17 ms·

> Almost nobody runs mobile Firefox, so that turned out not to matter much Well. The number of installs of Firefox for Android is a nine-digit number. Dependi

by st3fan 10y ago

> Almost nobody runs mobile Firefox, so that turned out not to matter much Well. The number of installs of Firefox for Android is a nine-digit number. Depending on your perspective that can be thought of as a big or small number. But it certainly is not "nobody".

macintux 10y ago
I have hundreds of apps installed on my phone I never use. Per https://www.netmarketshare.com/browser-market-share.aspx?qprid=1&qpcustomb=1 https://www.netmarketshare.com/browser-market-share.aspx?qpr... it doesn't look like the usage numbers are 9 digits.
- nol13 10y ago
  That sub-9 digit number includes me though, hard to understate the importance of this fact. (that said after reading tfa, if there's really no tab groups after next year i'll be really upset, especially after the whole "it's ok that we're removing it because now it's just an add-on" thing)
thezilch 10y ago
Most or all stats will show mobile FF browsing usage at about IE6 levels, and I don't think you'll find anyone caring much for the later market any longer. We [web developers] owe a lot to FF, Firebug, etc, but the writings on the wall for mobile and desktop. Chrome is going to have to screw up really bad, and likewise for the base installs of IE/Edge and Safari. These days, I'm more likely to suggest Brave over FF, if someone really requires a Chrome alternative.
- otabdeveloper 10y ago
  > These days, I'm more likely to suggest Brave over FF, if someone really requires a Chrome alternative. Brave is just a reskinned Chrome. > We [web developers] owe a lot to FF, Firebug, etc, but the writings on the wall for mobile and desktop. Where I work developers have mostly switched to Firefox over the last few years. Firefox is just a better browser (faster, less bloated) under the hood. Yes, Firefox will have a difficult time sine they don't have their own proprietary walled-garden ecosystem as a distribution channel, but the technical product is solid.
  - thezilch 10y ago
    Do you mean chromium? And it's much more than a skin, lol. And it's not the experience for many to have a faster browsing experience, but I'm not going to argue how anyone quantities that -- really don't care what others use. On desktop, I find the tooling much worse and sluggish. But the thread was about mobile, and there are a vanishing number of users of mobile FF.
  - BrendanEich 10y ago
    > Brave is just a reskinned Chrome. No, see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13534564 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13534564.
- JeremyNT 10y ago
  If you [web developers] ignore mobile Firefox, you do all of us a disservice. Having a choice of browsers on mobile is important to me; Firefox is one way on Android you can avoid being fully locked in to Google's ecosystem and a crucial piece of the puzzle for anybody who wants a Google free Android device. I understand business realities, and why Firefox mobile would rate a lower priority than many browsers. But I think competition in this space is incredibly important and I urge you not to ignore us [Firefox mobile users] completely.

by st3fan 10y ago

macintux 10y ago

I have hundreds of apps installed on my phone I never use. Per https://www.netmarketshare.com/browser-market-share.aspx?qprid=1&qpcustomb=1 https://www.netmarketshare.com/browser-market-share.aspx?qpr... it doesn't look like the usage numbers are 9 digits.

nol13 10y ago
That sub-9 digit number includes me though, hard to understate the importance of this fact. (that said after reading tfa, if there's really no tab groups after next year i'll be really upset, especially after the whole "it's ok that we're removing it because now it's just an add-on" thing)

thezilch 10y ago

Most or all stats will show mobile FF browsing usage at about IE6 levels, and I don't think you'll find anyone caring much for the later market any longer. We [web developers] owe a lot to FF, Firebug, etc, but the writings on the wall for mobile and desktop. Chrome is going to have to screw up really bad, and likewise for the base installs of IE/Edge and Safari. These days, I'm more likely to suggest Brave over FF, if someone really requires a Chrome alternative.

otabdeveloper 10y ago
> These days, I'm more likely to suggest Brave over FF, if someone really requires a Chrome alternative. Brave is just a reskinned Chrome. > We [web developers] owe a lot to FF, Firebug, etc, but the writings on the wall for mobile and desktop. Where I work developers have mostly switched to Firefox over the last few years. Firefox is just a better browser (faster, less bloated) under the hood. Yes, Firefox will have a difficult time sine they don't have their own proprietary walled-garden ecosystem as a distribution channel, but the technical product is solid.
- thezilch 10y ago
  Do you mean chromium? And it's much more than a skin, lol. And it's not the experience for many to have a faster browsing experience, but I'm not going to argue how anyone quantities that -- really don't care what others use. On desktop, I find the tooling much worse and sluggish. But the thread was about mobile, and there are a vanishing number of users of mobile FF.
- BrendanEich 10y ago
  > Brave is just a reskinned Chrome. No, see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13534564 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13534564.
JeremyNT 10y ago
If you [web developers] ignore mobile Firefox, you do all of us a disservice. Having a choice of browsers on mobile is important to me; Firefox is one way on Android you can avoid being fully locked in to Google's ecosystem and a crucial piece of the puzzle for anybody who wants a Google free Android device. I understand business realities, and why Firefox mobile would rate a lower priority than many browsers. But I think competition in this space is incredibly important and I urge you not to ignore us [Firefox mobile users] completely.