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A new browsing experience arrives in Firefox for Android Nightly

blog.mozilla.org

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Re: A new browsing experience arrives in Firefox for Android Nightly

#111

Post by BlackLotus89 »

Zhyl wrote: post #44

Quite a lot of negativity from HN so far, so I'll add some counter. I've been using the Firefox preview since it was announced and overall have found it to be a vast improvement on the previous incarnation. Tab management is much more intuitive and easier on the thumbs, the URL bar being at the bottom is jarring at first but soon becomes much easier to use, the performance is similar to the Firefox Focus which I had…

> Tab management is much more intuitive and easier on the thumbs

It's worse if you have many tabs and the compartmentalisation feature is not flexible enough to be used with many tabs. Oh and the missing preview image is annoying when I'm looking for a site, because it's easier to look for a tab by looking at it then reading every title

> the URL bar being at the bottom is jarring at first but soon becomes much easier to use

yeah I love the idea and it kind of works. problem is that _it doesn't stay down_ when I want to edit an url I first have to click on the bottom and then at the top as well. I really often want to edit the url I have in my browser and this is so annoying I can't even describe it.

> the performance is similar to the Firefox Focus which I had previously switched to from the main Firefox app.

No it probably isn't. For me firefox preview has the same slow downs as normal firefox for android. A few seconds to open and then a few seconds to show my tabs (oneplus 5 + ~150 tabs).

If I just wanted a fast browser with adblock I would use "Lightning" (available in fdroid), but I want addons. Every other feature is available in every other browser.

Re: A new browsing experience arrives in Firefox for Android Nightly

#112

Post by BlackLotus89 »

jaynetics wrote: post #110
BlackLotus89 wrote: post #105

If the nightly beta is like firefox preview then it's too early for it. 1) addons don't work yet 2) sharing of media files doesn't work https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/3621 3) you can't add exceptions for ssl certificates https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/1168 And it's all in all more buggy then firefox for me.... I really welcome a new approach, but since in my extensive testing it perfor…

> And it's all in all more buggy I've used it as main browser for a while and have the same impression. For instance it simply crashes when logging in to certain websites, even after a clean install. Probably some bug with cookies. Edit: it also still uses more battery than Chrome for me. Apart of that it's a top browser.

Yeah I got similar problems. I stopped using it a while and always come back to check out if it got more stable or if my bugs where fixed/features implemented and nothing really changed (I think one or two bugs I reported got solved)

I don't really want one of the main applications I use on mobile to crash on me

Re: A new browsing experience arrives in Firefox for Android Nightly

#113

Post by reportgunner »

fwn wrote: post #70
joseph2342 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does it offer that Firefox does not ?

People here seem to "hope" that extension support will be implemented. If my stable Firefox for Android gets updated into a browser without uBlock Origin I will immediately switch to some chromish alternative with adblocking. There's no reason for firefox for android once extension support is gone, featurewise.

Try the duckduckgo android browser, most ads fail in it without extensions required.

My favorite feature is the "fire" icon that closes all tabs, deletes all cookies and history and basically reinitializes the browser.

Re: A new browsing experience arrives in Firefox for Android Nightly

#114

Post by [deleted] »

fwn wrote: post #72
mcjiggerlog wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

WebExtension support in theory is coming in Q1 - https://github.com/orgs/mozilla-mobile/projects/44 Regardless, Firefox Preview already blocks ads and trackers perfectly fine the built-in tracking protection. I've not seen an ad in the months I've been using it.

Reddit, Facebook, Amazon, Youtube and Googles search ads aren't affected by the built-in tracking protection at all. That alone are half the pages most non-tech people (like my parents) usually browse.

[deleted]

Re: A new browsing experience arrives in Firefox for Android Nightly

#115

Post by SAI_Peregrinus »

endothrowho333 wrote: post #92
hd4 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not you, I only opened the article to see if they had dealt with input lag and just lag in general and I get 6 paragraphs of unwanted marketing speak until I even get close to something resembling actual changes. If anyone from Mozilla is reading this, just get to the facts next time, don't insult us by throwing a ton of marketing babble at us, we don't care.

That marketing babble is there for the same reason the majority of YouTube videos are >10 minutes and filled with the same filler: Google's ranking algorithm. For YouTube videos it's mean watch time. Filler babble pumps up those numbers. For Google, it's mean read time. Filler babble also pumps up this number. However, it also ranks higher directly because it's considered a "long form" piece instead of a soundbite, a…

They could put the actual content in understandable form at the top, and leave the page of marketing babble for after.

Re: A new browsing experience arrives in Firefox for Android Nightly

#116

Post by RadioactiveMan »

BlackLotus89 wrote: post #105

If the nightly beta is like firefox preview then it's too early for it. 1) addons don't work yet 2) sharing of media files doesn't work https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/3621 3) you can't add exceptions for ssl certificates https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/1168 And it's all in all more buggy then firefox for me.... I really welcome a new approach, but since in my extensive testing it perfor…

> 1) addons don't work yet

It'll be interesting to see if this change is going to get rid of extension support or not. I'm a Firefox fan, but uBlock Origin is more important than the browser.

Re: A new browsing experience arrives in Firefox for Android Nightly

#117

Post by jeroenhd »

Firefox preview is an interesting experiment with decent speed and a nice layout.

However there are some big blockers for me before I can use this browser. One is bypassing TLS errors (or preferably finally allowing me to use my own certificate authority for some internal services). Right now the issue is on hold and nobody from the Firefox team seems to. Be working on dealing with certificates.

The other is the addon issue, but I have faith thst those will work once the preview goes mainstream.

If Firefox goes live without those two points, I'm going over to brave. I like Mozilla and I want a second browser engine for the web, but basic functionality like this should not be foregone for the sake of "bringing new experiences".

Re: A new browsing experience arrives in Firefox for Android Nightly

#118

Post by useragent86 »

jshevek wrote: post #34
s5ma6n wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me personally, uBlock (and other extensions) is the only reason I am using Firefox on Android. If this feature is removed, I will either go back to Samsung Browser or check something else.

If you are checking something else, I recommend Brave. I've switched from Firefox to Brave and I am mostly satisfied.

HN mods should investigate the systematic downvoting of pro-Brave comments. It happens on every discussion of browsers.

Re: A new browsing experience arrives in Firefox for Android Nightly

#119

Post by endothrowho333 »

SAI_Peregrinus wrote: post #115
endothrowho333 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That marketing babble is there for the same reason the majority of YouTube videos are >10 minutes and filled with the same filler: Google's ranking algorithm. For YouTube videos it's mean watch time. Filler babble pumps up those numbers. For Google, it's mean read time. Filler babble also pumps up this number. However, it also ranks higher directly because it's considered a "long form" piece instead of a soundbite, a…

They could put the actual content in understandable form at the top, and leave the page of marketing babble for after.

Google crawlers treat the first few paragraphs as an abstract, and weigh it heavier than the sections that follow after.

The balance between SEO and readability has already been struck, and an equilibrium has been reached. Changes will only happen when Google ships out new major algorithm changes. They're relatively often though, and always shake up the field.

If people were really interested in fixing this problem, they would start writing and campaigning for more transparency and democracy from Google. Do you think that would affect their own rankings? ;) Rhetorical question.

Re: A new browsing experience arrives in Firefox for Android Nightly

#120

Post by amjd »

tablethnuser wrote: post #107
jonny383 wrote: post #9

If Firefox pushes this before implementing support for extensions (namely uBlock or other ad-blocking / privacy extensions) then Firefox is well and truly toast on Android. Correct me if I am wrong but the only reason non-tech people use Firefox on Android is to block ads. Perhaps this is a push from Mozilla to try and get some search revenue flowing again?

I had bought into the Firefox ecosystem down to their password manager and would have paid for premium services. Remove the ability to adblock on mobile and I'm pulling out of the entire ecosystem. What a betrayal. They don't even have any skin in the ad game

They are working on WebExtension support [1] as well as built-in basic ad-blocking [2]. Anyone can follow the progress on their public issue tracker on GitHub.

1: https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/5315

2: https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/96

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