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Reinventing Firefox for Android

blog.mozilla.org

221–230 of 395 posts

Re: Reinventing Firefox for Android

#221
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. I hastily installed FF Preview and then immediately uninstalled it when I couldn't find where to install uBlock. They shouldn't have launched, or made an announcement, without some form of adblocking (native or plugin). I understand that it's a testing release, but they stand to lose out on many testers and users. While I am perfectly willing to be a guinea pig and use this as my daily driver, I am passionate…

Did you actually try it on a website with lots of ads? I've been using focus for the last 6 months or so and the tracker blocking also blocks many ads for me. Also there is blockada which blocks ads system wide.

> the tracker blocking also blocks many ads

It doesn't block ads. It blocks trackers that sometimes happen to be ads too. But when it comes to ad blocking, it's no better than Chrome.

Re: Reinventing Firefox for Android

#222
post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ...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?

Until it's provided I would assume that it's a gross misrepresentation/exaggeration.

Other than putting Google Analytics on all Mozilla properties as sibling commenters have already mentioned (link to info on that here [0]), there is also the following:

- as I mentioned in another comment, Firefox Preview comes with Google as a default search engine (not a huge issue) and with "search suggestions" enabled by default (which sends everything you ever type to Google).

- Even if you disable search suggestions (or change provider), Firefox has a built-in feature called "Google Safe Browsing" which collates every URL you visit and sends bulk reports to Google. This feature is only disable-able via the "here be dragons" about:config area.

- then there's Google Location Services, which sends your WiFi router SSID, SSIDs of routers in range, and hardware details, to Google. This is less clear cut as Mozilla's use of this service has been on-off over time, and varies per device. See[1]

[0] https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/privacy/websites/

[1] https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1512161

Re: Reinventing Firefox for Android

#225
post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. :)

iOS has native support for ad blockers.

iOS has native support for a subset of the rules in blockers like uBlock Origin.

Re: Reinventing Firefox for Android

#226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're certainly aware of how significant ad blocking extensions are. This release required a great quantity of features with only a six month timeline until now. We already support a very limited set of the WebExtensions API to offer features like Reader Mode. Rest assured that more features will land in the coming months. If you're a developer and you want to help us, our Github site is at this link. We mark easier…

You don't have to release unfinished software.

It is the nature of open source. I personally prefer it. Anyways, they didn't claim it was unfinished. Projects like these are never "finished".

Re: Reinventing Firefox for Android

#227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're certainly aware of how significant ad blocking extensions are. This release required a great quantity of features with only a six month timeline until now. We already support a very limited set of the WebExtensions API to offer features like Reader Mode. Rest assured that more features will land in the coming months. If you're a developer and you want to help us, our Github site is at this link. We mark easier…

You don't have to release unfinished software.

It's not released yet.

Re: Reinventing Firefox for Android

#228
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.

Well Edge on Windows Phone / Windows 10 Mobile also puts address bar on the bottom.

Re: Reinventing Firefox for Android

#230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're certainly aware of how significant ad blocking extensions are. This release required a great quantity of features with only a six month timeline until now. We already support a very limited set of the WebExtensions API to offer features like Reader Mode. Rest assured that more features will land in the coming months. If you're a developer and you want to help us, our Github site is at this link. We mark easier…

You don't have to release unfinished software.

There's no such thing as finished software.
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