Firefox for Android now defaults to desktop websites on tablets and foldables

Ben Schoon | Dec 2 2024 - 12:25 pm PT

Mozilla has updated its Firefox browser on Android with support for defaulting to the desktop version of websites on large-screen Android devices such as tablets and foldables.

In the latest release of Firefox for Android, v133, Mozilla has changed the default behavior for “large screen” devices to automatically open websites in their desktop modes rather than mobile modes, just as Google Chrome tends to do.

Google introduced that behavior in Chrome in late 2023 on “premium” Android tablets, though Mozilla makes no such distinction.

Desktop mode browsing is now enabled by default for large devices. This can be controlled via a preference under Settings in “Site settings” previously named “Site permissions”.

Unlike Chrome, too, this also happens on foldables. In brief testing, we found that the latest Mozilla Firefox update on Android also opens websites in desktop mode on book-style foldables such as the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Google Chrome does not currently do this.

This update to Firefox also marks content that is copied from a Private Browsing mode as “sensitive” in line with Android’s ability to mask clipboard items in notifications. Mozilla explains that “text copied to the clipboard in Private Browsing mode is now treated as sensitive content. On Android 13 and later, clipboard notifications are masked for added privacy.”