19 ms·

If Firefox pushes this before implementing support for extensions (namely uBlock or other ad-blocking / privacy extensions) then Firefox is well and truly toast

If Firefox pushes this before implementing support for extensions (namely uBlock or other ad-blocking / privacy extensions) then Firefox is well and truly toast on Android. Correct me if I am wrong but the only reason non-tech people use Firefox on Android is to block ads. Perhaps this is a push from Mozilla to try and get some search revenue flowing again?

s5ma6n 7y ago
For me personally, uBlock (and other extensions) is the only reason I am using Firefox on Android. If this feature is removed, I will either go back to Samsung Browser or check something else.
- boudin 7y ago
  Web-extentions are comming, i hope that it will be fully functionnal before it replaces the current firefox https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/pull/7280 https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/pull/7280
  - squiggleblaz 7y ago
    "Hope" in this case shouldn't be enough unless they also decide to bake ublock origin right in.
    - vanderZwan 7y ago
      I'm a bit torn on the latter idea, actually: as much as I would love it if Mozilla would give such a well-deserved middle finger to the advertising world for their bad behavior, I also think it would create a kind of relationship between gorhill and Mozilla that would result in an unhealthy power dynamic.
- timvisee 7y ago
  Yes, the same goes for me. Even though I really like these changes, this needs to be added. Will switch to Stable until then, I guess.
- jshevek 7y ago
  If you are checking something else, I recommend Brave. I've switched from Firefox to Brave and I am mostly satisfied.
  - joseph2342 7y ago
    What does it offer that Firefox does not ?
    - fwn 7y ago
      People here seem to "hope" that extension support will be implemented. If my stable Firefox for Android gets updated into a browser without uBlock Origin I will immediately switch to some chromish alternative with adblocking. There's no reason for firefox for android once extension support is gone, featurewise.
      - losvedir 7y ago
        I use Firefox for Android for one reason: the ability to not load images on cell data. I'm surprised other browsers don't have that, but it's huge for me since I pay by the megabyte (Google Fi). It saves me $10/month easily. edit: oh, it looks like that's missing, too. Nooooo....
        terminaljunkid 7y ago
        Plus ublock origin can save a lot of data. I am on a slow university network and I keep JavaScript off by default using UBO. It takes 3 clicks to enable it for sites that really need it, but web is much faster with it.
      - reportgunner 7y ago
        Try the duckduckgo android browser, most ads fail in it without extensions required. My favorite feature is the "fire" icon that closes all tabs, deletes all cookies and history and basically reinitializes the browser.
  - 7y ago
- jeena 7y ago
  I have 2 reasons uBlock and the fact that I can use my own sync server.
  - blendergeek 7y ago
    How do you do that? I have been wanting to run my own sync for a long time but haven't been able to figure it out.
    - gruez 7y ago
      https://mozilla-services.readthedocs.io/en/latest/howtos/run-sync-1.5.html https://mozilla-services.readthedocs.io/en/latest/howtos/run... was the guide I used
      - blendergeek 7y ago
        Okay. Thank you. Do you run your own accounts server or just use Mozilla's?
        jeena 7y ago
        I use still Mozillas but have planned to replace it some day.
- propogandist 7y ago
  Samsung browser is a piece of garbage that is constantly phoning home, like all other pre-installed Samsung apps. Look into Kiwi Browser. It's a chromium based android browser that supports extensions https://kiwibrowser.com/ https://kiwibrowser.com/ I've been using it alongside FF for Extensions, but it's nicer (+faster) than FF and has features like pull down to refresh a page, native web-app support etc.
ohazi 7y ago
Can someone with Firefox for Android nightly confirm whether extensions are actually not available with this new release? I agree that this would be a cataclysmic regression for Mozilla, if that is indeed what they plan on releasing.
- mjw1007 7y ago
  https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-preview-upgrade-faqs https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-preview-upgrade... appears to say that, yes, that is what they plan on releasing.
- letstrynvm 7y ago
  I installed it: no add-ons, they are coming "late 2020" supposedly. I think it's good to consolidate the branding but this is a half-finished preview replacing nightly, a step backwards.
mcjiggerlog 7y ago
WebExtension support in theory is coming in Q1 - https://github.com/orgs/mozilla-mobile/projects/44 https://github.com/orgs/mozilla-mobile/projects/44 Regardless, Firefox Preview already blocks ads and trackers perfectly fine the built-in tracking protection. I've not seen an ad in the months I've been using it.
- fwn 7y ago
  Reddit, Facebook, Amazon, Youtube and Googles search ads aren't affected by the built-in tracking protection at all. That alone are half the pages most non-tech people (like my parents) usually browse.
  - Nextgrid 7y ago
    I remember seeing a list of domains which Firefox tracking protection explicitly whitelists (presumably to avoid breaking these sites’ functionality). Google and Facebook were in there. That told me all I needed to know about this supposed tracking “protection”.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- squiggleblaz 7y ago
  Really? Are you sure you don't have some other hosts/vpn based ad blocker? I surely don't use Firefox Preview for much, but I definitely saw an ad on Preview when I was using it yesterday. I forgot why I wasn't using it -- aside from the fact that Firefox normal is in the quick access icons -- and since my phone had just restarted I thought I'd give it a go. But I quickly saw an ad and thought "oh right" and went back to normal Firefox.
- Marsymars 7y ago
  > Regardless, Firefox Preview already blocks ads and trackers perfectly fine the built-in tracking protection. I don't want a blacklist of ads and trackers. I want all third party scripts and frames blocked by default, which uBlock Origin does perfectly.
silon42 7y ago
I've tried Fenix a few times, and even without getting into extensions, it seemed like a regression in many ways.
- vorticalbox 7y ago
  How so? I loved the layout and the collections rather than book marks
  - silon42 7y ago
    I like the collections a lot, the layout not so much (moved url to top, but it only moves it for browser page, not the collections page.
tablethnuser 7y ago
I had bought into the Firefox ecosystem down to their password manager and would have paid for premium services. Remove the ability to adblock on mobile and I'm pulling out of the entire ecosystem. What a betrayal. They don't even have any skin in the ad game
- amjd 7y ago
  They are working on WebExtension support [1] as well as built-in basic ad-blocking [2]. Anyone can follow the progress on their public issue tracker on GitHub. 1: https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/5315 https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/5315 2: https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/96 https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/96
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- skinkestek 7y ago
  As someone who was deeply disappointed when they broke all old extensions before fixing the new API (but had nowhere to go as Chrome had always had neutered extensions compared to Firefox) I hope they'll fix the extension interface first this time.
  - no_identd 7y ago
    Try Basilisk, by the same people who made Pale Moon, but with less feature stripping.
anotheryou 7y ago
"nightly for developers" it's so you can make your stuff work in upcoming versions. I think it's fair to start early. Stick to beta if you want to develop extensions before they are implemented.

s5ma6n 7y ago

For me personally, uBlock (and other extensions) is the only reason I am using Firefox on Android. If this feature is removed, I will either go back to Samsung Browser or check something else.

boudin 7y ago
Web-extentions are comming, i hope that it will be fully functionnal before it replaces the current firefox https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/pull/7280 https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/pull/7280
- squiggleblaz 7y ago
  "Hope" in this case shouldn't be enough unless they also decide to bake ublock origin right in.
  - vanderZwan 7y ago
    I'm a bit torn on the latter idea, actually: as much as I would love it if Mozilla would give such a well-deserved middle finger to the advertising world for their bad behavior, I also think it would create a kind of relationship between gorhill and Mozilla that would result in an unhealthy power dynamic.
timvisee 7y ago
Yes, the same goes for me. Even though I really like these changes, this needs to be added. Will switch to Stable until then, I guess.
jshevek 7y ago
If you are checking something else, I recommend Brave. I've switched from Firefox to Brave and I am mostly satisfied.
- joseph2342 7y ago
  What does it offer that Firefox does not ?
  - fwn 7y ago
    People here seem to "hope" that extension support will be implemented. If my stable Firefox for Android gets updated into a browser without uBlock Origin I will immediately switch to some chromish alternative with adblocking. There's no reason for firefox for android once extension support is gone, featurewise.
    - losvedir 7y ago
      I use Firefox for Android for one reason: the ability to not load images on cell data. I'm surprised other browsers don't have that, but it's huge for me since I pay by the megabyte (Google Fi). It saves me $10/month easily. edit: oh, it looks like that's missing, too. Nooooo....
      - terminaljunkid 7y ago
        Plus ublock origin can save a lot of data. I am on a slow university network and I keep JavaScript off by default using UBO. It takes 3 clicks to enable it for sites that really need it, but web is much faster with it.
    - reportgunner 7y ago
      Try the duckduckgo android browser, most ads fail in it without extensions required. My favorite feature is the "fire" icon that closes all tabs, deletes all cookies and history and basically reinitializes the browser.
- 7y ago
jeena 7y ago
I have 2 reasons uBlock and the fact that I can use my own sync server.
- blendergeek 7y ago
  How do you do that? I have been wanting to run my own sync for a long time but haven't been able to figure it out.
  - gruez 7y ago
    https://mozilla-services.readthedocs.io/en/latest/howtos/run-sync-1.5.html https://mozilla-services.readthedocs.io/en/latest/howtos/run... was the guide I used
    - blendergeek 7y ago
      Okay. Thank you. Do you run your own accounts server or just use Mozilla's?
      - jeena 7y ago
        I use still Mozillas but have planned to replace it some day.
propogandist 7y ago
Samsung browser is a piece of garbage that is constantly phoning home, like all other pre-installed Samsung apps. Look into Kiwi Browser. It's a chromium based android browser that supports extensions https://kiwibrowser.com/ https://kiwibrowser.com/ I've been using it alongside FF for Extensions, but it's nicer (+faster) than FF and has features like pull down to refresh a page, native web-app support etc.

ohazi 7y ago

Can someone with Firefox for Android nightly confirm whether extensions are actually not available with this new release? I agree that this would be a cataclysmic regression for Mozilla, if that is indeed what they plan on releasing.

mjw1007 7y ago
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-preview-upgrade-faqs https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-preview-upgrade... appears to say that, yes, that is what they plan on releasing.
letstrynvm 7y ago
I installed it: no add-ons, they are coming "late 2020" supposedly. I think it's good to consolidate the branding but this is a half-finished preview replacing nightly, a step backwards.

mcjiggerlog 7y ago

WebExtension support in theory is coming in Q1 - https://github.com/orgs/mozilla-mobile/projects/44 https://github.com/orgs/mozilla-mobile/projects/44 Regardless, Firefox Preview already blocks ads and trackers perfectly fine the built-in tracking protection. I've not seen an ad in the months I've been using it.

fwn 7y ago
Reddit, Facebook, Amazon, Youtube and Googles search ads aren't affected by the built-in tracking protection at all. That alone are half the pages most non-tech people (like my parents) usually browse.
- Nextgrid 7y ago
  I remember seeing a list of domains which Firefox tracking protection explicitly whitelists (presumably to avoid breaking these sites’ functionality). Google and Facebook were in there. That told me all I needed to know about this supposed tracking “protection”.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
squiggleblaz 7y ago
Really? Are you sure you don't have some other hosts/vpn based ad blocker? I surely don't use Firefox Preview for much, but I definitely saw an ad on Preview when I was using it yesterday. I forgot why I wasn't using it -- aside from the fact that Firefox normal is in the quick access icons -- and since my phone had just restarted I thought I'd give it a go. But I quickly saw an ad and thought "oh right" and went back to normal Firefox.
Marsymars 7y ago
> Regardless, Firefox Preview already blocks ads and trackers perfectly fine the built-in tracking protection. I don't want a blacklist of ads and trackers. I want all third party scripts and frames blocked by default, which uBlock Origin does perfectly.

silon42 7y ago

I've tried Fenix a few times, and even without getting into extensions, it seemed like a regression in many ways.

vorticalbox 7y ago
How so? I loved the layout and the collections rather than book marks
- silon42 7y ago
  I like the collections a lot, the layout not so much (moved url to top, but it only moves it for browser page, not the collections page.

tablethnuser 7y ago

I had bought into the Firefox ecosystem down to their password manager and would have paid for premium services. Remove the ability to adblock on mobile and I'm pulling out of the entire ecosystem. What a betrayal. They don't even have any skin in the ad game

amjd 7y ago
They are working on WebExtension support [1] as well as built-in basic ad-blocking [2]. Anyone can follow the progress on their public issue tracker on GitHub. 1: https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/5315 https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/5315 2: https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/96 https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/96
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
skinkestek 7y ago
As someone who was deeply disappointed when they broke all old extensions before fixing the new API (but had nowhere to go as Chrome had always had neutered extensions compared to Firefox) I hope they'll fix the extension interface first this time.
- no_identd 7y ago
  Try Basilisk, by the same people who made Pale Moon, but with less feature stripping.

anotheryou 7y ago

"nightly for developers" it's so you can make your stuff work in upcoming versions. I think it's fair to start early. Stick to beta if you want to develop extensions before they are implemented.