Tell HN: Firefox Is an awesome browser right now • Hacker News Board

Re: Tell HN: Firefox Is an awesome browser right now

#281

Post by bmn__ » Fri, Feb 03, 2023, 3:00 PM UTC

speed_spread wrote: post #203

Vinnl wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And some more tips: - Translate web pages locally, without sending any data to remote servers: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/firefox-translation... - Vertical/tree-style tabs: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/sidebery/ - If you're in the EU: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/consent-o-matic/ - If you use RSS: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/feed-preview/ And I assume you've al…

> Translate web pages locally This is a good start for a but what I'm looking for is Local Full Text Search of every page in my history. It shouldn't be hard to automatically maintain a text index of the pages I've browsed so that I can search them by keyword without bookmarking everything. Maybe it's just me but chronological history is useless beyond a few days.

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/falcon_extension/

Why don't you just search the add-ons? This would have taken less time than to formulate your post.

Re: Tell HN: Firefox Is an awesome browser right now

#282

Post by radiojasper » Fri, Feb 03, 2023, 3:00 PM UTC

archontes wrote: post #267

I want to begin typing a website's name, have firefox recognize it and indicate it to me, and press 'tab' to begin searching. The lack of that single feature makes firefox unpleasant to use for me.

that literally works in Firefox. It didn't in earlier versions, but it does now.

Re: Tell HN: Firefox Is an awesome browser right now

#283

Post by cloudking » Fri, Feb 03, 2023, 3:03 PM UTC

We had a case where Chrome was choking on really large Google Sheets when you tried to use filter views, it would freeze for 10-20 seconds. With Firefox there was no freezing, which is strange considering Sheets should be optimized for Chrome.

Re: Tell HN: Firefox Is an awesome browser right now

#284

Post by vanilla_nut » Fri, Feb 03, 2023, 3:04 PM UTC

Vinnl wrote: post #75

Vinnl wrote: post #49

> I'd be glad to learn of any other cool features and extensions that y'all might want to share. I'm sure others will be sharing it as I type this comment as well, but for many HN readers, Multi-Account Containers [1] are bound to be a godsend. Easily log in to different accounts for any website, in different tabs. Great feature that's not available in other browsers. [1] https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/mult…

And some more tips: - Translate web pages locally, without sending any data to remote servers: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/firefox-translation... - Vertical/tree-style tabs: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/sidebery/ - If you're in the EU: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/consent-o-matic/ - If you use RSS: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/feed-preview/ And I assume you've al…

This is one of those moments where I realize other folks on HN have almost exactly the same Firefox setup as me. Nice list of add-on recommendations!

I would add in a couple more, for anyone tempted to switch away from Chrome or Safari:

- Redirector: https://www.einaregilsson.com/redirector/ Very helpful for redirecting "new" reddit to old.reddit.com, AMP links to normal links, Twitter to Nitter, etc.

- RES (Reddit Enhancement Suite): https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/reddit-enhanc... Provides built-in image preview and lots of other subtle goodies for old.reddit.com. I have a very hard time browsing reddit without it!

- Sponsorblock for Youtube: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/sponsorblock/ If you watch any amount of YouTube on channels with lots of sponsors, this is a great way to keep your sanity. Works just like sponsor skipping in the Overcast podcast client.

Re: Tell HN: Firefox Is an awesome browser right now

#285

Post by pictur » Fri, Feb 03, 2023, 3:04 PM UTC

gabereiser wrote: post #231

Front page of HN for what clearly is opinion and user error. Nice. Enjoy.

so much irrelevant stuff is on the front page now that i'm pretty sure they did it on purpose. and they are right, such things cause more comments and more discussion.

Re: Tell HN: Firefox Is an awesome browser right now

#286

Post by kybernetikos » Fri, Feb 03, 2023, 3:05 PM UTC

seren wrote: post #2

Firefox on Mobile supports uBlock origin, and is very nice as well. edit: on Android

I found having the address bar at the bottom of the screen odd, but within a few minutes I realised it was the right way and now having it anywhere else feels wrong on mobile.

Re: Tell HN: Firefox Is an awesome browser right now

#287

Post by rrishi » Fri, Feb 03, 2023, 3:05 PM UTC

ohgodplsno wrote: post #106

Vinnl wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And some more tips: - Translate web pages locally, without sending any data to remote servers: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/firefox-translation... - Vertical/tree-style tabs: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/firefox/addon/sidebery/ - If you're in the EU: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/consent-o-matic/ - If you use RSS: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/feed-preview/ And I assume you've al…

In addition: - SponsorBlock - Automatically tag and skip portions of youtube videos, such as sponsors, intros, recaps, and others. - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/sponsorblock/ - Firefox Relay - Automatically create up to 5 (for free, more if paying for it) email addresses that redirect to your actual address, to avoid giving your private address to everyone. - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefo…

Those are some really interesting extensions you've suggested.

I'll be sure to keep Relay in the back of my mind, I haven't had need of it yet.

Though I do have requirement for SponsorBlock avid watcher of YT that I am, I am a little hesitant to add SponsorBlock as I am not quite sure how it would work flawlessly without some really complicated algorithms potentially involving ML work. I am curious to know if in your experience it has ever erred and automatically skipped portions it wasn't supposed to ? Or any other type of errors ?

Re: Tell HN: Firefox Is an awesome browser right now

#288

Post by Georgelemental » Fri, Feb 03, 2023, 3:06 PM UTC

marginalia_nu wrote: post #134

I use Firefox sort of begrudgingly. It's marginally less bad than the other options, but it's still an awful browser. I vehemently disagree with almost all of its design decisions, and with every new release they seem to stray even farther from sane UX. It has hamburger menus on desktop and a lot of weird space-saving design that makes no sense on a modern high resolution display. Buttons are small, have cryptic flat…

I appreciate the space saving. Not everyone has a 4K 30 inch display

Re: Tell HN: Firefox Is an awesome browser right now

#289

Post by UltraViolence » Fri, Feb 03, 2023, 3:06 PM UTC

I've been using Firefox for twenty odd years now. It's performance is comparable to that of other browsers.

But the pilfering of Mozilla by its management (giving themselves million dollar bonuses and pretending they're managing a billion dollar corporation) and their illogical and fickle decisions has reduced IMHO the need for an independent open-source browser.

The only rationale for having a browser like Firefox now is to push back against megacorps like Google adding extensions to prop up their agenda (like preventing ad-blockers from working).

Mozilla had its day in the sun. I still use it but if it were to go away I wouldn't lose too much sleep over it.

Re: Tell HN: Firefox Is an awesome browser right now

#290

Post by kybernetikos » Fri, Feb 03, 2023, 3:06 PM UTC

lifeinthevoid wrote: post #55

kuxv wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately Firefox on Android is noticeably slower than Chrome / Kiwi browser. But on desktop it is great!

I frequently have to close all my tabs because the browser has become unresponsive.

This doesn't happen to me. I currently have 60 tabs open, and that's only because I have 'auto close after 1 month' turned on.