- cross-posted to:
- technews@radiation.party
- cross-posted to:
- technews@radiation.party
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Congrats to Firefox, it really has made substantial improvements over the years.
Firefox a few years ago would kill my Mac battery in a couple hours, now it’s as good as safari for energy management. No reason not to use it as a daily driver now.
Maybe it’ll start maintaining Mozilla again. You know: its namesake project.
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Yep, I use it every day.
That doesn’t change the fact that Mozilla gave up on its flagship.
There is a project called Mozilla? Afaik it is the company name? What is it?
Mozilla is the name of the Open Source version of Netscape Navigator. It is the pre-cursor to Firefox.
Not only that, they had goals beyond just a browser. They wanted to create a whole OS ecosystem integrated with the browser. They released Firefox as a side project to just get a browser in everyone’s hands while they worked on Mozilla. Turns out the OS ecosystem in a browser was a bust, and Firefox was a winner. Just the Mozilla devs haven’t stopped being bitter about it. The old Netscape motivations around the project have been a boat anchor.
There was the Firefox mobile OS but apparently that didn’t pan out too well it seems. I remember vaguely hearing about it long ago, but not by much.
I remember that! Pretty sure I tried it out on my Nexus 5. It was cool but even then it seemed an impossible hill to climb. Looks like it was forked into a feature phone OS that’s maintained to this day!
I mean didn’t they achieve that? Today a lot of things are web based. Firefox is a powerful browser. Especially on Android. So if you want you can have your OS in a browser thingy…
Not at all. They created a great browser, which is what us end users wanted, but they never achieved their ecosystem goals.
Mozilla Suite, the thing discontinued seventeen years ago!?
Now all we need is that it provides a better experience than Chrome.
Meh, I’ll be honest and say that I’m not impressed by chrome in modern day. While I hate Microsoft, edge is a nicer browser to use than chrome, and that’s saying something
I agree, but I think that the normies like to use Chrome because… that’s what everyone is using, so I am eager to see how FF can give a better experience to the normal user.
Normies (also me) use Gmail, it’s easy when you login to your browser and you’re partially already authenticated everywhere else.
Same goes for android.
it’s easy when you login to your browser and you’re
partially already authenticatedautomatically sending your personal, private information everywhere else.FTFY
You’re correct, but the majority of normies don’t care. A lot of people don’t naturally feel a strong impulse towards privacy, so the fact that Google knows everything about them doesn’t really bother them.
It already does. I dislike using Chrome. Firefox works better, looks better, and containers are really useful to me.
I’ll stick to Safari. I don’t trust Mozilla any more than Google or Microsoft.
Ah yes, an open source popular browser that is made by a nonprofit organization is less trustworthy than a close source browser made by a public company
An open source organization with a track record of dubious user-hostile behavior.
Apple does not add plugins to my browser without my consent, nor do they show ads in my browser.
Isn’t Safari made by Apple? It’s not like Apple is some paragon of corporate virtue, why do you trust them?
If you’re running Safari, you’re already running their OS. If Apple wants to spy on you, they’ve already got the means to do so, so you’ve already decided to trust them.
Switching to Chrome or Firefox means trusting one more entity in addition to Apple. This expands your possible exposure.
Because with Apple I’m the paying customer, not the product being sold.
You’re always both. With Apple, it doesn’t sell your data, but it does sell curated ad space where they use your data to power their tools. While this is less of an invasion of privacy than Google or the atrocity of Meta’s privacy policy, it still exists on a spectrum of how much companies are willing to use your data for extra profit. I’m not saying to not use Apple, hell I’m currently using Microsoft Edge, but I think it’s important to understand that literally every profit-driven company is subject to the same systemic flaws and none of them can be completely trusted.
I’m sticking with Firefox until some dev decides to use it’s engine to make a new better browser. I truly enjoy Arc and Vivaldi, but since they’re chromium i don’t trust them an inch with my personal data.
LibreWolf is an option. It’s mainly just a Firefox fork but removes the adware and sponsored garbage as well as had more privacy-focused defaults, though IMO the defaults are too much and need to be toned back. No ads though so it’s 100% worth the switch.
Have you ever tried WaterFox?
since they’re chromium i don’t trust them an inch with my personal data.
This is such a ridiculous position. Do you have any evidence at all that every Chromium browser (even the ones specifically designed to avoid this) are transmitting your personal data?
Probably more/better fingerprinting techniques for chromium engine browsers but I feel like if invasive telemetry was discovered in the open-source codebase of the chromium engine we’d hear about it.
Yes, or it would just be removed.
Evidence? OF COURSE!
Have you even tried searching for it?
Google even says so for Chromium on its own official page!
https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/144289/privacy-with-chromium
You don’t need to trust us. Trust Google, they are telling you legally if you want to listen.
Also, look up the handful of open bugs on the Debian but tracker, where known people, with name and faces (I’ve met some on conferences), showcase and share how Chromium calls home and sends encrypted data. They share their Wireshark logs.
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=792580;msg=53
Look up how Debian removed Chromium for a time, until some of it got removed upstream.
And all of this doesn’t mean that Google cannot re-introduce it or add different approaches in new updates.
Plus, Google actively creates and pushes for their “standards” via Chrome(ium), which allows them to push for even more surveillance.
In addition, Chromium is not a community project. It’s developed behind closed doors, with a secret roadmap, and a code dump happens on release. That’s no way to develop the 90% of web browser market that society needs in this day and age. But, don’t think you will care about that, do you? you are happy with papa Google for the foreseeable.
Have you even tried searching for it?
Of course I have. I’ve never found any substantiation, which is why I’m asking. I use them every day so I would certainly like to know if there is, but the concerns I constantly see only apply to Chrome, and not Chromium-based browsers.
Google even says so for Chromium on its own official page!
This is specifically for the Chromium browser, not Chromium-based browsers. I know, it’s confusing. Chromium is basically just the open-sourced version of Chrome.
Plus, Google actively creates and pushes for their “standards” via Chrome(ium), which allows them to push for even more surveillance.
This is yet another item attributed to Chrome and it’s users. You can totally create a Chromium fork that adheres to conventional standards.
How hard can you simp for Vivaldi. Jesus Christ.
You don’t think Google themselves admitting that Chromium has the same privacy notice is substantial? What more could you possibly need?
What’s worse is that Vivaldi took an open source browser with a bunch of privacy concerns, added some things and closed the source. And you think it’s somehow less of a cause of concern.
You’re nuts.
How hard can you simp for Vivaldi. Jesus Christ.
I use 5 different browsers, zero of which are Vivaldi, and thus do not “simp” for Vivaldi. The only “simping” I do is for the truth. The Google hate train is valid but misplaced in this instance.
You don’t think Google themselves admitting that Chromium has the same privacy notice is substantial?
You’re simply deliberately misreading my comment because what I said is not that it’s unsubstantial, I said that it’s inaccurate. Google does not and cannot have any control over any Chromium forks or their respective individual privacy policies’. This statement only pertains to the Chromium web browser.
I can see that you have no interest in an honest discussion so I won’t be engaging with you further. Bye.
Google does not and cannot have any control over any Chromium forks
That is not true. I remember several chromium-based browser developers saying for several changes made by google to chromium that they can’t afford the maintenance burden to reverse it.
One instance of that happening is switching the addon framework to manifest v3, which severely degrades the functionality of browser firewalls, like uBlock Origin, by restricting (for “security reasons”, apparently) the amount of network filters they can apply (and maybe with other changes too, I don’t remember it exactly).
But there were also other instances of this happening, which I don’t remember right now. Maybe also when they released the first version with FLoC.
And then I think these 2 (anti)features (even any of them alone) also qualify for invasions of privacy, and they are present in most of the chromium based browsers.
I remember several chromium-based browser developers saying for several changes made by google to chromium that they can’t afford the maintenance burden to reverse it.
…reverse what?
manifest v3
uBlock already solved this issue and still for other browsers it was never a problem in the first place, because they have domain-blocking built into the browser itself.
Know why? Because. They’re. Not. Chrome.
Do you really think there is Google telemetry in all chromium based browsers? lol
Of course I have. I’ve never found any substantiation, which is why I’m asking. I use them every day so I would certainly like to know if there is, but the concerns I constantly see only apply to Chrome, and not Chromium-based browsers.
Just run WIreshark against your Chromium then. Enjoy.
This is specifically for the Chromium browser, not Chromium-based browsers. I know, it’s confusing. Chromium is basically just the open-sourced version of Chrome.
Did you read the link I posted?
Let me copy-paste directly from the Chromium office page for you then:
Additional Information on Chromium, Google Chrome, and Privacy
Features that communicate with Google made available through the compilation of code in Chromium are subject to the Google Privacy Policy.
There, you have it. Now you can try moving more goalposts again, and provide excuses for them.
This is yet another item attributed to Chrome and it’s users. You can totally create a Chromium fork that adheres to conventional standards.
Nah it’s not. I’m talking about Google pushing and implementing IETF standards that hamstring privacy. They are open standards, but they are malicious. That a standard is open doesn’t mean is doing things that are not ethical.
To me, it’s obvious that you don’t even want to look for proof. Why so hell-bent on taking the stance of a state-level billionare corporation built by extracting privacy from users? How do you think they got there?
Or do you have something specific against the legal non-profit organization that is Mozilla?
To me it’s clear, based on your personal attacks, that you have no interest in an honest discussion so I will not engage with you further. Goodbye.
Personal attacks? Jesus, you are a little cupcake.
This is such a ridiculous position.
I’m not the original person you responded to, but I am going to go out on a limb here and say that I disagree. While I personally do not think that all Chromium browsers (especially since there are projects like
ungoogled-chromium) transmit your personal data, I can’t verify this myself because the Chromium codebase is far too much of an undertaking for myself to review.While the same is also true for Firefox (and really any potential open source browser), on a pure personal-trust factor I trust Mozilla/Firefox to be more caring about protecting my personal data than I do Google, who literally revolves around data collection. Inevitably its a moot point for me since I do use Google services anyways, but I don’t think its that far reaching for someone who potentially doesn’t to take the original person’s stance.
I can’t verify this myself because the Chromium codebase is far too much of an undertaking for myself to review.
No, but there are several people and organizations that can and do that would be screaming from the rooftops if there was some sort of telemetry that they could not remove.
I trust Mozilla/Firefox to be more caring about protecting my personal data than I do Google, who literally revolves around data collection.
You don’t need to trust Google because Chromium-based projects are not made by Google. They are forks of the open-sourced Chromium, made by completely independent organizations, explicitly for the purpose of removing telemetry.
People are seemingly incapable of understanding that Chromium-based browsers are not Chrome, nor are they Chromium.
While I personally do not think that all Chromium browsers (especially since there are projects like ungoogled-chromium) transmit your personal data, I can’t verify this myself because the Chromium codebase is far too much of an undertaking for myself to review.
Don’t you think that, with so many contributors and projects having eyes on it (arguably more so than on gecko), if there was foul play wouldn’t anyone have sounded the alarm?
but they did sound the alarm? Debian took Chromium out of their repos for a time because they found unreported telemetry sent encrypted back to Google. All the info is on the net. You just need to read it.
All the info is on the net. You just need to read it.
“The net” is kind of a big place. I’ve researched “the net” on this subject quite extensively and come up empty-handed so maybe you’d like to share where you found this information?
It sounds like you’re referring to the Chromium web browser, which is not the topic of discussion. Rather it is Chromium-based web browsers such as Brave, Vivaldi, Edge, Opera, etc.
Brave Browser
Brave is icky. It’s smeared in crypto and they were caught injecting affiliate links in 2020.
Argh, I originally finished typing out a reply and went to upvote your reply - which apparently causes Lemmy to close the reply box, sending my original reply to
/dev/null, sigh…What I was originally going to say, in a more abridged version is that plenty of people audit and review open source libraries such as OpenSSL which ended up having a massive vulnerability that no one knew about in the form of Heartbleed for two years - so while its possible someone would ring the alarm bell on Chromium, its also possible that they wouldn’t (through no fault of their own).
At the end of the day, I still believe that my own personal trust in a project is going to trump the stamp of approval from people that I have zero connection to. There have been countless times in my life where someone said that
Xwas okay, and I blindly trusted them instead of relying on my own judgment only to inevitably bitten in the ass when they ended up being wrong. Even down to medications that I’ve taken in the past that were deemed fine by multiple doctors, which have now resulted in me having permanent negative side effects that I’ll have to deal with for the rest of my life.I appreciate your level headed reply (as opposed to the passive aggressive “people do not understand chromium is NOT CHROME” reply), and to your credit I would say its probably significantly harder to forget to remove a ton of telemetry from a project than it is to not catch one line of code that accidentally causes a massive vulnerability to a project - but if Firefox works just fine for me, I don’t see a need to even have to take a (probably small) gamble on Chromium.
I don’t even advocate to others that they shouldn’t use Chromium for the reason that was listed in the top parent comment (usually if someone does ask me how I feel about my choice of browser, I will tell them that I prefer Firefox because it doesn’t have a dominant position of marketshare over web standards), but I did feel it was worth retorting that the parent comment was in fact, not really a “ridiculous position to take”.
Fair enough! FWIW, I also think your stance on the matter is fairly level-headed and well thought out, even if I’m more or less on the other side of the fence.
The mere fact that you’re forced to use a Google service for synchronicity between devices? Yes, Firefox has the same but i find them much more trustworthy.
Give me a browser that allows for using a synchronization service of my own choice.
Decentralize!
The mere fact that you’re forced to use a Google service for synchronicity between devices?
Uh…was that supposed to be a question? If so, the answer is “no”.
Firefox rules
Chrome drools
I use firefox and I like it but they have been dumbfying their UI and nagging users to use pockets.
Why on earth would I need to go to about window to update? Also, I don’t know where to find extensions so I just choose addons then manually go to extensions.
Yup, the new FF UI is unbearable. And it was the last straw (among other things) that convinced me that it was time to switch to something else (after 20 years).
Yeah i can’t stand it either, stayed on the old UI for 18 months or so until sites started breaking. I’m using this mod to make it work like the old UI and it’s exactly the same, plus you only need to setup once updates haven’t broken it for me so far. https://github.com/black7375/Firefox-UI-Fix
Thanks, I already knew about the “unfuck” fix made by Black. Too late for me, anyway. I have realized that Mozilla doesn’t care about feedbak or users’ opinion (or the users at all…), so I don’t feel like supporting them anymore.
By the way, the fix is fine. But it is a matter of principle: people shouldn’t have to waste their time unfucking Mozilla’s fuckups and users shouldn’t have to waste their time trying to make a browser usable. So, congrats, Moz Corp, you’ve managed to lose an hardcore user.
May I ask what are you using now?
Brave. I was between it and Vivaldi. Finally settled on Brave.
Hm, where do they nag? I don’t know what Pockets is and haven’t seen anything about it.
I also never manually update Firefox, I just restart when it tells me it’s downloaded an update.Every other update would show an ad to use it. Also, you cannot remove it afaik.
You can remove it
Also, you cannot remove it afaik.
Remove it where? If its the toolbar, you can just remove it from the
Customize Toolbarmenu. If it is the home/new tab page, you can remove it by clicking the settings gear at the top right of that page and disable the option (or from the main brwoser settings area). If you use Firefox Account syncing (or just sync your Firefox profile folder via other means) then that option persists across different devices accordingly too. This page explains how to disable any Pocket integration, including the ones that I’ve mentioned here, along with even the “Save to Pocket” menu entry that comes up when right clicking a link.You can with about:config flags, you can also set the API url to some random shit so it can’t even ping Mozilla.
Would love a more customizable UX for Firefox and the option of a more compressed UI. Aesthetically it definitely needs a rethink.
Going to the about window to check for updates is a decades old thing among thousands of different software(it’s the same in Edge, Chrome, Opera(old and new), etc)
Clicking on the “Add-ons and Themes” literally takes you straight to the extension tab(extensions are add-ons).
First of all, I know other browsers keep update in about page, however, this is why I don’t use them. It wasn’t used to be in a burger menu tho.
Second, add-ons and theme isn’t saying exactly “extensions”. Also, it would take you to the last tab which is by default plug-ins. try it.
I like Firefox and I’d support the developers but they should stick to their roots to keep their current user base.
Second, add-ons and theme isn’t saying exactly “extensions”. Also, it would take you to the last tab which is by default plug-ins. try it.
You can click the Extensions toolbar icon that was added by default for everyone a bit ago, and at the bottom of the list of your extensions it has a “Manage Extensions” option (it is actually pinned to the bottom of the visible menu, so even if you have enough extensions that it “overflows” into a scroll menu, the Manage Extensions button is always visible). That page lets you remove / configure any currently installed extensions, and has a search bar for the Extensions store as well.
Agreed, this is the main reason I switched to Librewolf over official Firefox. Firefox has devolved into adware.
adware
That’s a gigantic stretch
Browsers are cyclical like fashion, I guess.
Remember when chrome launched and they had all those commercials showing how fast it loaded webpages?
If browsers are like fashion, Firefox is a well-tailored suit. Never out of style.
@imaqtpie @The_Picard_Maneuver, in Vivaldi you can create your own style to your like and need, or also download one of te more than 3500 user made themes.
https://themes.vivaldi.netYeah, Vivaldi is the best chromium-based browser. Personally, I use it a secondary for sites that were made to only display right on chromium browsers. Librewolf, a privacy-focused fork of Firefox, is the one I use as a main browser.
Vivaldi looks cool, and I have heard tell that Mozilla is far from its former glory, but my user experience on Firefox is excellent so I have no reason to switch
@imaqtpie, that is the point, the best browser is the one which suits the best your needs and use.
Apart of Vivaldi as main browser, I also have Firefox and the Otter Browser for test reasons (f.Exmpl to see if an isue is due to Chromium or general, FF with Gecko and Otter with Qt5)the best browser is the one which suits the best your needs and use
This is objectively false. The best browser is the one that gets the job done and doesn’t have endless absolutely terrible security vulnerabilities (e.g. IE before they switched to Edge which is just Chrome) or intentionally leaks your private information (e.g. Edge leaking every site you visit to Bing and Chrome doing the same but with Google).
Also, from a performance perspective “the best” is obviously objectively measurable and Firefox just took the crown which is what the post is all about. Realistically though both Chrome and Firefox have had completely acceptable levels of performance (imperceptible differences to normal humans) for like a decade. So it’s probably not that big a deal.
A bigger deal for normies using their browser IMHO is memory utilization which is a much bigger factor than, “how fast does the browser load and run HTML, CSS, and JavaScript?” Just ask Google how much more memory efficient Firefox is! LOL
https://www.google.com/search?channel=fs&client=ubuntu&q=firefox+vs+chrome+memory+utilization
Yeah for sure. You’re much more advanced than I am, let’s just say it’s not a coincidence that I’m on sh.itjust.works 😅
@imaqtpie, I don’t think so, I only a normal user with the experience since my first modem with 56k.
Vivaldi since 7 years, which fits all my needs, due it’s more a Internet suite than a browser, with all the funcionality you mauy need, without using extensions, apart of the end2end encrypted sync with Vivaldi Mobile, without sharing userdata to Google (Alphabet), what Mozilla does.Does it have adblock?
Three chrome users said, “nuh uh!”.
If only. Every chrome user said the same thing they’ve said after every other overtake. A poignantly disinterested silence. They just don’t care.
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Firstly: Firefox can import your Chrome passwords and if you enable/sign up for Firefox Sync (which is better–privacy wise–than your Google account) you’ll be able to use them with Firefox mobile (it’ll sync your settings and bookmarks too, obviously).
Secondly: You can export your logins from Chrome to a .csv file (hamburger menu in the settings… somewhere; I forget, sorry) which can also be imported into Firefox (https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/import-login-data-file) and other password managers. I literally just tested importing both Chrome’s and Firefox’s saved logins into a KeePassXC database and it worked fine (it didn’t automatically figure out which field was what though so I had to manually tell it which column was the password, URL, etc but no big).
Firefox also has the same .csv password export feature BTW.
Malicious actors thank you for your patronage and passwords. Get an app with a browser extension
You can easily export passwords from Chrome as a CSV and directly import them to Firefox.
Just use a 3rd party password manager, bitwarden will transfer them for you. Also, having used both, bitwarden is superior.
You can literally import passwords from chrome to bitwarden and use it in any browser with an extension. Bitwarden is so much more convenient
Not on my phone it’s not.
Firefox Sync works to keep your logins/passwords in sync on both Android and iOS (and the desktop version too, obviously).
When I changed from Chrome to Firefox a year ago or so, Firefox imported Chrome’s saved passwords, along with bookmarks and everything else.
I just love reading post like this, congrats Firefox and f*** Google!
I’ve been avoiding Chrome as devil avoids holy water for years. So I’m glad FF does well.
Fennec from fdroid, for android, is even better as it didnt originate from google play store. My understandong is Google Playstore injects data into the app package. I use fennec for my day to day access. It syncs with desktop Firefox so all my passwords and logins are there.
There is also Firefox Nightly for “developers”. I use it for the custom add on packages and doom scrolling.
Google playstore does not inject data in app packaging because it doesn’t own the signature key. F-Droid, however, does. I mean, they own the signature, but they do not inject or modify apps. They could, though.
do you know of any app developers that publish their signature, so one can compare it with the one in Google Play?
I would love for my banks to do this, for example…
Some developers will publish their apps on github, you can download it, and use a different app to get the apk file from the app you get from the play store, and compare the hash of the file. If they’re identical then Google didn’t meddle with it. If they’re not, either Google did, or the developer releases a different version to Google Play.
There’s been a few comments on here talking about Firefox on Android being laggy compared to Chrome on Android.
Nobody seems to have mentioned this, but the main reason this is and/or appears to be the case is because Firefox is capped at 60Hz, whereas Chrome will display at 90Hz, making it feel much smoother.
No, I have no idea why.
Edit: The above is misinformation after I did some research - it appears that resisting fingerprinting causes the browser to set itself to 60Hz, but this can be disabled to get your screen’s refresh rate, but of course this means throwing away a privacy protection…
Could be one of those “optimisations” some brands make. I wasn’t getting 120Hz on all apps on my OnePlus device. I had to force it with developer options or some 3rd party app. Gave up, installed a custom ROM (LineageOS), and it’s 120Hz all the time without any issues 😎
Great, now do the phone browser
I’ve been using FF on mobile for couple of weeks now, I dont see any major issues, in fact, no issues at all. Plus, it has extension support.
Why do people hate FF on mobile?
People hate on FF mobile? It works great for me. To be honest I think I like it more than the desktop FF.
No hate on FF mobile from me, but I can objectively say Chrome, at least visually and subjectively, performs noticably faster than FF. That said, I still prefer FF over Chrome.
My mobile FF install runs uBlock origin, which blocks youtube ads btw, this is enough for me to use it exclusively. That it syncs with my desktop FF is just a nice bonus.
any benefits over using newpipe?
i feel like its laggy
i use voyager for browsing lemmy on firefox, it often freeze while chromium fork doesn’t do that
Are you using a potato? I’ve never had an issue. FF with ublock ftw
I was happy with chrome performance. After switching to FF, based on the accolades on Lemmy, I’ve been mostly happy… But fuck if there’s not major lag at times. It isn’t connection related, as I’ve immediately popped over to Chrome for that site and had no issue.
I’m not unhappy with Firefox, but I notice it’s presence, which is not what I want in a browser.
iirc the firefox javacript interpreter is much slower than chrome’s. I guess the lag is most noticable in JavaScript heavy sites?
Idunno, i had mega lag after hitting enter on a duck duck go search in the address bar.
Actual answer?
Not a reason to hate it though, just a reason why sadly Chromium-based browsers are preferable for now
It lags a lot on some websites, but it’s fine for most
We don’t do that here
Get your forks out
Can anyone verify that this is also true for platforms beyond windows (what is plotted in the link by default)?
(I tried to change the plot to show macOS and Linux, but the plotting site is dubiously functional on mobile, plus there are a bewildering number of plot options with long, confusing names).
https://mozilla.social/@stevetex/110719022092047831
Here are the Linux results. macOS looks a bit different as well.
Awesome. What’s the difference between the three plots here?
Different tests on macOS. See the link for Linux
So I tested both FireFox
and Edge 
real quick and it’s true.Although, I enabled every security and privacy setting on both (just about the same set of extentions also). But even then, even with a lower score, Edge still feels much smoother to use. Also, every time test refreshed, FF flashed white for a split second as opposed to Edge’s black. Since I use dark mode and Dark Reader, it’s extremely annoying on FF’s part.
Chromium-based browsers still trounces Firefox on the Jetstream benchmark. I mean, I realize the Speedometer benchmark is supposed to test real-world scenarios, while Jetstream is more synthetic, but whatever work mozilla did to improve performance I’d expect to scale in other benchmarks too, so I’d expect Firefox to at least be bit closer to Chromium, even if losing a little.
Mozzila re-writing parts of the browser in the rust programming language has made a decent improvement to the performance. For those who aren’t to into programming rust is has a strict compiler, meaning better code quality (Less Bugs) and offers more optimization methods then other programming languages.
i had left firefox for a while due to the google ecosystem but i’m happy i came back to it.
Most Google web apps (Maps, Earth, Gmail, etc) work in Firefox.
Same. I have switched between the two several times, but I started on Firefox for a long time before switching, and now I’ve been back on Firefox for at least 5 years. There was definitely a good stretch of chrome in the early 2010s though.
Firefox is well clear by now. I’m also using the Android version, and I think it’s great.
Firefox on Android using Ublock Origin is as good as it can get.
Factos
Damn that’s huge improvements in a relatively short span of time. I’m just waiting for more features on Firefox Android.
What features are you missing?
For me, proper PWA support.
How is it not properly supported at the moment? Genuinely curious, I don’t use PWAs a lot but when I have it has worked fine with Firefox.
This is not so much related to “proper” PWA support, but you can’t install PWAs as desktop apps from Firefox, whereas you can from Chrome/Edge. It’s the only reason I use Edge, just to locally install PWAs.
I use this addon to get “installable” PWAs and it works great for me. I use three installed PWAs regularly and have several more installed.
The experience is not as smooth, it just looks snappier in Chrome. Also some features (like wake locks) are not supported.
Not sure, but Wiki has a bunch of footnotes that may explain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_web_app#Browser_support
Edit: it’s just this article, which seems like too much fluff to bother reading https://www.fastcompany.com/90597411/mozilla-firefox-no-ssb-pwa-support
For me, I l’d like to go into reader mode from custom tabs, for reader mode to sync with system color, and more colors on reader mode.
Also Material You/Dynamic Color for the UI would be awesome.
Improved PWA support would be nice, definitely lagging behind Chrome in terms of PWA implementation right now. Fission doesn’t exist on Android yet, only desktop.
Have your collections be synced to your profile, which definitely seems like a design oversight right now.
Also better extension support since right now to add the non supported list it’s a very complicated and convoluted process to do so that feels hacked in.
Regardless, I’m still very happy with the state of the Android browser and it by far beats out the other browsers imo. Stuff like uBlock Origin, much better reader mode then Chrome, and first party bottom toolbar puts it miles above the alternatives for me. Also because Firefox is awesome. I use a fork called Fennec which is just Firefox Stable without telemetry/analytics/proprietary blobs removed, and is available on f-droid.
Be aware that Firefox Android supports addons. So maybe there is already a fix…
Seriously, I learned Firefox supports addons on mobile and suddenly the Internet became useable again on my old smartphone. Ads made browsing for me borderline impossible.
Yeah. After years I had to make an urgent booking via chrome browser in an airport on my mobile. The website didn’t work with firefox. when using chrome, I always add unlock origin and similar add blockers before I actually browse - and I was surprised, that Google Chrome on android doesn’t even allow any extensions at all!
@swnt @Extrahammer, Vivaldi Android has an inbuild ad and trackerblocker, same as in Desktop, apart an own feature to play YouTube Videos, because of this you don’t need the YT app in Android.
But how would that solve the “works only on chrome” issue? It’s certainly very bad website design to make the website only work with chrome and not other Browsers. And neither Firefox nor Vivaldi are blink engine based (which is what chromium, edge, safari etc. use). I’d have the same problem with Vivaldi as with Firefox. When this problem isn’t there, I prefer to stick with firefox.
@swnt, Vivaldi is Chromium based (Blink). Never had any problems with Vivaldi in any page, but I know that some pages us the discriminating Browsersniffings, which should be illegal, but even with this I never had a problem, because Vivaldi appears by in their UA as Chrome, ever since Vivaldi removed their branding from the UA a few years ago because of these criminal practices of some pages.
Now in the Desktop browser you can even use BingChat, because Vivaldi automaticly switch its UA to EDGEAh, cool. Thanks!
Blokada
Yes and they’re awesome, but there’s some QoL features in looking for. Like being able to enter reader mode from custom tabs, and set reader mode color scheme to match system theme, and more colors. Also dynamic color (Material You" support would be sweet.
