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Mozilla retires its Firefox Lite browser, probably because it wasn't actually all that 'lite'
The company says the standard Firefox app is fast enough all on its own
It's all too easy for applications to grow bloated after years of updates. While extra functionality isn't usually harmful, weighing an app down with useless features defeats the whole purpose if it's designed with performance in mind. Firefox Lite was intended to be a stripped-down version for select markets, but as of June 30, Mozilla has stopped supporting it.
Firefox now supports multiple PiP windows and improved cookie protection
Each website will now have its own cookie jar
Mozilla's Firefox is among the most popular desktop browsers out there and it offers good privacy protection — its last update cracked down on supercookies. In a bid to further improve in this area, Firefox 86 is introducing a new measure called Total Cookie Protection (TCP) which will be available for both desktop and Android clients.
Firefox 85 makes installing extensions on mobile devices easier (APK Download)
But it's still limited to officially sanctioned extensions
When Firefox launched its next-gen Android browser last year, many were dismayed to see it lacked support for most extensions. Since then, the situation has improved a bit, and recently the browser has picked up compatibility with a number of officially sanctioned extensions. And now Mozilla has released Firefox 85, making the mobile extension installation process even easier.
Firefox finally supports pull-to-refresh, now in the Nightly release
It's more complicated to implement than you should think
It's been requested for years and in the making for months, and now the day has finally come: The Nightly version of Firefox for Android supports pull-to-refresh. A gesture first popularized (and patented) by Twitter back in 2010, it's quickly become as ubiquitous to phones as cars are to streets. Firefox was one of the few holdouts, with developers working out wonky behavior and interferences with some websites.
Firefox 80 marks the return of the back button and refines tab management (APK download)
No new extensions just yet
Mozilla only recently started rolling out the fully redesigned Firefox bearing version number 79 to Android users, but it's already releasing its successor: Firefox 80. It's improving some smaller aspects that were initially missing or wonky, but extension support remains as limited as it's been.
The all-new Firefox for Android is starting to roll out widely (APK Download)
If you need all of your extensions, you might want to stop auto updates for Firefox
Mozilla has been working on its redesigned Firefox based on almost completely rewritten code for well over a year and has in fact already published the update to the stable channel. But despite being available through the Play Store for a few people, the vast majority of Firefox for Android users are still on version 68, which was first released back in 2019. Mozilla is finally looking to change that and has announced that it will start rolling out the rewritten release of Firefox widely to everyone, but beware: You'll lose access to most of your add-ons in the update process.
Firefox for Android now displays simplified URLs, similar to Chrome
https://www.androidpolice.com? More like androidpolice.com.
Mozilla recently pushed its completely rewritten Firefox for Android to the stable release channel, but gHacks has only now spotted a change that many people might dislike. Just like most Chromium-based browsers, including Google Chrome itself, Firefox has stopped showing the full URL in the address bar, omitting the protocol and the www. subdomain.
Firefox now supports tab switching with a swipe in latest nightlies
One of Chrome's most beloved features is finally coming to Firefox
As we all know, not all web browsers are the same. That's generally a good thing because we want diversity and creativity to drive innovation; but it also means some of the most beloved features in one browser may not be implemented in other browsers for a long time, if ever. This has been the case for a long time with one of Chrome's somewhat hidden power user features: swiping to change tabs. But if you're a Firefox user, you can look forward to getting this awesome feature fairly soon.
The last overhaul of Firefox was just a few months ago, with the release of Firefox 57 'Quantum.' Mozilla today released version 59 of the beloved web browser, across all platforms. While the desktop version speeds up page load times, improves the built-in screenshot tool, and tweaks the Top Sites page, the mobile changelog isn't quite as exciting.
Back in December, we released a Chrome extension called 'Toolbox for Google Play Store.' It was designed to make the Play Store website much better, with direct links to APKMirror/AP/AppBrain for each app and the ability to sign up for beta programs with one click. A few months later, we released it for Opera, and later Firefox.
It may have become the underdog now compared to the ubiquity of Chrome, but Firefox isn't letting that excuse hinder its improvement and development. The latest beta of Firefox for Android proves that by fixing some issues, adding support for requested regional features, and enhancing performance thanks to a few HTML5 additions.
Earlier this year, Mozilla introduced Firefox Accounts, an easier way to sync all the good stuff like your passwords, bookmarks, history, and open tabs across multiple devices. This is far from Firefox's first rodeo, as the browser has had support for syncing data since Chrome was a baby, but this introduces in a further degree of ease-of-use and consolidation that users have come to expect. Now the functionality has found its way into the latest version of the Firefox Beta Android app.
The security of our mobile apps and private data is a very serious matter. This is particularly true for high value targets like web browsers, which often store login credentials that can be used to access many of the websites we use on a regular basis. Unfortunately, browsers are also very complicated applications with an extensive set of features that are difficult to lock down completely. Sebastián Guerrero Selma of viaForensics recently posted a video demonstrating a newly discovered vulnerability in Firefox for Android which would allow hackers to access both the contents of the SD card and the browser's private data. Take a look at the video:
A very serious security hole has been discovered in Firefox for Android that allows a website to force the browser to download and run potentially damaging files, usually without the user's knowledge or interaction. The vulnerability was first described and demonstrated publicly on September 9th as part of a posting meant to advertise the attack as being for sale. The method for exploiting the weakness simply requires a webserver to instruct Firefox for Android to initiate a download, after which the downloaded file is automatically opened or executed (depending on the file type).
The team behind Firefox for Android teased the upcoming release with a tablet-friendly design back in late August, and the final version of FF9 just landed in the Android Market. The update not only features a specialized tablet interface, but also boosts performance and startup speed and brings some HTML5 tweaks to the scene, like camera input support and form validation.
Firefox is finally getting flash support. Support for the plugin landed in the nightly builds a few days ago - meaning you can try it yourself, right now.
Firefox for Android has come a long way since the project hatched as "Fennec" many months ago - there is no doubt about that. What started as a bloated, slow, and buggy pile of crap (really, it was bad), is now one of the greatest browsers Android has to offer (add-ons ftw!). Don't get me wrong - it's still lacking quite a few features - notably, Flash support, faster font redraw on zooming, better startup times, etc., but Mozilla knows this and is working hard on the next version - 5.0.
Mozilla has announced a release candidate of Firefox 4 for Android and for Nokia Maemo.
Blocking obnoxious ads while browsing the web is something that I believe should come built-in to all browsers, or at least those on mobile devices with limited bandwidth. Although the beta version of Firefox 4 for Android (aka Fennec) released some time back, it was only yesterday that Adblock Plus released a development build for its seminal ad-blocking extension for the mobile version of Firefox.
Firefox For Android Finally Hits Beta Status, Set To Silence Critics
Firefox For Android Finally Hits Beta Status
As we've seen in the last few days, The Artist Formerly Known As Fennec has really been hitting its stride lately. Riding on this wave of improvement comes a shiny new Beta status, making Fennec now, officially, Firefox 4 For Android Beta.