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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

#161

Post by michaelmrose »

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.

Brave's adblocking seems decidedly worse than ublock origin. https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/issues/16935 except on iOS where apple's restrictions are drastically limiting.

You are so insistent that the feature built in primarily because the platform you've chosen has limited your ability to do what literally every other platform can do. I know there are some benefits privacy wise to the Apple ecosystem but it appears that Apple continues to "refuse to address" the need for actual browsers other than safari on iPhone rather than skins on top of Webkit.

So neither party is doing what you please but you gave hundreds to thousands of dollars to one and nothing to the other so perhaps go ask the fellow who has all of your money if they can implement the feature.

Alternatively wait for some combination of law and or technology to work around Apple.

https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/03/googles_chromium_ios/...

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

#162

Post by prmoustache »

friend_and_foe wrote: post #114
orra wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Mozilla shows utter disdain for their users with just about every announcement, update, new feature or new restriction This is absolute hyperbole. Have you forgotten the context? You're on a story about full extension support being implemented, which is exactly what you wanted.

Taking that away was just the last straw. Trust has been broken, and I don't like being bullshitted and abused, and then brow beaten and guilt tripped for not liking it. I use tools that respect me and do what I need them to do, I refuse to be herded into a set of acceptable behaviors and thoughts like a cow, and by a corporation no less. The people making decisions at Mozilla should be ashamed of themselves.

> and I don't like being bullshitted and abused, and then brow beaten and guilt tripped for not liking it.

So after your lil'karen rant you switched to proprietary browsers that do worst?

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

#163

Post by godelski »

batrat wrote: post #122
godelski wrote: post #58

There's a lot of hate any Firefox and the "blessed apps." But come on, chrome and Safari don't sorry add-ons at all! I know there are other apps that support add-ons but the fact is that Firefox is __the only__ "mainstream" browser that does this (quotes because it's 0.25% in the US, as the 4th most popular, behind Samsung fucking Internet). It's popular to hate on Firefox, but this is the nerdiest of nerd issues and…

>behind Samsung fucking Internet Supports adblock (addons) and shows tabs on top just like desktop so it's easy to switch, dark mode for all websites, etc. It's relative fast and lots of options. I use FF with no addons for some websites.

> shows tabs on top just like desktop

Honestly, I hate this on the phone. But I get it. I had that initial cognitive disruption when FF did this. But once that was gone (idk, like 30 minutes?) I realized it was a lot nicer because I could actually reach the address bar and tabs without needing to stretch my hand. Or if I have a bigger phone, use a second hand. I mean there's a reason navigation buttons on the phones (for the OS) were always on the bottom. It's just easier. But yeah, you gotta get through the initial cognitive disruption. But you know what? I also got used to when Android switched the time from being at the top right to top left and I'm willing to bet most people did too and don't really think about it anymore. As for the dark mode... well you got a point there. Though dark reader was one of the first add-ons on FF mobile. Though as much as I love dark mode, some websites are just unreadable with it and it drives me nuts. Specifically anything with a transparent background...

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

#164

Post by DoingIsLearning »

input_sh wrote: post #140
maleldil wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They lost focus with just about every other project other than Firefox & Thunderbird which were the actual products I donated money for > Ideologically I disagree with them taking money with strings attached from Alphabet How would they get more sources of funding if not exploring other projects? Firefox would never pay for itself. I totally agree with the exec thing, however.

You see, Mozilla is stuck in this limbo where people criticise them for taking money from Google, but also criticise them when they explore alternate funding sources (Pocket, Mozilla VPN, Firefox Private Network, MDN Plus) because they're not focusing on Firefox and Thunderbird. Sometimes literally in the same comment, as the one above. In other words, HN crowd will shit on them regardless of what they do.

> where people criticise them for taking money from Google, but also criticise them when they explore alternate funding sources

What aggravates me is nobody is asking why do you need so much cash?

- Why has it become so big that it needs to spend 81M on Management payroll per year? [0]

- Why has it grown so big that it needs to spend 21M in external consultants per year? [0]

- Why do you need 1000+ staff to roll out an open source browser engine / browser and an email client?

Mozilla had almost 8M in no strings attached donations in 2021. If I go to most open source projects and say you can burn through 8M a year, most of them would agree they could build amazing things. This is even without taking into account Investment returns.

The cow grew too fat and too close to SF's money vortex.

[0] https://assets.mozilla.net/annualreport/2021/mozilla-fdn-202...

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

#165

Post by Springtime »

input_sh wrote: post #100
yukIttEft wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Creating a "custom" collection of Add-Ons on addons.mozilla.org can be done using a disposable email address. I seriously don't get it. Why do I have to create a "custom collection" with an email address to install an extension. Why can't it work like it does on PC ?

Because extension support wasn't considered ready for normal (non-developer) usage up until now, and this announcement you're commenting on literally starts with saying it's gonna be ready by the end of the year.

The irony is addons were natively supported by the regular version of Firefox for Android up until they made the Quantum update, when they removed them and only later with Nightly allowing them to return.

I used to have a number of addons installed at that time, including Stylish (prior to the hostile changes), uBlock Origin and UnMHT.

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

#166

Post by evilpie »

bjord wrote: post #109
kikokikokiko wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We need to donate to a new team/foundation/corporation, anyone at all, that would fork Firefox and continue it's development. I would never, ever, give a single cent to the Mozilla Foundation. It's current form is not focused on what the users of it's products want or need. The ideology Mozilla loves to shove in it's users faces is just the cherry on top. I've been using Firefox ever since the early 2000s, and even d…

Just for record, I'm not with you as far as the anti-mozilla stance. That being said, what's stopping you (or anyone) from funding a team that continues to work on firefox within the same fork, rather than potentially duplicating their work? Is your impression that mozilla's ideology would prevent that other team from doing meaningful work or going in a direction that you believe they need to go?

Igalia is regularly contracted to work on new Firefox features, so this is already happening.

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

#167

Post by worble »

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #133
veave wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of Firefox's publicity is based on the fact that they are "on your side". That means that they are held to a much higher standard. Pretending to be on the side of the user and then screwing users up over and over seems like wanting their cake and eating it too? It's funny because, you know, I expect chrome to screw me over while I expect firefox not to screw me over but chrome has screwed me over fewer times tha…

I've yet to notice any event where firefox "screw users over" that was not vastly overblown, especially compared to the competitors. People tend to just judge Mozilla way more harshly. It's very unfair: they do good, and we ask even more of them.

I know that its against the rules to imply this, but seriously, there is always so much vitriol that I just don't understand thrown towards Firefox every update that it really gets the old noggin get going.

Can we seriously not even contemplate the idea that there might be a certain corporate entity out there with a vested interest in ensuring that Firefox usage is kept deliberately low while at the same ensuring they _just_ enough funding to keep going so they can point to it and say "look, we're not a monopoly!"

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

#169

Post by maleldil »

DoingIsLearning wrote: post #164
input_sh wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You see, Mozilla is stuck in this limbo where people criticise them for taking money from Google, but also criticise them when they explore alternate funding sources (Pocket, Mozilla VPN, Firefox Private Network, MDN Plus) because they're not focusing on Firefox and Thunderbird. Sometimes literally in the same comment, as the one above. In other words, HN crowd will shit on them regardless of what they do.

> where people criticise them for taking money from Google, but also criticise them when they explore alternate funding sources What aggravates me is nobody is asking why do you need so much cash? - Why has it become so big that it needs to spend 81M on Management payroll per year? [0] - Why has it grown so big that it needs to spend 21M in external consultants per year? [0] - Why do you need 1000+ staff to roll out…

I think this is valid criticism, but it's more nuanced than the usual "mozilla bad because google money" and "mozilla bad because not firefox". Thank you for providing data.

Is there a more sustainable path where they don't rely on Google so much? Maybe? Developing a browser doesn't seem to be cheap. Do we know how many resources are used in Firefox versus the rest? I'd like to see a strong argument that Mozilla could be fully/more independent while still developing Firefox.

The thing is, even if they're badly managed today, they're still the best agent fighting for the open web. Apple helps, but I don't think they care much about it and would happily change if it were better for their bottom line.

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

#170

Post by heap_perms »

prmoustache wrote: post #155
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.

Thanks, I didn't know that. I'll check it out.

Edit: Just tried it, not working: Tabbing on the xpi file -> Open with. Getting the toast "None of your Apps can open this file" even tough I just installed fennec.

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