Nice! Now add about:config to stable releases
curious, what do you want to do with about:config on FF for Android?
Disabling telemetry for one. Not that this should be enabled in the first place.
Mozilla expands extension support for Firefox for Android
201–210 of 251 posts
Re: Mozilla expands extension support for Firefox for Android
#202This is progress, but Mozilla needs to do more. Firefox for Android still lacks the ability to sideload add-ons, a feature that works on the desktop version of Firefox. This means Android users aren't able to install extensions outside addons.mozilla.org (AMO) unless they switch to a Firefox alternative that supports it, such as Iceraven[1] or SmartCookieWeb-Preview.[2] For me, the most important add-on that has been…
Why didn't Mozilla challenge the DMCA request themselves? Seems to be more within their mission than other crap that they fund.
Re: Mozilla expands extension support for Firefox for Android
#203Extensions are nice to have, but pointless as long as FF for Android doesn't render most pages correctly (HN, for example).
Firefox paradox strikes again. User brings up an unrelated thing, even if valid, to lessen something positive. You seen this pattern again and again in Firefox news threads.
> something positive
You mean "we reluctantly unbroke what we previously deliberatly broke".
Re: Mozilla expands extension support for Firefox for Android
#204Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm sorry that happened. I wish there was some way to solve the "one jerk outweighs a thousand happy users" problem. I still vividly remember one guy being an asshole about my work on the Wine bug tracker a decade ago, regardless of how many happy users I know there were.
> I wish there was some way to solve the "one jerk outweighs a thousand happy users" problem. We could downvote all that stuff to oblivion. Instead, comments like it are voted to the top comment on almost every page.
Or instead Mozilla could actually listen to user feedback. People don't "shit" on Firefox for no reason.
Re: Mozilla expands extension support for Firefox for Android
#205Earlier quoted context omitted.
> trying their best to do a job they care about I would not take that as a given for Mozilla's upper management. Many of their decisions seem to ignore what users want in deference to Google or other motivations.
You're just making shit up. I was with the Mozilla project for 25 years, with Netscape and then the Mozilla companies for 23 years. I was involved in reviews of the very first Google and Mozilla contract in the fall of 2004. Google has no say in the Mozilla product experience. None. There are some things Mozilla is disallowed from doing to Google Search results that Firefox displays, but that's basically it. That you…
If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...
Wether there is a formalized contract or not Mozilla makes choicses in the interest of Google over (especially power) users all the time. And in general its absurd to think that taking money (not to mention almost your entire funding) from someone isn't going to make you biased towards that person. As has been pointed out many times in discussions about this, you don't need any explicit deals for conflicts of interest to emerge. Having the wealth of Mozilla's leadership depend on Google's good graces is going to encourage them to make decisions that will keep Google happy.
Attacking users users that bring up grievances is not going to help your case here.
> There are some things Mozilla is disallowed from doing to Google Search results that Firefox displays, but that's basically it.
What exactly are those things? Is that why Firefox does not come with ad blocking by default?
Re: Mozilla expands extension support for Firefox for Android
#206Earlier quoted context omitted.
> s*t on Firefox devs The nerd rage is targeted at Mozilla's dishonest and incompetent managers, no? The actual dev work is top notch.
No, people go after the devs too. I was specific about distinguishing Firefox and Mozilla in my post. Firefox in too often caught in the political/flame crossfire.
Devs that implement user-hostile changes like reduced UI configurability, sure.
Re: Mozilla expands extension support for Firefox for Android
#207Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is speculation based only on press releases but: - Google pays Mozilla more than 400m per year. - Its in Google's interests to not have good Firefox add-ons. (For both Ads and Chrome's market share). Google's negotiator could easily added some incentive for Mozilla's management to set the focus somewhere else. In fact, given what Google's team is likely earning, they wouldn't be doing a good job if Firefox's mob…
The idea that Google has some secret underhanded deal with Mozilla to sabotage Firefox comes up here repeatedly and makes no sense. If Google wanted to prevent ad blocking on Android it would be much simpler to just ban ad blockers from the Play Store outright. There is a much simpler potential explanation for such a product management decision. Suppose Mozilla determines that 90% (made-up number) of users want addon…
> The idea that Google has some secret underhanded deal with Mozilla to sabotage Firefox comes up here repeatedly and makes no sense.
That idea is supported by recent disclosures revealing that Google paid or attempted to pay Activision, Aniplex, Bandai Namco, Bethesda, Blizzard, Com2uS, EA, King, Mixl, Niantic, NCSoft, NetMarble, NetEase, Nexon, Nintendo, Pearl Abyss, The Pokemon Company, Riot, Square Enix, Supercell, Tencent, and Ubisoft to influence each company’s product roadmap. [1]
I think it makes sense that they would attempt to exert similar influence over an entity whose continued existence is entirely dependent on revenue received from Google and (ostensibly) competes with one of their of their strategic initiatives.
Sure, it’s speculation, but it’s not wild speculation.
[1] https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/9/23954107/here-is-the-full...
Re: Mozilla expands extension support for Firefox for Android
#208Earlier quoted context omitted.
Other people may remember this differently. Some things are a bit of a blur. My brain selectively blocks some of this - It was basically an exhausting two/three year crunch to rewrite Fennec as a modern Android app.
That's how I remember it. I was on desktop projects but following closely and the rewrite was a death march and people working on it moved or left along the way too. We should have listened to Hyatt back in 2003-ish when he basically said of XUL, "it's never gonna be great on *nix or Mac but it's good enough on Windows." Because of solid desktop horsepower growth over the 2000s, we were able to make XUL go for the th…
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Re: Mozilla expands extension support for Firefox for Android
#209Earlier quoted context omitted.
I managed the team that did a lot of the integration of web extension support in Fenix, the new Firefox for Android. We were all on the brink of burnout. There was too much work. Unrealistic deadlines. And high expectations. So we decided to only support a limited set of APIs tuned for the most popular web extension. Which were basically all ad blockers if I remember correctly. Proud of the team to have finally gotte…
It sounds like they intentionally under-provisioned you all to draw it out, which isn't surprising given their biggest source of funding is Google, and the last thing Google wants is ad/tracker blocking, privacy extensions, and, well, a major reason for people to set their default browser to 'not chrome'. Lord knows there's enough money floating around that place. What a shame - but thank you. Hopefully plugins come…
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Re: Mozilla expands extension support for Firefox for Android
#210This is good. Now, all extensions marked by the developer as being compatible with Android are shown on AMO. (If you toggle to Desktop mode, you can actually install any other extension on AMO, too.) The baffling thing is why this took so damn long. FF for Android supported add-ons from the beginning. That's the best thing about Firefox for Android! They decided to rewrite the UI in 2020, and there were fair reasons…
Use kiwi, is Chrome based and has full extension support