Firefox for Android is Getting Over 400 More Extensions in December (9to5google.com) 25
Mozilla is opening the floodgates on extensions for Firefox on Android, with hundreds of new add-ons arriving in December. From a report: In a blog post, Mozilla explains that Firefox extensions compatible with Android will be "openly available" to users, with over 400 coming at launch. That launch will arrive on December 14. Technically, Firefox already supports extensions on Android. However, the library is a bit more limited as Mozilla details on a support page. With this new update, though, Firefox users will get a lot more options as developers will have a route to port desktop extensions to Android.
Extension, yay! (Score:2)
Gotta catch 'em all!
Firefox for android needs to improve (Score:4, Interesting)
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Yeah, I started trying it on my old tablet recently because of Chrome issues (for some reason, Chrome started displaying embedded videos as just a green rectangle, and the fixes I found online did not work). Yes, it is somewhat prone to freezing/crashing. I'm also not a fan of the way that when you open a site from the home page, it opens in a new tab instead of the current tab, so I always end up with a ton of unnecessary tabs open. Weird behaviour. I don't think I'm going to stick with it.
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Yeah, I started trying it on my old tablet recently
So did I (except it's a new tablet), and found Firefox on a tablet has no tab bar. Instead it handles tabs the same as on a phone, despite all the extra screen real estate. I complained about it and got told:
The Firefox for Android team would love to invest more in optimizing the browser for tablet devices. At this time, however, the team’s focus is directed towards higher priority items on the product roadmap. We do hope to revisit this with time and resources permitting.
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There are a lot of issues with Firefox on Android, beyond the one you mentioned. Battery life impact is pretty bad, I'd estimate maybe 5x as much as Chrome. It really is that much worse.
Rendering of sites for mobile is still pretty bad too. Some sites are okay, but a lot end up being difficult to read, where Chrome makes them usable. It's something to do with the virtual canvas size and font size boosting. Also, only the auto font size setting works, the manual sizing is broken and has been for years. Bugs
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The UI is kind of dumb, too. Especially with making tabs and private tabs.
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I hate to sound like a Chrome fanboy, but the way it handles grouped tabs on mobile is really good. Not perfect, for example there is no easy way to open a new grouped tab if you don't already have at least two open, but the UI makes switching between related tabs so much easier than in Firefox.
I really wish Firefox for Android got more development. There is a risk that Chrome will cripple ad-blockers, in which case I'll have to switch away from it, but I'd like something that stays synced between desktop a
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There are a lot of issues with Firefox on Android, beyond the one you mentioned. Battery life impact is pretty bad, I'd estimate maybe 5x as much as Chrome. It really is that much worse.
My pretty crappy phone (old Moto G7 power, 2019 model, original battery) lasts all day using Firefox nearly constantly, so it can't be *that* bad. I've just used it for around eight hours on various trains and buses today (for train tracking, news, non-Google maps, and word games) and the battery only went from 98% to 48%. O
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The Moto G7 has a small 3000mAh battery, so clearly something is different between your device and my various Pixel ones.
Do you use any add-ons? I noticed that uBlock Origin has a big impact on battery life, for example.
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Add-ons? Yes, I guess it wasn't clear, I do use uBlock Origin, I find many websites unbearable and some totally unusable without it - on the train the signal can easily drop out before the advert crap has finished loading.
The Power version of the G7 does actually have a 5000mAh battery though, however it *is* four years old.
Anyhow, my point was that battery life with Firefox doesn't *have* to be a problem for all day "no-charge" use, it will depend on your hardware, add-ons and which websites you use. Also,
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Correction "between Chrome and Android" -> "between Chrome and Firefox"
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>"I use it because I don't want to contribute to the Chromeopoly but it is also Mozilla's least quality product."
I am not sure why that is, since Firefox on the desktop it is fast, efficient, and great. I, too, have not had the best experience with it on Android, however. I hope it gets more attention. Personally, I hate browsing, at all, on a phone, and don't do it much. But I know it is important to a lot of people.
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Mobile browsers need to behave differently in two key ways, to be any good.
Firstly, they need to display stuff in a reasonable way on a small, narrow screen. That requires scaling different elements of the page differently - typically fonts need to be enlarged more than images, for example. It also needs some trickery with the page and displayport width, so that the user doesn't have to scroll left to right just to read each line of text.
Secondly, mobile browsers need to conserve battery life. On desktop it
Re:Firefox for android needs to improve (Score:4, Insightful)
The fact that Firefox is dumbed down by restricting about:config in non beta versions is also a big problem
I don't disagree, but holy shit do you know how many people would be scammed into putting risky about:config values in? On mobile you have to aim for the absolute lowest common denominator when it comes to security. And I know people would shout, "people need to learn", but I'm just going to tell you that some folks explicitly DO NOT want to learn and will absolutely leave and go somewhere else that doesn't require them to learn.
When it comes to mobile anything, you just have to go in assuming that the end user is a fucking moron who will absolutely be convinced in two seconds to configure something that leaks their credit card to someone or allows someone to mine bitcoin on their phone. Like there is no bottom to how low your assumptions must be for mobile users. Because mobile end users will absolutely surprise you time and time again with how clever they can break everything on their device and be leaking all kinds of info.
I absolutely would love Firefox to give more power to mobile users, but I know that's just like handing a loaded bazooka to a six year old. You just cannot underestimate the level of ignorance, and willful ignorance at that too, of mobile users. Like whatever you can imagine as the dumbest end user, I absolutely assure you that at least 10% of the mobile only end users can outpace that expectation of ignorance by trillions of orders of magnitude. I mean you have to fucking aim for programming something for a mushroom as the end user. Mobile only users having among them some of the worst people to have ever been handed technology. Maybe in twenty years or something that'll change, and yeah it's a small but sizable group, but right now you're just asking for trouble and perhaps delisting from the store if you try to hand users too much power.
Too little, too late (Score:2)
Firefox is still slow compared to Vivaldi - the supposedly big improvement a couple of years back didn't make things much faster. I think that matters more than extensions at this point. Vivaldi is pretty good for blocking ads and trackers, and I don't see extensions as a big reason to switch back now.
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Ublock origin has worked on Firefox mobile for years, and I have no complaints. Also, FireFox Focus [mozilla.org] has its purpose as well.
When folks complained about YouTube being blocked, I can tell they weren't using FireFox + U Block Origin, (while being logged into Google as well, as I do).
Can I have (Score:2)
an extension that gives me the functionality I take for granted in the desktop version, such as *being able to actually view the TLS certificate details*?
When I'm debugging a WSG with SSL inspection turned on it's handy to be able to confirm SSL cert details and chains using the mobile I happen to have in my pocket. Unfortinatley Firefox on Android just gives me "Connection Secure" and does not have an obvious way to actually view the certificate.
Not just "skins" please (Score:2)
I just hope that 75% of them aren't anime-themed skins of the browser, like they are on the PC side of things.
I am so loved (Score:2)
I also remember a time when all were available and a time when closing the app actually killed the app.
That makes FF valuable (Score:2)
Think about it. We'll finally be able to add real ad blockers!
No more chrome bullshit.
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Firefox mobile already supports the one and only adblocker anyone needs, i.e. uBlock Origin.
please walk before you run? (Score:1)
I absolutely would love Firefox (Score:1)