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.
Expand Expanding Close
Browser extensions are super useful on desktop platforms, but mobile browsers rarely support them. This week, Firefox for Android is taking a big step in changing that with support for over 450 new extensions available now.
Expand Expanding Close
Mozilla is opening the floodgates on extensions for Firefox on Android, with hundreds of new add-ons arriving in December.
Expand Expanding Close
YouTube has started cracking down on ad blockers, and now, that includes slowing down the loading time for anyone who has an ad blocker installed on any browser.
Expand Expanding Close
After Google started rolling out FLoC to some Chrome users as a replacement for third-party cookies, the technology has become rather controversial. Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari, and Mozilla Firefox have confirmed they don’t have immediate plans to adopt FLoC.
Expand Expanding Close
Firefox 85 for Android appears to have unceremoniously re-enabled the ability to playback DRM content on streaming sites like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and more.
Expand Expanding Close
One of the better recent features of the web is the ability for websites to be upgraded into standalone apps — called Progressive Web Apps — on your phone or desktop. Unfortunately, it seems Mozilla has discontinued the development of supporting Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) on desktop versions of Firefox.
Expand Expanding Close
Although Chrome dominates the mobile browser space on Android, Mozilla’s Firefox is a decent alternative with added — but limited — support for third-party extensions that make it a potential candidate for your browsing needs.
Expand Expanding Close
For a while now, Firefox has been working on a complete redesign for its Android browser known as “Fenix.” The updated browser delivers a lot of changes for the better, but it also cripples Mozilla’s extension support.
Expand Expanding Close
With Google constantly pushing for the “Next Billion Users,” there’s great need for web apps to run well on all devices and have good accessibility, and Google has provided the Lighthouse auditing tools to help developers accomplish that. To put Lighthouse in the hands of more web developers, Google has released it as a new Mozilla Firefox extension.
The first official Tor Browser for Android is now available to download allowing the truly privacy conscious the ability to have a stable build on their mobile devices.
Firefox 66 will now block auto-playing video and audio when pages launch on Android thanks to the latest update to the popular desktop and mobile browser.
Firefox Focus, Mozilla’s privacy focused browser for Android and iOS, has gotten a major update to its visuals and performance on Android today.
YouTube’s user interface has changed a lot over the past year, both on mobile devices and on the desktop. Apparently, though, that redesign is causing issues with some browsers…
YouTube TV has been a pretty awesome product so far, but its expansion to new platforms has been relatively slow. Recently, Google finally loosened its browser restriction on the service, allowing Firefox users to get in on the fun.
Google recently removed the convenient ‘view image’ button in Images, but thankfully there’s a Firefox extension that brings it back. Here’s how it all works…
Firefox Quantum brought a major update to Mozilla’s browser and it makes a lot of changes for the better. One of those changes is minor, but definitely an improvement — Google is once again the default search engine.
Google’s Allo messaging service often doesn’t get the attention it deserves, and that’s mainly because it’s not a very flexible option. When Allo finally debuted on the web, it still had some serious restrictions. Today, Google is expanding the service to more users.
Mozilla, a non-profit foundation that created the Firefox web browser, created a new mobile browser for iOS devices that allowed users to anonymously browse the world wide web. Today, Mozilla is finally bringing Firefox Focus to Android, introducing three new features to make the browser even more useful for users…
I’ve never been a big proponent of the stock Mail application in OS X, so I generally find myself relying on Gmail inside a browser for all of my email needs. In fact, I don’t have any accounts configured inside of the Mail app at all. With this in mind, I get frustrated when I accidentally click a mailto link while I’m using Chrome. Doing so forces the Mail app to open, which wastes time.
Wouldn’t it be better if you could configure Gmail to be the default mail client inside of Chrome or another browser? In this video tutorial, I’ll show you how easy it is to configure Chrome, Safari, and even Firefox to use Gmail as default.
Expand
Expanding
Close
You wouldn’t think the shifting installed bases of different Android versions would make for the most enthralling of videos, but there’s something oddly fascinating about this timelapse video created by animator Victor Bohush (via TNW).
His greatest hits also include similar videos for desktop browser shares (watch Chrome kill Internet Explorer) and Windows versions.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIvZ6mD5wjE]
Bored with your current flavor Android, but don’t want to flash a new ROM? You’re in luck. Firefox has today released an interesting “Developer Preview” version of their web-based Firefox OS.
The Firefox OS 2.5 Developer Preview is an experimental app that lets you use an almost-complete version of Firefox OS your device — without having to flash anything. The 88 mb APK behaves like any launcher you would find on the Play Store. However, it also has several system apps for making phone calls, messaging, sending emails, an app store etc. Of course, you can still launch your regular apps.
It’s a Developer Preview for a reason and the animations are rather slow on the device I was testing on (but it is much stable than you’d expect). There are some interesting UI ideas and features in Firefox OS, and since Firefox OS is catered towards lower end devices, it’s unlikely most people have tried Firefox OS. It makes for an interesting exploration. Head on over to the site to download the APK. There’s also an option to flash the OS if you want the full experience.
Firefox today has started rolling out an update to its Android app, bumping it to version 40.0. The update includes your normal host of bug fixes and performance improvements, as well as a pair of new features.
“Adblockers,” browser tools which work to hide ads from the web browsing experience, are a controversial topic of discussion among those in the media industry. And for good reason, as the media industry as a whole is in the midst of a large shift from creating content for – and earning a vast majority of revenue from – the print and desktop mediums, where large boxy ads have long reigned king. But when we talk about adblockers, the one tool we’re all probably referring to, the one which has become synonymous with the term, is Adblock Plus (ABP), and the company behind it has released a dedicated browser for Android…
