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Reinventing Firefox for Android

blog.mozilla.org

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Re: Reinventing Firefox for Android

#161

Post by silversconfused »

samueloph wrote: post #71
vast wrote: post #65

Just yesterday I thought it is really annoying that mobile browsers put the address bar on top, even worse if it is moving in and out. That way it is impossible come close to a native look and feel. Now FF puts the address bar on bottom. Quite a suprise but I think it is a pretty smart change.

I can't understand how UX designers come up with the idea that putting stuff on the top of the screen* is a good thing, and even keep reiterating through that. That's an honest question, anybody knows what's the motivation behind that? * or, places that are hard to reach for most users

They are thinking like letterhead.

Re: Reinventing Firefox for Android

#162

Post by sciurus »

jeroenhd wrote: post #153

I can't get it to work with my custom certificate authority (which I use to analyse traffic coming from my phone every now and then to see if any apps are leaking personal info). Also, though I know better, I also have some intranet services running with a certificate signed by that authority because the domains are dynamically generated and I can't automate my DNS to get wildcard letsencrypt certificates. Normal mob…

There's an issue for this at https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/2286

Re: Reinventing Firefox for Android

#163

Post by lucb1e »

Sammi wrote: post #158
lucb1e wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used it in 2013 and found it constantly degrading with each update. They removed a major feature to reflow text to fit your screen nicely, worsened the UI, and other things I don't remember anymore. After using an old version for a while, I tried another browser, and holy crap that was 10 times faster as well as being customizable the way I was used to from Firefox desktop. Not open source, not as featureful (no ad…

Have you tried a new version of android Firefox recently? Experiences from years ago aren't really relevant any more, as Firefox has gotten a lot of work done the last couple of years.

I still have Fennec (Firefox from F-Droid) installed, I didn't notice any major changes since I stopped using it. I use it when there is some web application that expects a modern browser and the webview can't handle it.

But then, I also didn't think 57 for desktop was a big update. For me, it made zero speed difference (Firefox has always been fast on my laptop), on Linux with vertical tabs there is almost zero UI difference, and the only new thing was having to throw out all add-ons with the bathwater. Somehow, it seems I always experience things differently from other people.

Re: Reinventing Firefox for Android

#164

Post by amenod »

lucideer wrote: post #132
abdulmuhaimin wrote: post #29

I dont envy Mozilla. The demographic that they're targeting are really hard to please.

You're probably right but, as a member of that demographic: - I use Firefox, and have done continuously for a long time. I don't intend to switch to anything else, despite being very unhappy with the experience in many ways, as I consider it to be the "least worst" - I genuinely believe there are very easily achievable low-hanging fruit that Mozilla could implement that would at least please a large swathe of their t…

> ...and then slapping Google tracking into everything they do...

Huh, I must have missed that - if true, this is a huge breach of trust for me. Do you have a link?

Re: Reinventing Firefox for Android

#165

Post by silversconfused »

Jonnax wrote: post #62
silversconfused wrote: post #18

Add extensions support and disable telemetry/remote-control by default (pushing updates where you control the code is remote control, don't even try to argue against that one).

Compile it from source rather than installing from the Google store if you are averse to auto updating application.

I have been, though it is very difficult.

Re: Reinventing Firefox for Android

#166

Post by kumarharsh »

m-p-3 wrote: post #125

Not fond of the bottom address bar, I guess I'm not used to it because I always tap the top-right corner to switch tabs... I just need to get it in my muscle-memory, not a big deal. I still cross my fingers this will be configurable at some point. My main gripe is that I feel like bookmarks are now a second-class citizen in Firefox Preview, they're not as accessible. I could see my mobile bookmarks right on the new t…

Bookmarks have become even more first-class now - just swipe up from your address bar anytime. Try it now ( in the Firefox preview).

Also, I feel the opposite regarding the address bar position - give it a few days, you'll absolutely love it. Edge on Windows Mobile had the same position, and it was a very nifty and time-saving UX. You can now use the phone one-handed more easily, even for small-handed people.

Re: Reinventing Firefox for Android

#167

Post by Qub3d »

rando9297 wrote: post #123
eco wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It should probably be noted that this Firefox Preview they are announcing doesn't yet have Add-On support. But I agree, uBlock Origin makes the mobile web far less painful. Also, I'll point out that you want to be using uBlock Origin, not uBlock. As I recall, Raymond Hill (the creator of uBlock) decided to hand over uBlock Firefox to one of the contributors to offload some of the maintenance burden but then the new o…

Last time I checked, Raymond Hill's website didn't even have a donation button. This is an incredibly generous stance for him to take but if he doesn't want money himself maybe he could collect funds for a charity. I really feel I owe someone for this software.

Raymond outlines his reasons for refusing donations on the ublock wiki, if anyone is curious: https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Why-don't-you-accept-...

One thing he (rightfully) points out is that the real power of ad-blocking solutions comes from the community-maintained blocking lists. In theory one could manually block every url they run across, but in practice we can use these tools (or a tool like pi-hole) almost effortlessly.

Re: Reinventing Firefox for Android

#168

Post by bscphil »

gloflo wrote: post #110

If there is one thing I miss from current mobile Firefox, it's text reflow. Opera mobile did it perfectly. I want to be able to zoom in or out and have text reflowed to the screen width. This makes the web magnitudes nicer to use on a small screen. No cut off lines, no 10 lines per screen. Just convenient freedom over the primary tool we interact on the web: Text.

I wonder if this does what you expect? https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/fit-text-to-w...

Re: Reinventing Firefox for Android

#169

Post by mikelward »

Don't bother sending feedback to the email address mentioned in the blog: it bounces.

  We're writing to let you know
  that the group you tried to 
  contact (firefox-preview-feedback)
  may not exist, or you may not
  have permission to post
  messages to the group...

Re: Reinventing Firefox for Android

#170

Post by tartinipaolo »

Jnr wrote: post #147
godelski wrote: post #129

To any Mozilla/Firefox developer reading this. I try to convert people to Firefox. The number one reason people switch, by far, is because mobile has add on support. So I say to push this front and center in marketing (I know this is a preview). People are reluctant to switch their desktop browser because chrome pretty much has the same features. But it they switch their mobile browsers they also switch their desktop…

I wish iOS version had addons to block ads. (I know Apple doesn't allow that) I still use it because of the synchronization and because Firefox is awesome. :)

True! Especially on the phone it bothers me terribly!
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