4 ms·

Honest question: is it simply the fact you can't use a Gecko engine on iOS that makes it useless to you? My impression is that the Firefox shell offered is sti

by shrew 6y ago

Honest question: is it simply the fact you can't use a Gecko engine on iOS that makes it useless to you? My impression is that the Firefox shell offered is still able to provide the various anti-tracking privacy features that many would point to Firefox for, and the variety of browser shells available should mean that you'd be able to find a UI to your liking if Safari's isn't. At that point, the only thing I can see missing is a non-webkit engine. I get that that's an annoyance and definitely on the same anti-competitive level as 00s era IE, but by and large web developers account for it and it works acceptably. As much as I'd need it to for mobile browsing. Would just be interested to know if there's something more I'm missing.

xxs 6y ago
> Honest question: is it simply the fact you can't use a Gecko engine on iOS that makes it useless to you? No plugins/add-ons effectively.
- coldtea 6y ago
  Because you need plugins on a mobile browser?
  - hypertele-Xii 6y ago
    Adblock?
    - GekkePrutser 6y ago
      Indeed uBlock Origin is the #1 reason I use Firefox on Android. #2 is dark reader.
      - tokamak-teapot 6y ago
        AdGuard works pretty well on iOS. I don’t think there is a way to do a ‘dark reader’ specifically though perhaps pages honour the OS’s ‘dark mode’ setting these days? I would guess support is spotty.
        lukec11 6y ago
        Sites that use the prefers-color-scheme media query honor the OS setting on iOS, but it obviously doesn't work on sites that haven't implemented it - Dark reader[0] takes a invert-colors approach and makes it a little easier on the eyes. [0] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/darkreader/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/darkreader/
        cute_boi 6y ago
        well adguard only have ip, domain names etc. I mean it has less context? Addon has more context about the webpage lets say it can remove ads belonging to DOM with id #ads-1 ?
        GekkePrutser 6y ago
        Exactly, uBlock Origin it doesn't just block on domain. It can also remove certain CSS items. Even nag screens about cookies and adblockers :)
    - TuringTest 6y ago
      And in Europe, cookies / nag-popup-removers for all those GDPR compliance dialogs (though vanilla Firefox is becoming better in blocking trackers by default).
  - worble 6y ago
    Why would a mobile browser be different to a desktop one in this regard?
    - coldtea 6y ago
      Because you usually work on a desktop, and might have all kind of handy extensions to help you. You usually view webpages in a very minimal interface, small screen, often on the go or leisurly, and with limited interaction on a mobile phone. So, aside from something like an adblocker (for which there are solutions), what would one use?
      - lupire 6y ago
        What browser extension is NOT useful on mobile?
  - TuringTest 6y ago
    Yes
  - xxs 6y ago
    That was supposed to be an honest question with an honest answer. There was no need for a snarky remark. But yes, totally. The topic is about owning your own hardware/software combo - so having addons/customization is the definition of it.
    - coldtea 6y ago
      >That was supposed to be an honest question with an honest answer. There was no need for a snarky remark. Well, somewhat snarky. It's still a legimate question. Why would one "need" plugins on a mobile browser? What kind of functionality that mobile Firefox doesn't provide? >The topic is about owning your own hardware/software combo - so having addons/customization is the definition of it. Well, the topic is about owing your computer. Which has some merit (even though owing is a kind of a weasel word: you do own it, even if the OS enforces this or that measure. You can sell it at any time, for example, break it and nobody will ask you to return it, etc.). So, the real topic is "doing whatever you want with your OS, with the ability to disable all checks, protections, etc, install custom everything etc". Which I can see the appeal in some cases. For a mobile phone what exactly is the great appeal?
      - magikaram 6y ago
        There are certain extensions that I use on Firefox on the desktop. I would like to have some of those extensions available for my mobile device, in such a way, that I can enhance the usability of my mobile browser.
      - unethical_ban 6y ago
        Why would you want to block ads on your desktop browser but allow them on mobile?
        chipotle_coyote 6y ago
        There are ad blockers for Safari. There may be folks waiting to pounce with absolutely true complaints about how unsophisticated they are compared to what's possible in other browsers, but in practice they do a sufficient job.
- shrew 6y ago
  Gotcha, that's completely fair and not something I'd considered. Thanks! As a vague counter point, I use Firefox Focus[0][1] which touts the tracker blocking and ad blocking I'd rely on extensions for normally. It meets my needs as the only additional extensions I use on desktop are for tab and session cookie management, both of which are moot points in a browser without tabs and a "clear cookies after each session" policy. [0] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mozilla.focus&hl=en_GB&gl=US https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mozilla.fo... [1] https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/firefox-focus-privacy-browser/id1055677337 https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/firefox-focus-privacy-browser/...

by shrew 6y ago

xxs 6y ago

> Honest question: is it simply the fact you can't use a Gecko engine on iOS that makes it useless to you? No plugins/add-ons effectively.

coldtea 6y ago
Because you need plugins on a mobile browser?
- hypertele-Xii 6y ago
  Adblock?
  - GekkePrutser 6y ago
    Indeed uBlock Origin is the #1 reason I use Firefox on Android. #2 is dark reader.
    - tokamak-teapot 6y ago
      AdGuard works pretty well on iOS. I don’t think there is a way to do a ‘dark reader’ specifically though perhaps pages honour the OS’s ‘dark mode’ setting these days? I would guess support is spotty.
      - lukec11 6y ago
        Sites that use the prefers-color-scheme media query honor the OS setting on iOS, but it obviously doesn't work on sites that haven't implemented it - Dark reader[0] takes a invert-colors approach and makes it a little easier on the eyes. [0] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/darkreader/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/darkreader/
      - cute_boi 6y ago
        well adguard only have ip, domain names etc. I mean it has less context? Addon has more context about the webpage lets say it can remove ads belonging to DOM with id #ads-1 ?
        GekkePrutser 6y ago
        Exactly, uBlock Origin it doesn't just block on domain. It can also remove certain CSS items. Even nag screens about cookies and adblockers :)
  - TuringTest 6y ago
    And in Europe, cookies / nag-popup-removers for all those GDPR compliance dialogs (though vanilla Firefox is becoming better in blocking trackers by default).
- worble 6y ago
  Why would a mobile browser be different to a desktop one in this regard?
  - coldtea 6y ago
    Because you usually work on a desktop, and might have all kind of handy extensions to help you. You usually view webpages in a very minimal interface, small screen, often on the go or leisurly, and with limited interaction on a mobile phone. So, aside from something like an adblocker (for which there are solutions), what would one use?
    - lupire 6y ago
      What browser extension is NOT useful on mobile?
- TuringTest 6y ago
  Yes
- xxs 6y ago
  That was supposed to be an honest question with an honest answer. There was no need for a snarky remark. But yes, totally. The topic is about owning your own hardware/software combo - so having addons/customization is the definition of it.
  - coldtea 6y ago
    >That was supposed to be an honest question with an honest answer. There was no need for a snarky remark. Well, somewhat snarky. It's still a legimate question. Why would one "need" plugins on a mobile browser? What kind of functionality that mobile Firefox doesn't provide? >The topic is about owning your own hardware/software combo - so having addons/customization is the definition of it. Well, the topic is about owing your computer. Which has some merit (even though owing is a kind of a weasel word: you do own it, even if the OS enforces this or that measure. You can sell it at any time, for example, break it and nobody will ask you to return it, etc.). So, the real topic is "doing whatever you want with your OS, with the ability to disable all checks, protections, etc, install custom everything etc". Which I can see the appeal in some cases. For a mobile phone what exactly is the great appeal?
    - magikaram 6y ago
      There are certain extensions that I use on Firefox on the desktop. I would like to have some of those extensions available for my mobile device, in such a way, that I can enhance the usability of my mobile browser.
    - unethical_ban 6y ago
      Why would you want to block ads on your desktop browser but allow them on mobile?
      - chipotle_coyote 6y ago
        There are ad blockers for Safari. There may be folks waiting to pounce with absolutely true complaints about how unsophisticated they are compared to what's possible in other browsers, but in practice they do a sufficient job.
shrew 6y ago
Gotcha, that's completely fair and not something I'd considered. Thanks! As a vague counter point, I use Firefox Focus[0][1] which touts the tracker blocking and ad blocking I'd rely on extensions for normally. It meets my needs as the only additional extensions I use on desktop are for tab and session cookie management, both of which are moot points in a browser without tabs and a "clear cookies after each session" policy. [0] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mozilla.focus&hl=en_GB&gl=US https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.mozilla.fo... [1] https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/firefox-focus-privacy-browser/id1055677337 https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/firefox-focus-privacy-browser/...