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I feel the article misses how Firefox's inability to get a foothold on the mobile platform contributed to its decline. There are more people today using web bro

I feel the article misses how Firefox's inability to get a foothold on the mobile platform contributed to its decline. There are more people today using web browsers via mobile then desktop. In many poorer countries the first and only access to the open internet for the people is through chrome on Android. I don't blame Mozilla for this though since they did not have a monopoly on a platform to capitalize on unlike the other players. Sadly Safari seems to be the only other option. For a long time Firefox has been dependent on Google for sponsorship. This is a toxic dependency that Firefox hasn't been able to rid itself of and is seeming increasingly less plausible as time goes by.

Brakenshire 5y ago
I was surprised Mozilla gave up on Servo before realising its potential, particularly for a parallel layout engine, because that could have been a massive advantage on mobile, especially on cheap smartphones which have many cores but each low performance.
teekert 5y ago
I'd use FireFox in iOS if I had my extensions and containers available. Sadly FireFox isn't even able to make proper use of the system wide ad blocking method iOS offers (probably due to iOS). I found DDG browser to block stuff a lot better (and I like the UI more). But FireFox on Android was perfect, at least it was until the latest UI update when suddenly they lost the notion of favorites (or, they were now hidden under "new tab" instead of available on touching the address bar) and you needed to open a new tab for just about anything. I'd still prefer it over Safari or Chrome though.
- traveler01 5y ago
  I paid Adguard and enable the DNS option, so basically I can pretty much use any browser that it will block my ads.
MrDresden 5y ago
Android user (and dev) and I exclusively use Firefox. That also goes for my Linux and Mac desk-/laptops. I actually do not enjoy using Chrome on my Android compared to the feel of the new Firefo client.
- baud147258 5y ago
  Personally I didn't really like the latest changes in the Firefox mobile UI, especially with how it's managing tabs, but I'm sticking with it. I have also to recognize that with recent updates, it has stopped crashing (or at least the frequency is way reduced).
  - floatboth 5y ago
    Settings → Tabs → Tab View := List
  - noisem4ker 5y ago
    The "jump back in" feature and the "new tab" button not actually opening a new tab until you tell it where to go are what annoys me the most right now. I wish I could go back to the old, saner behavior, which was in Fenix (the "redesign") for a while.
- yutijke 5y ago
  But you are not the average case. Firefox users on mobile are the exception and are very few in number. For most people the internet, Google and Chrome are one and the same.
  - MrDresden 5y ago
    Ofcourse I am not the average case. I'm not sure how you thought that needed pointing out.
_abox 5y ago
I use Firefox on Android, it works pretty good. Having dark reader and uBlock Origin on mobile is a big plus. But I do hate the lack of configuration options, pull-to-refresh, and their need to 'approve' extensions and in particular not allowing any kind of sideloading of extensions. For this reason I can't use some of the extensions I like (because they won't allow them in the firefox store either). This is in particular one that bypasses paywalls. I assume the google deal has a lot to do with that. I wish they would just charge for Firefox sync. The users that are left mostly use it for privacy reasons and they know that privacy costs money. Safari is not an option for me, I use all platforms but I want the same browser on every platform which means no safari :)
- TobTobXX 5y ago
  On FF nightly you can install any addon. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/find-and-install-add-ons-firefox-android#w_expanded-extension-support-in-firefox-for-android-nightly https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/find-and-install-add-on...
  - GekkePrutser 5y ago
    Oh ok, I didn't know. I don't like using the nightly version but I'll give it a try.
- nicoburns 5y ago
  I believe they've actually implemented pull-to-refresh now.
  - GekkePrutser 5y ago
    I read about that but it hasn't made it into the production version :(
    - nicoburns 5y ago
      Hmm... so it hasn't. I would swear I've used it, but it's not working for me if I test it now. I'm mainly on ios now, so maybe that's what confused me.
cxr 5y ago
> they did not have a monopoly on a platform to capitalize on unlike the other players Considering how poorly pretty much every vendor who wasn't named "Apple" was fumbling around trying to layer negative value added customizations on top of Android in the early days (and continued doing so for years), there was a ripe opportunity to ship a "Mozilla mobile" consisting of a stock Android device + Firefox. Of course, the powers that be predictably blew it.
NoGravitas 5y ago
Firefox on Android is absolutely excellent these days, but it still shows how Mozilla is really hesitant to embrace it. It's the only mobile browser with really adequate ad-blocking, thanks to extension support. There are a lot of other extensions which are really useful on mobile that aren't on the recommended list, though. I can understand why they restrict extensions (some don't have a viable UI for mobile or would require significant changes), but I recently went through the hoops to install non-approved extensions, and having Privacy Redirect and Stylus are life-changers.
- The_rationalist 5y ago
  Kiwi browser is chromium with uBlock
- soundnote 5y ago
  Both Vivaldi and Brave have adblockers built in by default, and Brave's both won't get fucked over by Manifest v3 (since they're part of the browser) and do CNAME uncloaking, the thing that makes uBO better on Firefox than Chromium.

Brakenshire 5y ago

I was surprised Mozilla gave up on Servo before realising its potential, particularly for a parallel layout engine, because that could have been a massive advantage on mobile, especially on cheap smartphones which have many cores but each low performance.

teekert 5y ago

I'd use FireFox in iOS if I had my extensions and containers available. Sadly FireFox isn't even able to make proper use of the system wide ad blocking method iOS offers (probably due to iOS). I found DDG browser to block stuff a lot better (and I like the UI more). But FireFox on Android was perfect, at least it was until the latest UI update when suddenly they lost the notion of favorites (or, they were now hidden under "new tab" instead of available on touching the address bar) and you needed to open a new tab for just about anything. I'd still prefer it over Safari or Chrome though.

traveler01 5y ago
I paid Adguard and enable the DNS option, so basically I can pretty much use any browser that it will block my ads.

MrDresden 5y ago

Android user (and dev) and I exclusively use Firefox. That also goes for my Linux and Mac desk-/laptops. I actually do not enjoy using Chrome on my Android compared to the feel of the new Firefo client.

baud147258 5y ago
Personally I didn't really like the latest changes in the Firefox mobile UI, especially with how it's managing tabs, but I'm sticking with it. I have also to recognize that with recent updates, it has stopped crashing (or at least the frequency is way reduced).
- floatboth 5y ago
  Settings → Tabs → Tab View := List
- noisem4ker 5y ago
  The "jump back in" feature and the "new tab" button not actually opening a new tab until you tell it where to go are what annoys me the most right now. I wish I could go back to the old, saner behavior, which was in Fenix (the "redesign") for a while.
yutijke 5y ago
But you are not the average case. Firefox users on mobile are the exception and are very few in number. For most people the internet, Google and Chrome are one and the same.
- MrDresden 5y ago
  Ofcourse I am not the average case. I'm not sure how you thought that needed pointing out.

_abox 5y ago

I use Firefox on Android, it works pretty good. Having dark reader and uBlock Origin on mobile is a big plus. But I do hate the lack of configuration options, pull-to-refresh, and their need to 'approve' extensions and in particular not allowing any kind of sideloading of extensions. For this reason I can't use some of the extensions I like (because they won't allow them in the firefox store either). This is in particular one that bypasses paywalls. I assume the google deal has a lot to do with that. I wish they would just charge for Firefox sync. The users that are left mostly use it for privacy reasons and they know that privacy costs money. Safari is not an option for me, I use all platforms but I want the same browser on every platform which means no safari :)

TobTobXX 5y ago
On FF nightly you can install any addon. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/find-and-install-add-ons-firefox-android#w_expanded-extension-support-in-firefox-for-android-nightly https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/find-and-install-add-on...
- GekkePrutser 5y ago
  Oh ok, I didn't know. I don't like using the nightly version but I'll give it a try.
nicoburns 5y ago
I believe they've actually implemented pull-to-refresh now.
- GekkePrutser 5y ago
  I read about that but it hasn't made it into the production version :(
  - nicoburns 5y ago
    Hmm... so it hasn't. I would swear I've used it, but it's not working for me if I test it now. I'm mainly on ios now, so maybe that's what confused me.

cxr 5y ago

> they did not have a monopoly on a platform to capitalize on unlike the other players Considering how poorly pretty much every vendor who wasn't named "Apple" was fumbling around trying to layer negative value added customizations on top of Android in the early days (and continued doing so for years), there was a ripe opportunity to ship a "Mozilla mobile" consisting of a stock Android device + Firefox. Of course, the powers that be predictably blew it.

NoGravitas 5y ago

Firefox on Android is absolutely excellent these days, but it still shows how Mozilla is really hesitant to embrace it. It's the only mobile browser with really adequate ad-blocking, thanks to extension support. There are a lot of other extensions which are really useful on mobile that aren't on the recommended list, though. I can understand why they restrict extensions (some don't have a viable UI for mobile or would require significant changes), but I recently went through the hoops to install non-approved extensions, and having Privacy Redirect and Stylus are life-changers.

The_rationalist 5y ago
Kiwi browser is chromium with uBlock
soundnote 5y ago
Both Vivaldi and Brave have adblockers built in by default, and Brave's both won't get fucked over by Manifest v3 (since they're part of the browser) and do CNAME uncloaking, the thing that makes uBO better on Firefox than Chromium.