Strange window matching behaviour between Slack and Chrome

[Will Cooke]

There seems to be a window matching bug between the Slack snap and Chrome.

If you open a URL from within Slack without Chrome open, then the launcher shows the extra pip next to Slack and doesn't add a Chrome icon to the launcher. If you open Chrome first, then things work as expected.

Steps to reproduce

1. Install Slack snap and Chrome deb.
2. Join a Slack channel and open a hyperlink. Notice the extra pip next to Slack in the launcher.
3. Close Chrome and reopen it.
4. Open a URL from Slack again and notice the Chrome icon get added to the launcher.

I'm not sure if this is an Ubuntu Dock or GNOME Shell issue. EDIT: Spoke to didrocks, he says that matching is done by Shell.

[Jack J (gaiajack)]

I have this too, but with Slack and Nautilus. Steps to reproduce:

1. Have someone send you a file on Slack.
2. Download the file and click on "Open containing folder".
3. The opened Nautilus window is now grouped with the Slack icon on the launcher.

[saleem khan (saleemkhan0)]

It has happened sometimes that Slack Notifications do not work. This error arises for various reasons and some of them are: Notifications Manager has determined that Slack notifications are not important; Do Not Disturb mode is preventing the notifications from going through, New notification behavior is not working properly, Quiet Hours (Focus Assist) is delaying Slack notifications and many other possible reasons. No worries because here we have some methods to resolve this error.

1- Read all your pending messages:
i). Users can solve this issue by reading all pending Slack messages. This will also send the right signals to Windows 10 that would make it possible that you would receive more messages in the future. For further info click the following link https://appuals.com/fix-slack-notifications-not-working/ You can do it by opening your Slack app, tap on each new messages to read it.

ii). After that close Slack and reboot your system. In case Windows was formerly seeing Slack notifications as not significant, this action should have altered now. iii). At the end when the startup is complete, monitor Slack’s behavior and see if you start receiving notifications.

2- Reverting back to the previous notification behavior:
i). As initial tap step Windows key + R to start the Run dialog box and write this instruction slack://notReallyWindows10 and press enter.
ii). At the end reboot your system and see if you start receiving notifications or not.

[Bertwin Wubs (bertwin)]

The same happens when opening URLs from within VSCode. The newly opened browser window seems to inherit the window class.

To correct the class run:

  xprop -f WM_CLASS 8s -set WM_CLASS "chromium-browser"

and click on the browser window.

[Jim Campbell (jwcampbell)]

Seeing this behavior, as well. Others reference vscode (in the comment above), so I am curious to know if this is related to electron, or if this is a snap-specific issue.

I do see reference to it as a snap-specific issue here: https://forum.snapcraft.io/t/slack-opening-file-browser-firefox-and-chrome-in-the-snaps-context/8969/3

[Jim Campbell (jwcampbell)]

For reference, I also see this same issue with Firefox set as my default browser, and I am using the snap version of Slack.

[Nicolas Damgaard Larsen (ndl101)]

I can confirm this using a snap version of Slack and deb version of Firefox.

[Simen.eriksen (simeneriksen)]

This is still appearing both on snap/deb version of slack, using chrome.

Even opening new windows in Chrome attaches to the slack launcher icon, and not chrome.

[Davide (gozzilli)]

I can confirm this happens in ubuntu 18.04.3 between Chrome and Slack.
Workaround in #3 doesn't work for me, as WM_CLASS is already correctly set, i.e.:
* slack: `WM_CLASS(STRING) = "slack", "Slack"`
* chrome: `WM_CLASS(STRING) = "google-chrome", "Google-chrome"`

However, killing both applications and relaunching seems to correct the issue.

[Lucas Magasweran (lucasrangit)]

Removing the snap version and installing the deb version fixed the issue for me.

[Ro$k0 (kroskolii)]

This happen with me in PhpStorm, also snap installed.

[Riccardo (riccardo-cicuto)]

[Ubuntu 19.10] PhpStorm, snap installed, seems working well (eg. when I run a debug session it opens chromium and the launcher icons are well associated). When I open a link on Slack, also snap installed, the new window appears in the "all windows" section of the contextual menu of the Slack launcher icon.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Is that still an issue in focal?

[Lucas Magasweran (lucasrangit)]

@seb128, yes. It is still in issue on 20.04 (focal).

[Dustin Falgout (lots0logs)]

Yes it's in focal and its very annoying.

[Bastián Muñoz (bastianfeliz)]

I don't know if this helps but I think I fixed this by using Nicolas' answer in
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1103461/slack-shows-opened-links-to-browser-as-another-slack-instance-in-task-bar?rq=1

[Eric Perret (eperret-b)]

I am seeing the same issue on 18.04.5 LTS

[marcel (marcelrf)]

Same issue in Ubuntu 20.10 with Slack and Brave browser

[Daniel Tharp (bluesoul)]

Seeing the same on a fresh 20.04.1 install with snap Slack and deb Vivaldi (chromium-based). However, if I close Slack and Vivaldi both, and reopen Vivaldi (`ps aux | grep slack` is empty), it shows up under the Slack context anyway.

Actual usability is not impacted, just a confusing user experience.

[Patrick Vale (patrickvale)]

I am also seeing this behaviour on 20.04.1 - it is confusing. I also see it when I open Cypress from within a terminal inside JetBrains PhpStorm - the chrome windows opened by that are co-located with the PhpStorm 'pips'.
This makes ctrl-tabbing between open applications difficult.

[Paul Mohr (p-mohr)]

I'm also seeing this issue between Chrome and PHPStorm on 22.04.1 LTS

[Lucas Magasweran (lucasrangit)]

I no longer see the window grouping issue with Slack snap 4.34.121 on Ubuntu 22.04.3.