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Add-on support in new Firefox for Android (2021)

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Re: Add-on support in new Firefox for Android (2021)

#191

Post by TingPing »

int_19h wrote: post #182
criddell wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm starting to think that maybe browsers on Android and iOS just don't matter much anymore, other than as the foundation for in-app web views. I have a fairly new phone on a 5G network and the browser is soooo much better than it was even ten years ago yet I use it far, far less than I did back then. Part of it is that my phone just didn't do as much back then and so I spent more time in the browser, but I think the…

If you use any kind of browser sync, that alone makes the choice of browser important, since you need the same one on all devices that you use for it to work seamlessly across all of them. (I wish we had standardized sync protocols for this stuff. But we couldn't even standardize IM, so that's just futile dreaming on my part.)

Firefox Sync is somewhat open. The service is foss and third-party browsers implement it.

Re: Add-on support in new Firefox for Android (2021)

#192

Post by ris58h »

moonshinefe wrote: post #42

I like using Firefox on Android because uBlock origin makes mobile browsing at least tolerable and it lets me use the "desktop mode" view on certain sites so e.g. I can listen to youtube playlists even if the phone is locked without paying for a premium service (for what I consider basic functionality). Surprised to hear literally the sole reason I use it on mobile is also neglected. Do they think they're going to ou…

> I can listen to youtube playlists even if the phone is locked without paying for a premium service (for what I consider basic functionality).

"Video Background Play Fix" extension is available for FF on Android.

Re: Add-on support in new Firefox for Android (2021)

#193

Post by TrianguloY »

jayelbe wrote: post #154
TrianguloY wrote: post #22

Fenix is basically a whole new browser, and that means that all features need to be implemented again (which takes a lot of time, and I don't think Firefox developers have much of it). Lots of Fennec features are still missing (view source code, save as pdf, install general addons, the whole about:config...). Why they changed is a mystery, maybe the old browser had a core privacy bug or something that couldn't be fix…

You can view source in Fenix by typing `view-source:` at the start of a URL :)

Wait! Last time I checked it it didn't work, and I regularly check the Github project and changelogs. Maybe it's a change in geckoview.

In any case...finally! Thanks

Re: Add-on support in new Firefox for Android (2021)

#194

Post by olvy0 »

phreack wrote: post #12

This sucks because it also means no one is making add-ons for mobile, it's more of an accident that we even have ublock. There's use cases that the Firefox team will not work on for decades that could be filled by add-ons if they just told people to go wild, absolute top of the list being text reflow to prevent having to scroll sideways to read long text. Opera is still the only browser that does it for some reason y…

Yeah, that's why I still use Opera on mobile. All the other mobile browsers including Chrome and Firefox are broken for me since I have to slide sideways to read texts.

On desktop I use Firefox exclusively. I tried several time to use Firefox mobile but the sideways scrolling was really a pain.

I can't believe no one has implemented such a basic and important addon for readability. I search for something like that about once a year but find nothing. But it's probably just me. And phreack above.

Re: Add-on support in new Firefox for Android (2021)

#195

Post by sph »

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #137
dblohm7 wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMHO: Product managers are super important: it's their job to understand the market (where it was, where it is, and where it is going), the competitive landscape, and work with leadership on strategic planning. However, all three groups (UX, PM, Eng) need to work symbiotically. Everybody needs to be sharing information and acting as partners in the work they're doing.

> it's their job to understand the market It’s their job to understand and copy chrome. Fixed that for you.

If they're copying Chrome, I'm not seeing it.

Chrome has more or less had the same interface while Firefox rewrites it completely every few years, dropping features along the way each time.

Re: Add-on support in new Firefox for Android (2021)

#196

Post by sph »

wolverine876 wrote: post #176
yeetsfromhellL2 wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>especially FOSS. I just wanted to log in and point out that Free Software got started at MIT.

That did cross my mind as I wrote the GP, but the center of it has been and is CA.

Europe: am I a joke to you?

FOSS might've been born in the US but it's not a US only phenomenon these days, let alone Californian.

Re: Add-on support in new Firefox for Android (2021)

#197

Post by sph »

TingPing wrote: post #191
int_19h wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you use any kind of browser sync, that alone makes the choice of browser important, since you need the same one on all devices that you use for it to work seamlessly across all of them. (I wish we had standardized sync protocols for this stuff. But we couldn't even standardize IM, so that's just futile dreaming on my part.)

Firefox Sync is somewhat open. The service is foss and third-party browsers implement it.

Which third party browsers? Epiphany does, but it's not a very good browser, sad to say, and pretty much noone uses it.

Re: Add-on support in new Firefox for Android (2021)

#199

Post by kashyapc »

soundnote wrote: post #160
kashyapc wrote: post #50

For a year now, I began using DuckDuckGo's (DDG) "Privacy Browser" on Android. By default it removes ads and third-party trackers; no need for add-ons. So far DDG's browser works roughly on par with my older setup of stock Android Firefox plus a couple of usual extensions. I wonder why DDG's Android browser isn't more well-known.

It doesn't block Microsoft trackers due to a search deal: https://twitter.com/yegg/status/1528838579455250434 > For non-search tracker blocking (eg in our browser), we block most third-party trackers. Unfortunately our Microsoft search syndication agreement prevents us from doing more to Microsoft-owned properties. However, we have been continually pushing and expect to be doing more soon. > > We've been working tire…

I see, didn't know that; thanks! (Also to the other replies in this thread.)

Re: Add-on support in new Firefox for Android (2021)

#200

Post by iggldiggl »

grigory wrote: post #95
dblohm7 wrote: post #29

(Former Mozilla developer here, who worked on GeckoView[1], the modern way to embed Gecko into Android apps, including all currently shipped Mozilla browsers on Android) From an engineering perspective, the sad thing about this is that the work to finish extensions in GeckoView was essentially completed in the months after the initial Fenix release. When GeckoView was still being rolled out into release, we understan…

(Also a former Mozilla developer, worked Fennec and Fenix) I think a more nuanced perspective here is that roughly 80% of the work was done, and the remaining 20% require significant effort and organizational energy. Not all of the WebExtension API surface is currently supported; there's a long tail of infrequently used extensions that require non-trivial engineering effort and often cross-team coordination to implem…

> Not all of the WebExtension API surface is currently supported; there's a long tail of infrequently used extensions that require non-trivial engineering effort and often cross-team coordination to implement.

While API support in GeckoView/Fenix might be incomplete as compared with Fennec, then again the API support in Fennec was equally incomplete when compared to Desktop, and yet with Fennec there were no restrictions in installing addons.

> There's also front-end/back-end engineering required to fully expand existing UIs into a proper "store" experience.

I suppose you could always try polishing thins up even more, but given that addons.mozilla.org already had (actually still has) a mobile view/responsive layout that seemed perfectly adequate, this still seems somewhat strange.

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