I work in Figma primarily through shortcuts and keyboard navigation, and the growing set of on-canvas controls have become a real source of friction for me.
I use keyboard as much as possible; to move between and into layers, switch tools, and manipulate objects rather than clicking around the canvas. The main exception is when I have to select or move something on the canvas outside the layer-tree that I’m currently in, as it’s faster with mouse. That's when I keep colliding with the on-canvas controls. For example the [+] button for adding variants to a component set, the auto layout padding handles that appear near frame edges, and the recent AI agent button beside selected elements. They are probably useful for many, especially new users, but for me they just cause mis-clicks and clutter the UI.
I understand the rationale behind adding those elements. Making features visible on-canvas improves discoverability, which benefits a lot of users, and I'm not suggesting them to be removed. But for anyone who works primarily through shortcuts/non-canvas methods and is already familiar with the available features, that same visibility introduces friction rather than value.
So my request is to add a setting in preferences to manage on-canvas UI visibility. A simple all-or-nothing toggle would already help me considerably, but granular controls like disabling specific elements such as the variant [+], padding handles, or the AI agent button independently would be ideal. It seems like a low-cost way to support a wider range of workflows.