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Firefox Focus – A new private browser for iOS and Android

blog.mozilla.org

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Re: Firefox Focus – A new private browser for iOS and Android

#51

So, if I understand this correctly... It's a regular browser, but like you're always in private mode + it's got a built-in ad blocker? If I want to check Hacker News let's say 5 times throughout the day and feel like leaving a comment, I have to login again, without autocomplete..? Maybe I'm missing something.

Your assumptions are correct.

Re: Firefox Focus – A new private browser for iOS and Android

#53

So, if I understand this correctly... It's a regular browser, but like you're always in private mode + it's got a built-in ad blocker? If I want to check Hacker News let's say 5 times throughout the day and feel like leaving a comment, I have to login again, without autocomplete..? Maybe I'm missing something.

Your assumptions are correct.

Mh.

It's amazing how far apart I got from every single one of Mozilla's visions, from using Firefox as my main browser 8 years ago.

I love the fact that—as an example—as I travel Google shows me tools that I'll be interested in, like a currency converter, translate + word of the day in the local language, etc. etc.

I would absolutely hate having my main browser constantly forget who I am. I feel almost blessed every time I visit a website that I can log in with one click (or I'm already logged in), and when I sign up or buy stuff I can autofill my name, email, address, and credit card without having to start from scratch.

I'm not ready to give up extreme convenience and lots of time for the ideal of safeguarding my privacy with Google or Apple.

Re: Firefox Focus – A new private browser for iOS and Android

#54
After nearly a decade of using Chrome I decided to give FF another shot, having initially switched over due to slowness, an insatiable thirst for memory, and the single process model. I installed on both Windows (10 Pro) and Mac OS.

Initial impressions were good; it seemed snappy, I liked the UI, and it was using less memory than Chrome with the same number of tabs open. A couple of days in things went downhill.

On Mac OS I was getting short freezes every ~10 seconds. I found similar complaints ranging over a period of nearly five years, but no clear resolution. This morning I had FF lock up multiple times while editing Jira tickets. Since FF is still a single process, the entire browser was locked up and required a hard kill, which cost me work.

So, no thanks mozilla, back to Chrome. I know this is one person with one experience, but man, this one experience was pretty off-putting. Maybe I'll try again in another decade.

Re: Firefox Focus – A new private browser for iOS and Android

#55

So, if I understand this correctly... It's a regular browser, but like you're always in private mode + it's got a built-in ad blocker? If I want to check Hacker News let's say 5 times throughout the day and feel like leaving a comment, I have to login again, without autocomplete..? Maybe I'm missing something.

The purpose is to be used for quick browsing, like Google Searches, without worrying with trackers and someone getting your history.

You can always use incognito mode, but this is more convenient.

It is also really fast and lightweight, which is a plus for most mobile devices.

It is not meant to replace your main browser (probably).

Also, as rcthompson said in another comment:

> This is useful to use as your default browser. It has a quick way to open the same link in another browser, so you can use it as a sort of quarantine to vet unknown links before exposing your main browser and all its juicy user data to a new website.

Re: Firefox Focus – A new private browser for iOS and Android

#56
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> " Firefox Klar is a version of Firefox Focus for Germany, Austria and Switzerland with user activity tracking disabled by default." [1] > "For clients that have "send anonymous usage data" enabled Focus sends a "core" ping and an "event" ping to Mozilla's telemetry service. Sending telemetry can be disabled in the app's settings. Builds of "Focus for Android" have telemetry enabled by default ("opt-out") while buil…

What's special about Germany, Austria and Switzerland that they don't get the user activity tracking?

Enforced strict privacy laws.

Could be related to having a history of having to deal with mass surveillance, see stasi.

Re: Firefox Focus – A new private browser for iOS and Android

#57
post #54

After nearly a decade of using Chrome I decided to give FF another shot, having initially switched over due to slowness, an insatiable thirst for memory, and the single process model. I installed on both Windows (10 Pro) and Mac OS. Initial impressions were good; it seemed snappy, I liked the UI, and it was using less memory than Chrome with the same number of tabs open. A couple of days in things went downhill. On M…

This is not relevant to the subject of the article.

Re: Firefox Focus – A new private browser for iOS and Android

#58
post #54

After nearly a decade of using Chrome I decided to give FF another shot, having initially switched over due to slowness, an insatiable thirst for memory, and the single process model. I installed on both Windows (10 Pro) and Mac OS. Initial impressions were good; it seemed snappy, I liked the UI, and it was using less memory than Chrome with the same number of tabs open. A couple of days in things went downhill. On M…

You probably used version 55. If you're willing to give it another try, it might work quite differently once is on version 57, Nov 14, from what I last read: massive changes are coming, but mainly starting from that version.

Re: Firefox Focus – A new private browser for iOS and Android

#60
post #34

I installed Firefox Focus for iOS simply for its content blocker. I still prefer using mobile safari, but augmented with three content blockers: - Firefox Focus, which blocks all sorts of stuff - 1Blocker, which blocks all sorts of stuff - Unobstruct, which blocks Medium's "dickbar" popups.

Made me laugh to see that Gruber's term is catching on

Same. Used dickbar in conversation recently to almost pure silence. Very apt.
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