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I really want to like Firefox Android (addons are awesome!) and try it out every now and then, but every time I just end up uninstalling and reverting to Chrome

I really want to like Firefox Android (addons are awesome!) and try it out every now and then, but every time I just end up uninstalling and reverting to Chrome. The number one reason is that scroll seems to work differently to every single other app I have installed. It's "sticky" and doesn't feel native. It also takes a noticeable amount of time to render the page when scrolling quickly, which is not something I've ever noticed with Chrome. What gives?

rwmj 9y ago
The most annoying thing is that Firefox's tabs don't integrate with the normal Android mechanism of switching windows.
- glogla 9y ago
  That's probably because you can't do it without using special Google-only API - I don't know of any other Android app that could do it. So this is a monopoly problem again.
  - veeti 9y ago
    This is not true at all. https://developer.android.com/guide/components/activities/recents.html https://developer.android.com/guide/components/activities/re...
    - BoorishBears 9y ago
      It's true, Recents showing Task instances isn't the same as the integrated tabs feature
      - veeti 9y ago
        It is literally the same thing. You can download a third party browser called Chromer that opens every link as a separate task and see it for yourself. It's based on Chrome custom tabs, which is a pluggable protocol. Firefox is working on support for it as well [1]. There doesn't seem to be any ongoing work to support per-tab tasks in Firefox for Android itself right now [2]. [1] https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1208655 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1208655 [2] https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1098543 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1098543
        BoorishBears 9y ago
        Chrome custom tabs have nothing at all to do with the Tasks from the activity model. Chromer doesn't do what the tabs in recent option does. Supporting being a provider for Custom Tabs has nothing to do with being able to have your tabs show up in Recents. Are you an Android Dev?
        veeti 9y ago
        > Chromer doesn't do what the tabs in recent option does. Yes, it does. Which part do you not understand? > Supporting being a provider for Custom Tabs has nothing to do with being able to have your tabs show up in Recents. No, but if Firefox supported Custom Tabs, you could use it with Chromer.
        BoorishBears 9y ago
        I'm not asking if you're an Android dev to disparage you, I'm asking because the two features are outwardly very similar, but have internal differences. And you can use one to get a result that looks similar, but is not the same, as the other.
        veeti 9y ago
        > I'm asking because the two features are outwardly very similar, but have internal differences. Prove it, then. What are these "internal differences"? Let me reiterate: there is literally nothing that relies on a proprietary or private API in the former Chrome merged apps and tabs implementation. Any app can do the same thing using completely public API's. I've already linked the API's required to do this. I've linked a third party app that provides the exact same functionality. Which part is unclear to you?
- tacomonstrous 9y ago
  To be fair, neither does Chrome. Not for the past year or so at least.
glogla 9y ago
I use Firefox on Android exclusively - because it has uBlock, and thanks to my country's carriers, I have very limited mobile data budget, that I can't afford to spend on ads.

rwmj 9y ago

The most annoying thing is that Firefox's tabs don't integrate with the normal Android mechanism of switching windows.

glogla 9y ago
That's probably because you can't do it without using special Google-only API - I don't know of any other Android app that could do it. So this is a monopoly problem again.
- veeti 9y ago
  This is not true at all. https://developer.android.com/guide/components/activities/recents.html https://developer.android.com/guide/components/activities/re...
  - BoorishBears 9y ago
    It's true, Recents showing Task instances isn't the same as the integrated tabs feature
    - veeti 9y ago
      It is literally the same thing. You can download a third party browser called Chromer that opens every link as a separate task and see it for yourself. It's based on Chrome custom tabs, which is a pluggable protocol. Firefox is working on support for it as well [1]. There doesn't seem to be any ongoing work to support per-tab tasks in Firefox for Android itself right now [2]. [1] https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1208655 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1208655 [2] https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1098543 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1098543
      - BoorishBears 9y ago
        Chrome custom tabs have nothing at all to do with the Tasks from the activity model. Chromer doesn't do what the tabs in recent option does. Supporting being a provider for Custom Tabs has nothing to do with being able to have your tabs show up in Recents. Are you an Android Dev?
        veeti 9y ago
        > Chromer doesn't do what the tabs in recent option does. Yes, it does. Which part do you not understand? > Supporting being a provider for Custom Tabs has nothing to do with being able to have your tabs show up in Recents. No, but if Firefox supported Custom Tabs, you could use it with Chromer.
        BoorishBears 9y ago
        I'm not asking if you're an Android dev to disparage you, I'm asking because the two features are outwardly very similar, but have internal differences. And you can use one to get a result that looks similar, but is not the same, as the other.
        veeti 9y ago
        > I'm asking because the two features are outwardly very similar, but have internal differences. Prove it, then. What are these "internal differences"? Let me reiterate: there is literally nothing that relies on a proprietary or private API in the former Chrome merged apps and tabs implementation. Any app can do the same thing using completely public API's. I've already linked the API's required to do this. I've linked a third party app that provides the exact same functionality. Which part is unclear to you?
tacomonstrous 9y ago
To be fair, neither does Chrome. Not for the past year or so at least.

glogla 9y ago

I use Firefox on Android exclusively - because it has uBlock, and thanks to my country's carriers, I have very limited mobile data budget, that I can't afford to spend on ads.