates device sync in Twilight with folders and split views ahead of stable release

Finally, the long-awaited feature that would make switching between devices in Zen Browser effortless has been given another boost. The latest test build sees the developers improving device sync on the Twilight channel, filling some of the most obvious gaps in the preview version ahead of its official release.

The initial implementation of device sync that arrived on Twilight several months ago allowed syncing basic settings when switching between devices, but not much else.

For power users who take advantage of the browser’s custom organization options, that meant having to rebuild their preferred setup each time they wanted to use the browser on a different computer.

In our previous article about device sync in Zen, we pointed out the particular annoyances of having to recreate custom folder structures and rearrange the same set of tabs in split view every time. In the most recent version of the test build, the very complaints that put the usability of device sync in question have been addressed by the developers.

As the devs announced on Reddit while unveiling the update, the latest iteration of device sync now “adds support for folders, essentials, and split views,” which are all critically important organization tools that until recently have been absent from the device sync implementation.

It is a huge quality-of-life upgrade for anyone who uses Zen across a desktop and a laptop. Having to manually re-arrange pinned icons or re-create side-by-side tab splits every time you switch screens kind of defeats the point of an organized browser setup.

According to the developers, having to do that in Zen “can be quite the opposite of zen,” which is why syncing essentials and custom folders to Mozilla accounts is such an important update. In addition to split views, the ability to build and sync custom folder structures is integral to organizing bookmarks in Zen.

So this latest test build clearly fills in the most prominent holes in device sync on Twilight.

It is also worth noting that this update continues the pattern of rapid updates and improvements on the experimental channel, which saw its latest iteration tweak compact mode and introduce a more intuitive window-dragging mechanic.

That said, in the post on Reddit, the developers did confirm that the sync feature will be going live “very very soon!”

The browser has already got over half a million users in its community, and with a major feature like device sync on the horizon, it’s only a matter of time before we see the numbers climb even higher.

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