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Mozilla Launches Firefox 4 for Android

blog.mozilla.com

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Re: Mozilla Launches Firefox 4 for Android

#51

Post by spravin »

mbrubeck wrote: post #44
aw3c2 wrote: post #42

Can somebody find a direct download link for the .apk file? I tried using the Mozilla website but ended up in eternal redirection and flashy pages. I really do not want to waste 14MB (!) of my precious bandwidth on a browser installation. That would be 5% of my monthly bandwidth.

You can download the APK directly from here: http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/mobile/releases/4.0/a... You can also search for "Firefox" in the Android Market on your phone (connect to WiFi if possible, if you want avoid cellular data charges). (By the way, if you literally ended up in a redirect loop, please let me know so we can fix it.)

Here's an easier url (goes to the same .apk): http://j.mp/firedroid

Re: Mozilla Launches Firefox 4 for Android

#52

Post by [deleted] »

iron_ball wrote: post #50
mbrubeck wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mobile Firefox lets you switch between tabs by pulling out a sidebar on the left side of the screen, so you can access them quickly, and you can see the current page and the tab list at the same time: http://support.mozilla.com/kb/how-do-i-use-tabs-mobile

Like xscope?

[deleted]

Re: Mozilla Launches Firefox 4 for Android

#53

Post by starwed »

aw3c2 wrote: post #45
ddlatham wrote: post #25

Can anyone compare it to the Dolphin browser?

I switched from the last beta to Dolphin some months ago because (iirc): Firefox did not support gestures. It was very slow to start. It did not reflow text (properly or at all?). At least the reflow seems to be included now so I guess I try again. edit: Installed it. Tried zooming in on reddit, hn and metafilter. Failed to reflow on all of them. Reflowing after zoom is enabled in the options, at least I think it is…

Yeah, those buttons always bugged me... the design could have been a lot cleaner.

I'm not sure if Firefox Mobile has the same support for theming that the desktop does, but if so I imagine they'll be some nice themes for it eventually. :)

Re: Mozilla Launches Firefox 4 for Android

#54

Post by karl_nerd »

jmillikin wrote: post #29

I've been using the beta for a month or so, and it's miles better than the stock Android browser. Notable features: - supports and - fixed-size divs (used for multiple scrollable page sections) work properly - Pages are rendered practically identically to desktop Firefox/Chrome; the Android browser sometimes does weird things to pages with complex CSS. While I haven't noticed any improvements in page rendering speed,…

It also supports using the accelerometer in javascript! http://karlwestin.posterous.com/javascript-accelerometer-on-...

Re: Mozilla Launches Firefox 4 for Android

#55

Post by shadowfox »

nextparadigms wrote: post #28
ZeroGravitas wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Independent test by people like Microsoft and Cnet seem to indicate that Firefox is doing well with resource usage. What makes you think otherwise?: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2011/03/28/browser-power-... http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-20047314-12.html

Microsoft is an independent source? What?

I thought he just said 'independent test' and not that MS was an independent source?

Re: Mozilla Launches Firefox 4 for Android

#56

Post by rhizome »

drivebyacct2 wrote: post #49
scotth wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That tabs generally aren't on smart phones?

Are you trying to be difficult or have a laugh at my expense or does anyone actually have any real complaints about how tabs are handled in the stock Android browser or say by one of the very popular Dolphin variants? I don't understand why these tabs are better than the tabs in the normal browser. Let me guess, everyone thinks you have to scroll up to get to see the tabs? Too bad.

I do. It takes too many clicks to get at the other windows with the (my?) default Android browser, and at any rate I can only have, what, 7 "tabs" open at a time? As often as not I get errors when clicking on links in email/rss that I have the maximum number of windows open, which is a drag. I've been trying Opera over the past week or two, but that doesn't have any controls for modal popups (among other issues).

Re: Mozilla Launches Firefox 4 for Android

#58

Post by tedunangst »

nextparadigms wrote: post #28
ZeroGravitas wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Independent test by people like Microsoft and Cnet seem to indicate that Firefox is doing well with resource usage. What makes you think otherwise?: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2011/03/28/browser-power-... http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-20047314-12.html

Microsoft is an independent source? What?

They are independent of mozilla and the people who make firefox.

Re: Mozilla Launches Firefox 4 for Android

#59

Post by tedunangst »

mbrubeck wrote: post #40
MatthewPhillips wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When did that happen the first time? As I recall, Chrome started the second browser wars, which even caused IE to try again. FF was unable to do that.

Microsoft didn't even have anyone working on IE for most of the five years between IE6 and IE7 (2001 - 2006). Without competitors like Firefox to keep web standards and cross-browser compatibility alive through that era, it would have taken a lot longer to dig ourselves out of the IE6 era. (Remember when IE had 90% market share, and web developers routinely wrote IE-only code?)

Remember when mozilla blew so badly that IE6 was the best browser around? Firefox wasn't even around for most of the 2001-2006 era, until somebody finally decided the mozilla all in wonder mega suite was a crime against nature.

Sure, firefox keeps IE in line, but mozilla also has a history of jumping the tracks without strong competition.

Re: Mozilla Launches Firefox 4 for Android

#60

Post by joebadmo »

Anyone else having user-agent issues? Google reader, for example, shows up as what looks like the dumb phone mobile site, not the smart phone mobile site (which is great) or the desktop site. And I can't find a setting to change the user-agent.
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