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Firefox Private Browsing mode upgrade

blog.mozilla.org

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Re: Firefox Private Browsing mode upgrade

#301

Post by vagrantJin »

yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #181
rjzzleep wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chrome isn't the most common browser on the planet because of its identity politics. It's actually addressing real needs(i.e. a default browser on common computing device - used to be reason for antitrust but w/e), rather than a loud vocal subsection of a handful of societies, so I don't think that that growth strategy works. Given that a huge number of Chrome users probably come from societies that actively despise…

> Chrome isn't the most common browser on the planet because of its identity politics. It's actually addressing real needs(i.e. a default browser on common computing device - used to be reason for antitrust but w/e), rather than a loud vocal subsection of a handful of societies, so I don't think that that growth strategy works. I'm pretty sure Chrome is the most common browser on the planet because Google abused its…

> Google abused its market position in search and mobile (Android) to shove it down people's throats,

That may have helped but chrome really was a great browser.

I don't use chrome and haven't done so outside of work for over a decade.

Re: Firefox Private Browsing mode upgrade

#302

Post by soundnote »

GekkePrutser wrote: post #295
soundnote wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The moronic thing about these new "colorways" is that the company still refuses the sane default: Mostly grayish or very, very lightly tinted UI with a decently dark, contrasting tab bar. All these new themes have a lot of color outside the tab bar, but credit to Mozilla that the "soft" ones still manage more experienced contrast than their white-on-white abomination of a light theme.

White on white is what chrome uses so they think that's fashionable. They don't understand people love Firefox because it's not Chrome. Not because it's not Chrome enough.

Chrome uses a very light gray with a medium-light gray for the tab bar. It's noticeably more contrast than Firefox's light theme.

Re: Firefox Private Browsing mode upgrade

#304

Post by hda2 »

I chose to use Firefox because I wanted to regain control over my browsing experience. I did not choose it because I wanted this crap.

- Arbitrary Add-ons on Firefox for Android when?

- Dev tools on Android when?

Note that I switched to using a Chromium-based browser on Android because it actually cared enough to supports both these things.

Mozilla, listen to your existing users (what few remain of them). You will never get the userbase you're gunning for by mimicking your competitors.

Re: Firefox Private Browsing mode upgrade

#305

Post by rhn_mk1 »

coldpie wrote: post #248
rhn_mk1 wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, except the attacker gets it without visiting the attacker's web site.

You lost me. Why can an attacker do this to Firefox's telemetry, but not when I visit https://google.com/ ?

If you decide to visit google, that's your problem. Visiting mozilla should be optional too. Otherwise it creates attack surface area that wasn't there before.

Re: Firefox Private Browsing mode upgrade

#306

Post by reitanqild »

Arnavion wrote: post #219
reitanqild wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Librewolf is a running fork of the newest Firefox with some small improvements. Unlike other forks it always has latest security updates. I use it these days and I am considering to start chipping in too (I am at my limits currently so I will have to stop something else though). But I really really want something like my old Firefox back...!

>Unlike other forks it always has latest security updates. Well yeah, that's how all the forks are when they start out. It's less than a year old (started in Nov 2021) so I'd be worried if it didn't keep up with upstream security patches.

Difference is the other forks I have been using has deliberately forked an older ESR to keep features that Mozilla axed.

AFAIK Librefox re-forks from the newest FF everytime there is a release and apply their fixes as patches.

Re: Firefox Private Browsing mode upgrade

#307

Post by nedt »

monlockandkey wrote: post #239
marcodiego wrote: post #12

I have to repost it aagain: Firefox: the last remaining mostly independent, maintained and reasonably popular browser. Even if it were inferior in any aspect to other options, I'd still use it for the above mentioned reasons.

I have said this before, but I will repeat again: The entire internet discourse is filled with "Chrome evil, use Firefox". Go to any browser discussion on the internet and 99% of the thread is "just use Firefox or Firefox is the best". You would think that everyone uses Firefox. The internet is a bubble. Reality is Firefox usage is pathetic. 32 MILLION people have STOPPED using Firefox in the past 4 years. The browse…

First of all usage of Firefox is mostly desktop. On iOS you don't even have a real choice. Just looking at desktop doubles the share. Then you have different usage in different countries. Looking at desktop in Europe you get above 10%. Last I'm never sure you skewed the Firefox stats are. Often 3rd party trackers are blocked and I have yet to find a comparison of client side vs. server side tracking. Not saying the Firefox numbers are wrong, just that they aren't certain.

Re: Firefox Private Browsing mode upgrade

#308

Post by alexvoda »

BenjiWiebe wrote: post #291
andrepd wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> instead of spending any effort getting a SINGLE bit of unity among the Bookmarks, Downloads and Add-ons panels One thing I'd actually like is a reasonably powerful history browser/manager. I want to look for websites I visited in a custom time period, how many times I visited a website last month, or in January, or whatever. It's all very poor as it stands: a very simple interface with no power-features whatsover,…

I believe the history file is a SQLite database. I suppose you could maybe do something with that directly.

It is and you can.

But the vast vast vast majority of people want to interact with (places in Firefox lingo) bookmarks, history and downloads from the browser instead of closing the browser and open a deeply nested file in a database manager app and write SQL queries to get the data they want.

Re: Firefox Private Browsing mode upgrade

#309

Post by boppo1 »

stoplying1 wrote: post #29
hbn wrote: post #9

> Last year we launched Firefox Colorways, a new desktop feature that allowed our users to express their most authentic selves and bring joy while browsing the web > “‘Independent Voices’ are the voices of the past and present that create a better future,” said Keely Alexis. “I chose this [analogy] as my inspiration for the collaboration because it feels authentic to me but it also aligns with Firefox and the vision…

Does it still have the cursed text with it that says "going away in (some month soon)". It's so stupid and confusing and baffling that I want to rage quit Firefox with this as the absolute last straw. Like wtf, you're gonna take back my color in a few months? Just pull the upsell for it? Why the hell am I having to wonder about any of this? Why on God's green earth was this done instead of spending any effort getting…

I heard a rumor about 3-4 years ago they culled engineering and expanded DEI/HR. Didn't look into it because I don't care about that kind of thing, but it seems like it could be a relevant explanation.

Re: Firefox Private Browsing mode upgrade

#310

Post by coldpie »

rhn_mk1 wrote: post #305
coldpie wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You lost me. Why can an attacker do this to Firefox's telemetry, but not when I visit https://google.com/ ?

If you decide to visit google, that's your problem. Visiting mozilla should be optional too. Otherwise it creates attack surface area that wasn't there before.

Okay, so in conclusion, the attack vector from analytics that people spill dozens of comments on in every Mozilla thread is not unique to Firefox but rather shared with every website on the planet.
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