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The Register makes some of the most clickbait titles in the area. The real ones is that Firefox Quantum is finally out for Android (Firefox for Android jumped

by m45t3r 6y ago

The Register makes some of the most clickbait titles in the area. The real ones is that Firefox Quantum is finally out for Android (Firefox for Android jumped from version 68.0 to 79.0), and this bought a completely new interface too. Now, the new interface is very nice (bottom navigator bar FTW) and the browser is much faster, but it lost some features and there is a limited number of extensions available for now (Mozilla seems to be manually approving them). So what happened? A small but vocal number of users complained and we get this news from The Register like this was the worse mistake ever. It is not. Sure Mozilla could have managed this update better (losing settings seems pretty bad for example), but most users are probably pretty satisfied with the update. I couldn't use Firefox Android before (too slow compared to Chrome) and I was using Nightly (and afterwards Beta) just so I could get the performance improvements since the browser is so much faster. And also the new interface looks fantastic.

anonymousab 6y ago
>A small but vocal number of users complained You can use this to rationalize-away every regression in every piece of software. Enough "well, they're just edge case loud power users" papercuts may eventually prove fatal. A to-hell-with-your-workflow sneak update, no-downgrade path approach like this speaks volumes about Mozilla. EDIT: Sneak insofar as no clear communication about how much functionality users would be (potentially permanently) losing, and no directions on how to avoid that outcome. The play store rollout has certainly been inconsistent but that's probably more on Google's end.
- your-nanny 6y ago
  well I didn't know it was coming and my workflow went to hell.
- zamadatix 6y ago
  Never attribute to sneakiness what can be attributed to not wanting to maintain 2 versions of one app until 100% feature parity. There isn't really direction to give for a path that doesn't exist.
  - anoncake 6y ago
    Removing the whitelist would be a trivial amount of work.
    - zamadatix 6y ago
      Sure but not everything works yet which is not a trivial amount of issues but for nightly it is the near term plan https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/14034 https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/14034
      - anoncake 6y ago
        Not everything works yet, but with the whitelist, virtually nothing does. Removing it would still make a lot of extensions work without breaking anything.
- xxs 6y ago
  >no-downgrade path approach like this speaks volumes about Mozilla. You can downgrade, just forgo Play Store -- and you will have to setup all over again, first uninstalling the darned 79.
  - FeepingCreature 6y ago
    You can downgrade but you have to redo all your configuration.
  - retox 6y ago
    Unless something has changed recently deleting Firefox also deletes anything you ever downloaded with it. Be very careful about this. Also there is no way to clear the list of downloaded files, there is only a 'delete' button, which if clicked deletes all your downloads. This is particularly annoying if you start downloading something only to find out you already downloaded it (i.e a podcast), the download history tab is the only place to cancel the download, but if you've used firefox for a while the tab is so slow to load that your download has often completed before the tab has loaded.
    - xxs 6y ago
      I keep all downloads/media on the sd card only.
spirobel 6y ago
the new ui is no improvement its just different. just broke all my flows for no reason. the only reason i use firefox on mobile is that i can use ublock orgin. also the "messages from mozilla" that appear after updates are spam. I dont care to hear your political opinions no matter if I agree with them or not. you are just a company. nobody cares what "you" think.
- comprev 6y ago
  Have you considered NextDNS.io for adblocking? It's a life changer!
- tssva 6y ago
  If you use a Firefox sync account and then switch browsers after they have detected you haven't logged in to the account for a while they will send you actual spam trying to get you to switch back.
perlgeek 6y ago
What's better about bottom navigator bar than top? I honestly have no idea which one is better, but after having it at the top (and all other applications seem to have their menu/nav on the top as well) for YEARS, it's a very hard sell to my muscle memory. Faster is good, disabling my extensions simply sucks. Extensions were the main reason I use firefox on mobile at all. Now I'm looking at obscure browsers like Kiwi just to get working extensions on a mobile browser.
- nypar 6y ago
  Hello, I have found one android browser based on Chrome that have extension (addon) support : "Kiwi Browser". https://kiwibrowser.com/ https://kiwibrowser.com/ note: Its extension store is the Google Chrome Store.
  - nypar 6y ago
    Caution : the last update is from a long time ago. See also the Roadmap text at this page : https://github.com/kiwibrowser/src https://github.com/kiwibrowser/src
- pcx 6y ago
  Bottom navigation bar works great for me because it's easier to use with my thumb. I think Mozilla had to choose to either wait a long time to get full extension support and miss the train, or release early. I am also unhappy with not having the extensions I use, but I think this was the right choice. They plan to support the whole extension API eventually. Also aren't they the only ones who support extensions on Mobile?
  - mcherm 6y ago
    No, Mozilla did not have to choose. They could have offered both as options! They could have allowed the end consumer to control when to upgrade (some would go quickly, some would wait until their key extensions work available). I'll admit, the majority of people will upgrade only when it's the default.
jeroenhd 6y ago
As far as complaints about the UI go, I agree with you. It's fine, and you can keep the URL bar at the top if you want to, that's why it asks you for your preference after you update. The lack of addon support is annoying though. One addon I often use (Hide Fixed Elements, to get those annoying popovers to disappear) isn't supported and I still notice it missing every day. It seems to me that a browser built for customisability just isn't finished without the complete addon pack. They could've kept Fenix in beta but decided to launch with missing features regardless. Wnat I'm also missing is about:config support. It exists but has been disabled in stable branches on purpose "in case people break their browser". This mindset is exactly why I'm starting to lose interest in Mozilla. The UI looks great and the performance improvements are very welcome, but to say the bad news is all "just a vocal group" goes too far for me. Firefox users, especially on mobile, are mostly just "the vocal group". Everyone else is on Chrome already.
- raxxorrax 6y ago
  > This mindset is exactly why I'm starting to lose interest in Mozilla Ah, the eternal Windows 8 loop of failure... Don't give users options because they are stupid. I just hope the layoffs didn't paint the future for Mozilla.
- unicornporn 6y ago
  You are oh so right, but I'd like to add that that bookmarklets don't work at all. That was a very unnecessary loss and has screwed things up big time for me. I can no longer add bookmarks to Pinboard.
- ptx 6y ago
  > you can keep the URL bar at the top if you want to Sort of, but it's clearly not designed for that. The tab switcher slides out from the bottom of the screen and has the "new tab" button at the very bottom. To navigate to a new page, I now have to tap the top of the screen, then the bottom of the screen and then the top again.
- onli 6y ago
  I couldn't believe they would block about:config just like that. That mindset is completely unacceptable. But it seems to be a bit more complicated. See https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/i51k0q/mozilla_could_turn_on_about_config_and_have/g0n9nn0/ https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/i51k0q/mozilla_cou.... about:config is not blocked just because of configurability and the usual danger of breaking something, but because it is essentially broken. Still, it's the wrong decision. Users can just reinstall if the app breaks, and there is no blame on Mozilla in that if they showed a warning before, as they do on the desktop.
neiman 6y ago
> A small but vocal number of users complained Citation needed > but most users are probably pretty satisfied with the update Citation needed There's no way for you to know those statements are true, besides wishful thinking (in the same way that I dunno if the opposite it true).
- fomine3 6y ago
  I suspect that "A small but vocal number of users" is majority of Firefox Android user.
- xxs 6y ago
  >(in the same way that I dunno if the opposite it true). You can read the reviews of the latest version in play store...
  - neiman 6y ago
    Oh boy, I did now. That's quite sad.
    - m45t3r 6y ago
      > A small but vocal number of users complained Yeah, I am going by the complaints from users in the Play Store ratings. It is pretty clear that the number is not big (the score on Firefox is still pretty high), but the complaints are very focal saying "this is the worst update ever". > but most users are probably pretty satisfied with the update And yeah, this one I don't have any backup, this is why I said "probably".
      - neiman 6y ago
        > I am going by the complaints from users in the Play Store ratings. Even if the number there is small (which I'm not sure, "small" compared to what?), you can't look at one place and make such a global strong statement. There are many other places for people to voice their opinion, Mozilla forums, chat, social media or, well, here. > this one I don't have any backup, this is why I said "probably". Probably is not a synonym of "maybe" or of "I don't know"...
rrobukef 6y ago
I am one of those vocal users, though I don't consider myself one. It was the first time I ranted about an update or UI behaviour. Can you dismiss (most) of my arguments in this post? https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=24160559&goto=threads%3Fid%3Drrobukef%2324160559 https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=24160559&goto=threads%... --- The recent mobile Firefox is worse in every way that matters to me: ° Breaking recent add-ons (for the few add-ons that exist). I added a close-tab icon to compensate for the bad tab-ui. It's gone now. ° URL-bar hiding is wonkey. Some overlays disable hiding due to recent phising attacks. Now, for overlays, it is always present and hides the bottom of the page. This is very annoying when links are hidden behind the bar. ° URL bar (2): where have my bookmarks gone? ° URL bar (3): no more editing the URL if anything was *ever* searched in the current tab. Instead it edits the search. The URL is inaccessible. ° After 'Open in new tab' there is an annoying delay for 'Switch' again hiding links. ° Tab selection is just bad now. Preview is broken. If anything is displayed, it is often the image of two sites ago, even if the page has rendered. ° Tab selection (2) no more moving the tabs? ° Tab selection (3) why waste so much space? Using only 80% of the screen. And every tab wastes two lines and a half of useful space. Why is only the domain shown? Why not truncated or cut in the middle? ° Tab selection (4): newly opened tabs are hidden, you always have to scroll up as the current tab is always first, older tabs are lower. ° about:config is broken. Certificate error. Certificate error is broken too. Thus no disabling reader mode.
- unhammer 6y ago
  I didn't use many add-ons, but I miss the home page thing which had my most used sites. (I don't see the point of the tab collections. I don't want to nor have time to do many things at once when I'm using my phone – I want to do one thing now.) It also starts up a lot slower than the old one, and there's a bug where sometimes a page will just stay white and I have to flick back and forth between tabs or restart it to get it to load. But I do notice there's less delay when clicking on a link from a page, so that's nice I guess.
- oarfish 6y ago
  Wow, the misfeature of removed URL editing is surprisingly annoying. Completely surprising if you've been using browsers before for any time.
ignoramous 6y ago
> ...but most users are probably pretty satisfied with the update. Am I only one to see Firefox reset the search engine to Google with this Android release?
- oarfish 6y ago
  This did not happen to me. Still DDG.
  - panpanna 6y ago
    Happened to me. Not the first time a Firefox update does this either.
- hhjj 6y ago
  I think that this is the main reason they still update Firefox. Also tried to add a custom search engine in config, it crashed.
- papaf 6y ago
  It converted DDG to Google for me. I was also disappointed that Pinboard and Cookie Auto-Delete add-ons aren't supported.
magicalhippo 6y ago
> the new interface is very nice For me the interface is a regression in every way, except for the ability to select bar location (I have it at the top, but the choice is nice). A lot of it can probably be polished out, but I struggle to see what improvements it brings after a potential post-polish. That said the performance improvements are nice, and it'll stay my primary browser on Android.
panpanna 6y ago
> and this bought a completely new interface too. The new interface is almost universally hated if the store comments are any indication.
xxs 6y ago
Mobile Firefox 79 is the worst update Firefox has ever had since it used to be called 'Mozilla Suite'. That includes removal of xul and what not. I recall updating on the July 31st, it crashed 4 times in less than 70mins on random pages. It lost all its bookmarks, virtually all add-ons, 'home' page, tab thumbnails, removed/reset search engines, etc. Instead, it added totally useless collections. Ah yeah - added Facebook there too, since I just have it disabled on all levels, incl. DNS. >A small but vocal number of users Downplaying it like that, insulting long-time users just to score points on HN is weird and unneeded. Look at the latest version reviews on Play Store. I've downgraded to 68 and I'll keep using until it becomes totally unusable (likely in couple of years or so). The process of finding proper downgrade/compatible version, setup and all took couple of hours as it's necessary to uninstall and wipe it all, else 68 installation would fail.
- tssva 6y ago
  Collections would actually be a useful feature if you could also access them easily from the desktop version of Firefox. Can't think of why they wouldn't have added them to the desktop browsers at the same time except for fear of them competing with Pocket. Microsoft Edge also has collections and you can access them from the mobile and desktop browsers.
  - xxs 6y ago
    previously there was similar stuff with the home page and it worked with a single tap. Collections have to be expanded out like list fashion.
jackewiehose 6y ago
> Now, the new interface is very nice (bottom navigator bar FTW) Maybe if you have a large phone or short fingers but beside this bottom bar there are only disadvantages in the new UI, like no bookmarks in the new-tab-page. Or the additional movements/tapping you have to make to open a new tab. It's like the designers never even used the previous FF. > and the browser is much faster Maybe if you mainly visit shitty javascript-bloat-sites like twitter or reddit but for me there isn't much difference in loading times. The small initial pageload-speedup is lost by the time I need to scroll over all the new advertisements I previously never had to deal with thanks to uMatrix. > but it lost some features not just "some features". It lost _everything_ that made it better than chrome. Now there is just no reason for mobile FF to exist anymore. > A small but vocal number of users complained How did you measure that? I see mostly complaints and a few people who are happy because of the bottom URL bar.
- panpanna 6y ago
  You don't actually use the bar that often, so having it at the bottom doesn't improve much. In fact, it will mostly be in the way. Bookmarks on the other hand are used often and the new updates requires 3 clicks to get to them (previously 1). So this is a classic case of UX designer not knowing how people use his software and just doing changes he thinks are cool.
Yizahi 6y ago
While I like new droid FF and can wait without much discomfort for the rest of the features, please let's not use term "vocal minority" ever again. Why? Because it sucks to be on the receiving end of it while having a valid problem. "Shut up, you are vocal minority and don't matter" - I saw replies like that in some unrelated cases, and from moderators even. This is extremely frustrating. Thank you and sorry for the offtopic rant.
- TheAdamAndChe 6y ago
  "Vocal minority" is a perfect description for a real modern communication issue. Cheap, instantaneous communication allows for people to communicate about anything instantly which is good! But this also allows for people to both complain about anything and receive positive feedback, and for others to have a warped sense of priorities since they mostly see feedback from people who complain about everything all the time. See twitter mobs and "cancel culture." These people don't reflect the majority.
  - Yizahi 6y ago
    I'm not talking about twitter mobs obviously, I'm talking about discussions about technology on tech forums or subreddits when any complaint (blaming the company who developed certain software) gets shut down without even comprehending the problem, purely as a "vocal minority = irrelevant". Oh well, I guess that idea is not yet ready for the masses. More people need to experience the frustration first hand.
romanoderoma 6y ago
> So what happened? A small but vocal number of users complained That small number of users is basically everyone who installed Firefox on Android There is (was) no other reason to use it over competitors > and I was using Nightly I still am And used original Firefox because extensions Now it's just a slower (even if less slow than before) clone of Chrome My personal extension used by hundreds of people (but mainly me) doesn't work anymore, so I have no reason to use Firefox anymore. Simple as that. Iḿ not complaining, I'm just switching back to Chrome I can block ads and trackers with blokada and it works for any app on my phone

by m45t3r 6y ago

anonymousab 6y ago

>A small but vocal number of users complained You can use this to rationalize-away every regression in every piece of software. Enough "well, they're just edge case loud power users" papercuts may eventually prove fatal. A to-hell-with-your-workflow sneak update, no-downgrade path approach like this speaks volumes about Mozilla. EDIT: Sneak insofar as no clear communication about how much functionality users would be (potentially permanently) losing, and no directions on how to avoid that outcome. The play store rollout has certainly been inconsistent but that's probably more on Google's end.

your-nanny 6y ago
well I didn't know it was coming and my workflow went to hell.
zamadatix 6y ago
Never attribute to sneakiness what can be attributed to not wanting to maintain 2 versions of one app until 100% feature parity. There isn't really direction to give for a path that doesn't exist.
- anoncake 6y ago
  Removing the whitelist would be a trivial amount of work.
  - zamadatix 6y ago
    Sure but not everything works yet which is not a trivial amount of issues but for nightly it is the near term plan https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/14034 https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/14034
    - anoncake 6y ago
      Not everything works yet, but with the whitelist, virtually nothing does. Removing it would still make a lot of extensions work without breaking anything.
xxs 6y ago
>no-downgrade path approach like this speaks volumes about Mozilla. You can downgrade, just forgo Play Store -- and you will have to setup all over again, first uninstalling the darned 79.
- FeepingCreature 6y ago
  You can downgrade but you have to redo all your configuration.
- retox 6y ago
  Unless something has changed recently deleting Firefox also deletes anything you ever downloaded with it. Be very careful about this. Also there is no way to clear the list of downloaded files, there is only a 'delete' button, which if clicked deletes all your downloads. This is particularly annoying if you start downloading something only to find out you already downloaded it (i.e a podcast), the download history tab is the only place to cancel the download, but if you've used firefox for a while the tab is so slow to load that your download has often completed before the tab has loaded.
  - xxs 6y ago
    I keep all downloads/media on the sd card only.

spirobel 6y ago

the new ui is no improvement its just different. just broke all my flows for no reason. the only reason i use firefox on mobile is that i can use ublock orgin. also the "messages from mozilla" that appear after updates are spam. I dont care to hear your political opinions no matter if I agree with them or not. you are just a company. nobody cares what "you" think.

comprev 6y ago
Have you considered NextDNS.io for adblocking? It's a life changer!
tssva 6y ago
If you use a Firefox sync account and then switch browsers after they have detected you haven't logged in to the account for a while they will send you actual spam trying to get you to switch back.

perlgeek 6y ago

What's better about bottom navigator bar than top? I honestly have no idea which one is better, but after having it at the top (and all other applications seem to have their menu/nav on the top as well) for YEARS, it's a very hard sell to my muscle memory. Faster is good, disabling my extensions simply sucks. Extensions were the main reason I use firefox on mobile at all. Now I'm looking at obscure browsers like Kiwi just to get working extensions on a mobile browser.

nypar 6y ago
Hello, I have found one android browser based on Chrome that have extension (addon) support : "Kiwi Browser". https://kiwibrowser.com/ https://kiwibrowser.com/ note: Its extension store is the Google Chrome Store.
- nypar 6y ago
  Caution : the last update is from a long time ago. See also the Roadmap text at this page : https://github.com/kiwibrowser/src https://github.com/kiwibrowser/src
pcx 6y ago
Bottom navigation bar works great for me because it's easier to use with my thumb. I think Mozilla had to choose to either wait a long time to get full extension support and miss the train, or release early. I am also unhappy with not having the extensions I use, but I think this was the right choice. They plan to support the whole extension API eventually. Also aren't they the only ones who support extensions on Mobile?
- mcherm 6y ago
  No, Mozilla did not have to choose. They could have offered both as options! They could have allowed the end consumer to control when to upgrade (some would go quickly, some would wait until their key extensions work available). I'll admit, the majority of people will upgrade only when it's the default.

jeroenhd 6y ago

As far as complaints about the UI go, I agree with you. It's fine, and you can keep the URL bar at the top if you want to, that's why it asks you for your preference after you update. The lack of addon support is annoying though. One addon I often use (Hide Fixed Elements, to get those annoying popovers to disappear) isn't supported and I still notice it missing every day. It seems to me that a browser built for customisability just isn't finished without the complete addon pack. They could've kept Fenix in beta but decided to launch with missing features regardless. Wnat I'm also missing is about:config support. It exists but has been disabled in stable branches on purpose "in case people break their browser". This mindset is exactly why I'm starting to lose interest in Mozilla. The UI looks great and the performance improvements are very welcome, but to say the bad news is all "just a vocal group" goes too far for me. Firefox users, especially on mobile, are mostly just "the vocal group". Everyone else is on Chrome already.

raxxorrax 6y ago
> This mindset is exactly why I'm starting to lose interest in Mozilla Ah, the eternal Windows 8 loop of failure... Don't give users options because they are stupid. I just hope the layoffs didn't paint the future for Mozilla.
unicornporn 6y ago
You are oh so right, but I'd like to add that that bookmarklets don't work at all. That was a very unnecessary loss and has screwed things up big time for me. I can no longer add bookmarks to Pinboard.
ptx 6y ago
> you can keep the URL bar at the top if you want to Sort of, but it's clearly not designed for that. The tab switcher slides out from the bottom of the screen and has the "new tab" button at the very bottom. To navigate to a new page, I now have to tap the top of the screen, then the bottom of the screen and then the top again.
onli 6y ago
I couldn't believe they would block about:config just like that. That mindset is completely unacceptable. But it seems to be a bit more complicated. See https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/i51k0q/mozilla_could_turn_on_about_config_and_have/g0n9nn0/ https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/i51k0q/mozilla_cou.... about:config is not blocked just because of configurability and the usual danger of breaking something, but because it is essentially broken. Still, it's the wrong decision. Users can just reinstall if the app breaks, and there is no blame on Mozilla in that if they showed a warning before, as they do on the desktop.

neiman 6y ago

> A small but vocal number of users complained Citation needed > but most users are probably pretty satisfied with the update Citation needed There's no way for you to know those statements are true, besides wishful thinking (in the same way that I dunno if the opposite it true).

fomine3 6y ago
I suspect that "A small but vocal number of users" is majority of Firefox Android user.
xxs 6y ago
>(in the same way that I dunno if the opposite it true). You can read the reviews of the latest version in play store...
- neiman 6y ago
  Oh boy, I did now. That's quite sad.
  - m45t3r 6y ago
    > A small but vocal number of users complained Yeah, I am going by the complaints from users in the Play Store ratings. It is pretty clear that the number is not big (the score on Firefox is still pretty high), but the complaints are very focal saying "this is the worst update ever". > but most users are probably pretty satisfied with the update And yeah, this one I don't have any backup, this is why I said "probably".
    - neiman 6y ago
      > I am going by the complaints from users in the Play Store ratings. Even if the number there is small (which I'm not sure, "small" compared to what?), you can't look at one place and make such a global strong statement. There are many other places for people to voice their opinion, Mozilla forums, chat, social media or, well, here. > this one I don't have any backup, this is why I said "probably". Probably is not a synonym of "maybe" or of "I don't know"...

rrobukef 6y ago

I am one of those vocal users, though I don't consider myself one. It was the first time I ranted about an update or UI behaviour. Can you dismiss (most) of my arguments in this post? https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=24160559&goto=threads%3Fid%3Drrobukef%2324160559 https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=24160559&goto=threads%... --- The recent mobile Firefox is worse in every way that matters to me: ° Breaking recent add-ons (for the few add-ons that exist). I added a close-tab icon to compensate for the bad tab-ui. It's gone now. ° URL-bar hiding is wonkey. Some overlays disable hiding due to recent phising attacks. Now, for overlays, it is always present and hides the bottom of the page. This is very annoying when links are hidden behind the bar. ° URL bar (2): where have my bookmarks gone? ° URL bar (3): no more editing the URL if anything was *ever* searched in the current tab. Instead it edits the search. The URL is inaccessible. ° After 'Open in new tab' there is an annoying delay for 'Switch' again hiding links. ° Tab selection is just bad now. Preview is broken. If anything is displayed, it is often the image of two sites ago, even if the page has rendered. ° Tab selection (2) no more moving the tabs? ° Tab selection (3) why waste so much space? Using only 80% of the screen. And every tab wastes two lines and a half of useful space. Why is only the domain shown? Why not truncated or cut in the middle? ° Tab selection (4): newly opened tabs are hidden, you always have to scroll up as the current tab is always first, older tabs are lower. ° about:config is broken. Certificate error. Certificate error is broken too. Thus no disabling reader mode.

unhammer 6y ago
I didn't use many add-ons, but I miss the home page thing which had my most used sites. (I don't see the point of the tab collections. I don't want to nor have time to do many things at once when I'm using my phone – I want to do one thing now.) It also starts up a lot slower than the old one, and there's a bug where sometimes a page will just stay white and I have to flick back and forth between tabs or restart it to get it to load. But I do notice there's less delay when clicking on a link from a page, so that's nice I guess.
oarfish 6y ago
Wow, the misfeature of removed URL editing is surprisingly annoying. Completely surprising if you've been using browsers before for any time.

ignoramous 6y ago

> ...but most users are probably pretty satisfied with the update. Am I only one to see Firefox reset the search engine to Google with this Android release?

oarfish 6y ago
This did not happen to me. Still DDG.
- panpanna 6y ago
  Happened to me. Not the first time a Firefox update does this either.
hhjj 6y ago
I think that this is the main reason they still update Firefox. Also tried to add a custom search engine in config, it crashed.
papaf 6y ago
It converted DDG to Google for me. I was also disappointed that Pinboard and Cookie Auto-Delete add-ons aren't supported.

magicalhippo 6y ago

> the new interface is very nice For me the interface is a regression in every way, except for the ability to select bar location (I have it at the top, but the choice is nice). A lot of it can probably be polished out, but I struggle to see what improvements it brings after a potential post-polish. That said the performance improvements are nice, and it'll stay my primary browser on Android.

panpanna 6y ago

> and this bought a completely new interface too. The new interface is almost universally hated if the store comments are any indication.

xxs 6y ago

Mobile Firefox 79 is the worst update Firefox has ever had since it used to be called 'Mozilla Suite'. That includes removal of xul and what not. I recall updating on the July 31st, it crashed 4 times in less than 70mins on random pages. It lost all its bookmarks, virtually all add-ons, 'home' page, tab thumbnails, removed/reset search engines, etc. Instead, it added totally useless collections. Ah yeah - added Facebook there too, since I just have it disabled on all levels, incl. DNS. >A small but vocal number of users Downplaying it like that, insulting long-time users just to score points on HN is weird and unneeded. Look at the latest version reviews on Play Store. I've downgraded to 68 and I'll keep using until it becomes totally unusable (likely in couple of years or so). The process of finding proper downgrade/compatible version, setup and all took couple of hours as it's necessary to uninstall and wipe it all, else 68 installation would fail.

tssva 6y ago
Collections would actually be a useful feature if you could also access them easily from the desktop version of Firefox. Can't think of why they wouldn't have added them to the desktop browsers at the same time except for fear of them competing with Pocket. Microsoft Edge also has collections and you can access them from the mobile and desktop browsers.
- xxs 6y ago
  previously there was similar stuff with the home page and it worked with a single tap. Collections have to be expanded out like list fashion.

jackewiehose 6y ago

> Now, the new interface is very nice (bottom navigator bar FTW) Maybe if you have a large phone or short fingers but beside this bottom bar there are only disadvantages in the new UI, like no bookmarks in the new-tab-page. Or the additional movements/tapping you have to make to open a new tab. It's like the designers never even used the previous FF. > and the browser is much faster Maybe if you mainly visit shitty javascript-bloat-sites like twitter or reddit but for me there isn't much difference in loading times. The small initial pageload-speedup is lost by the time I need to scroll over all the new advertisements I previously never had to deal with thanks to uMatrix. > but it lost some features not just "some features". It lost _everything_ that made it better than chrome. Now there is just no reason for mobile FF to exist anymore. > A small but vocal number of users complained How did you measure that? I see mostly complaints and a few people who are happy because of the bottom URL bar.

panpanna 6y ago
You don't actually use the bar that often, so having it at the bottom doesn't improve much. In fact, it will mostly be in the way. Bookmarks on the other hand are used often and the new updates requires 3 clicks to get to them (previously 1). So this is a classic case of UX designer not knowing how people use his software and just doing changes he thinks are cool.

Yizahi 6y ago

While I like new droid FF and can wait without much discomfort for the rest of the features, please let's not use term "vocal minority" ever again. Why? Because it sucks to be on the receiving end of it while having a valid problem. "Shut up, you are vocal minority and don't matter" - I saw replies like that in some unrelated cases, and from moderators even. This is extremely frustrating. Thank you and sorry for the offtopic rant.

TheAdamAndChe 6y ago
"Vocal minority" is a perfect description for a real modern communication issue. Cheap, instantaneous communication allows for people to communicate about anything instantly which is good! But this also allows for people to both complain about anything and receive positive feedback, and for others to have a warped sense of priorities since they mostly see feedback from people who complain about everything all the time. See twitter mobs and "cancel culture." These people don't reflect the majority.
- Yizahi 6y ago
  I'm not talking about twitter mobs obviously, I'm talking about discussions about technology on tech forums or subreddits when any complaint (blaming the company who developed certain software) gets shut down without even comprehending the problem, purely as a "vocal minority = irrelevant". Oh well, I guess that idea is not yet ready for the masses. More people need to experience the frustration first hand.

romanoderoma 6y ago

> So what happened? A small but vocal number of users complained That small number of users is basically everyone who installed Firefox on Android There is (was) no other reason to use it over competitors > and I was using Nightly I still am And used original Firefox because extensions Now it's just a slower (even if less slow than before) clone of Chrome My personal extension used by hundreds of people (but mainly me) doesn't work anymore, so I have no reason to use Firefox anymore. Simple as that. Iḿ not complaining, I'm just switching back to Chrome I can block ads and trackers with blokada and it works for any app on my phone