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Firefox desktop extensions coming soon for the upcoming Android release

blog.mozilla.org

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Re: Firefox desktop extensions coming soon for the upcoming Android release

#151

Post by blackoil »

Dalewyn wrote: post #89
orra wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Mozilla unfortunately had already forfeited the Android browser market to other competitors by not enabling this day one Er, Mozilla marketshare on Android is low because of Google anti competitively bundling Chrome with the Play Store.

Firefox defeated IE which was bundled with Windows at the time. Chrome continues to defeat everyone, including Edge which is bundled with Windows. Firefox's reason for irrelevance today has nothing to do with whether its competitors are bundled with operating systems.

IE team was disbanded and had no release for 5 years.

Re: Firefox desktop extensions coming soon for the upcoming Android release

#152

Post by prmoustache »

jorvi wrote: post #121
the_gipsy wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Declarative blocking is the weakest, it barely removes the simplest ads. uBlock doesn't exist for iOS because it is made impossible by apple, their extension API is not a "full" API.

uBlock doesn’t, but plenty of browsers have built-in adblocking, with one of the very browsers missing it being.. drumroll.. iOS Firefox! Mozilla refuses to address how having no adblock is a security risk, so I have moved all my friends and family over to iOS Brave. Firefox built its own demise by having a bizarre focus on woke stuff instead of features that users direly need.

I think you reached the new modern Godwin point.

Re: Firefox desktop extensions coming soon for the upcoming Android release

#153

Post by godelski »

DoingIsLearning wrote: post #113
asu_thomas wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why?

- They lost focus with just about every other project other than Firefox & Thunderbird which were the actual products I donated money for - They are (recently) very top heavy for a non-profit foundation and are spending non-negligible amounts of money on C-level and execs - Ideologically I disagree with them taking money with strings attached from Alphabet - (Personally) their recent trends of UX with 'dummyfication'…

Have you considered that they are doing some of these things to survive? That Chrome nearly killed them? Literally the strings attached from Alphabet are that they give you Google as a default search engine. Default, as in... you can change it... trivially. This isn't like they are installing a keylogger into your browser and using it to learn about your behaviors. It isn't like they are making their browser the default on your phones and devices. It isn't like they are focused on selling ads and generating long URLs that have tracking data attached to them. Sorry, I got a little side tracked, but I guess that makes two of us.

Re: Firefox desktop extensions coming soon for the upcoming Android release

#154

Post by the_gipsy »

jorvi wrote: post #121
the_gipsy wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Declarative blocking is the weakest, it barely removes the simplest ads. uBlock doesn't exist for iOS because it is made impossible by apple, their extension API is not a "full" API.

uBlock doesn’t, but plenty of browsers have built-in adblocking, with one of the very browsers missing it being.. drumroll.. iOS Firefox! Mozilla refuses to address how having no adblock is a security risk, so I have moved all my friends and family over to iOS Brave. Firefox built its own demise by having a bizarre focus on woke stuff instead of features that users direly need.

iOS Firefox is just a re-skinned Safari, just like iOS Chrome because Apple has some rule against "dynamic code execution" in their AppStore.

Which sure is nice to combat some malware but not really MY problem.

It also coincidentally happens to also rule out ANY browser engines. Firefox and Chrome can only use the provided webkit "WebView" component. Apple has effectively crippled Browsers on iOS to Safari, or a worse re-skinned version of Safari.

Re: Firefox desktop extensions coming soon for the upcoming Android release

#155

Post by prmoustache »

heap_perms wrote: post #135

I want to load my own XPI files. Because apparently, I'm not allowed to embrace the full potential of my browser by installing any extensions that haven't been hand-delivered and serenaded by the majestic Firefox Marketplace. Please share if you're familiar with a method. I'm contemplating the creation of my own customized version of Android Firefox, incorporating code to enable installation from XPI files.

have you tried fennec from the f-droid repo? AFAIK it allows you to do that, by taping on an xpi file in your phone storage it proposes to install it for you.

Re: Firefox desktop extensions coming soon for the upcoming Android release

#156

Post by godelski »

benterix wrote: post #128
asu_thomas wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for explaining. I can't help but ask why you believe these things have happened? What went wrong and what is the alternative to Firefox? I am approximately as cynical as they come, and I'm not sure how Firefox could even exist if Google weren't keeping Mozilla alive (on life support), so I am intrigued by your criticism. I'd like to understand your viewpoint and what ideology is behind it, if any. In your view…

Yeah, I'm asking myself the same questions, too. It's obvious they have been trying many options. Some of them worked, some didn't. I criticized some of them in the past but objectively, if I was in their position, I might have made worse mistakes.

That's actually pretty big to say. All I have to say is really just make sure you make criticisms rather than complaints. They need to be constructive (__actionable__) and less emotional. Otherwise the truth is that you may be just throwing fuel onto the fire rather than water. It's easy to get these two confused.

Re: Firefox desktop extensions coming soon for the upcoming Android release

#157

Post by gmerc »

veave wrote: post #137
Gud wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How exactly has Firefox “screwed you over”? I’ve used Firefox since it was called Phoenix… although I don’t like the governance of the project, I would hardly say I’ve been screwed over. Firefox has been an amazing product since day one. Meanwhile, Chrome has literally been developed to probe your ass for data they can sell to advertisers.

Last time it was 2 months ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36077360 In that thread there are a few more examples, most of them somewhat recent: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36077683

Google: Let’s put DRM in the browser, hijack the address bar, webmanifest

Omg, firefox screwed me over by showing me an ad.

I see. I think no further illustration needed.

Re: Firefox desktop extensions coming soon for the upcoming Android release

#158

Post by prmoustache »

lemper wrote: post #48

even though i am an exclusively firefox user both on desktop and mobile, i don't even know what kind of desktop version's extension that i would use on mobile. currently, i only use adblock and so far my experience is quite stellar. though it should be noted that i use browser on phone just to consume text. no video, no audio, and even picture is rarely the focus. so, what do i miss?

> so, what do i miss?

multi-containers.

How do you want to separate cookies/identities without that?

Re: Firefox desktop extensions coming soon for the upcoming Android release

#159

Post by gmerc »

DoingIsLearning wrote: post #113
asu_thomas wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why?

- They lost focus with just about every other project other than Firefox & Thunderbird which were the actual products I donated money for - They are (recently) very top heavy for a non-profit foundation and are spending non-negligible amounts of money on C-level and execs - Ideologically I disagree with them taking money with strings attached from Alphabet - (Personally) their recent trends of UX with 'dummyfication'…

So basically you want them to fund the top end engineers working on it … how?

Re: Firefox desktop extensions coming soon for the upcoming Android release

#160

Post by prmoustache »

heap_perms wrote: post #138
unmole wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could install custom extensions on Firefox Android. Now you have to jump through hoops to install anything that isn't blessed by Mozilla.

Indeed. They have too much authority with the marketplace. Does someone know if it is feasible to build Fenix from source, fork it and then add a startup function that sideloads any extension the user chooses, not just the blessed ones? I'm considerung doing this, but don't want to spend a lot of time doing something impossible.

Fennec allows you to install extensions you want afaik, even xpi files in your phone storage.
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