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Firefox shot themselves in the foot by having such a painfully slow mobile version. For years, almost every review on Google Play complained about its sluggishn

Firefox shot themselves in the foot by having such a painfully slow mobile version. For years, almost every review on Google Play complained about its sluggishness. Yet Mozilla seemed content to keep describing it as "fast" as if that alone fixed the problem. They also, for some unaccountable reason --and, again, in the face of countless complaints dating back years--- removed the 'text reflow' function, which basically made half the web unreadable on mobile [for me, anyway]. And, as mentioned above, their stupid 'curated extensions' policy was the icing on the cake. Firefox come across like Apple these days "We know what you want, better than you do"

TheCapeGreek 4y ago
Haven't followed the mobile browser scene so correct me if things have changed, but the main draw for FF on mobile (at least on Android) has been: - Autoplay in the background without YouTube Premium - Extensions - specifically uBlock Origin, making it an option (the only?) for ad blocking on mobile. - Sync your FF data between desktops and mobile - great if I need to access something on the go without a password manager. I hate its sluggishness as well but the pros are pretty hefty IMO. For those using F-Droid, there's also Bromite, an ungoogled Chromium with ad blocking built in. Haven't used it too much.
alserio 4y ago
At least you can install ublock origin on Firefox mobile. You cannot do that in chrome and safari
- Normille 4y ago
  Yes, you can. I use Yandex browser [Chromium-based] on Android. Like all mobile browsers, it's a piece of crap. But it's the least piece of crap one I've found so far. The only mobile browser that offers text-reflow[0] AND the ability to install any extension [1][2] [0] Kiwi browser also has text-reflow. But the implementation is terrible. Yandex's works really well. [1]Kiwi Browser also offers full extension support [2] Yandex makes you jump through hoops to install some extensions by refusing to install them as 'incompatible'. However by enabling Developer Mode and using 'Load Unpacked' you can usually get around this. I run Yandex browser on Android with uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger, ViolentMonkey, Windscribe VPN and I Don't Care ABout Cookies. BTW --to pre-empt the tediously predictable: * I use <Russian product> * Ha! All your data belong to Vladimir Putin! or * I use <Chinese product> * Ha! All your data belong to CCP! responses If I didn't use Yandex browser on Android, Kiwi browser would be my second choice. On paper, it offers the same must-have features as Yandex; text-reflow and full extension support. But, in practice, I find it pretty clunky and glitchy. And, the reason I brought up the subject of Firefox mobile, in the discussion of Firefox's demise is that: 1. For quite a while now, more people have been browsing the web on mobile than on desktop. So having a decent mobile version of your browser is paramount 2: Many people [myself included] enjoy the convenience of being able to 'pick up where we left off' when switching between using browsers on our laptops / desktops /mobile devices. So finding one browser that we can use [and sync] across all devices is preferred. I still have Firefox on my laptops & desktops. But, these days, I rarely ever fire it up, as I know anything I do on there will be lost to me when I switch to one of my mobile devices.
  - alserio 4y ago
    Isn't there the issue with manifest v3 crippling ublock and other adblockers? How do those browsers fare? Do they patch chromium?
blub 4y ago
They screwed up a lot, but the real reason they lost is because they were sabotaged at every step by Google. Remember the “oopsies” where Google sites were breaking on Firefox and the advertising and bundling onslought for Chrome. Google was being obviously anti-competitive and the US authorities were giving zero fucks as usual.

TheCapeGreek 4y ago

Haven't followed the mobile browser scene so correct me if things have changed, but the main draw for FF on mobile (at least on Android) has been: - Autoplay in the background without YouTube Premium - Extensions - specifically uBlock Origin, making it an option (the only?) for ad blocking on mobile. - Sync your FF data between desktops and mobile - great if I need to access something on the go without a password manager. I hate its sluggishness as well but the pros are pretty hefty IMO. For those using F-Droid, there's also Bromite, an ungoogled Chromium with ad blocking built in. Haven't used it too much.

alserio 4y ago

At least you can install ublock origin on Firefox mobile. You cannot do that in chrome and safari

Normille 4y ago
Yes, you can. I use Yandex browser [Chromium-based] on Android. Like all mobile browsers, it's a piece of crap. But it's the least piece of crap one I've found so far. The only mobile browser that offers text-reflow[0] AND the ability to install any extension [1][2] [0] Kiwi browser also has text-reflow. But the implementation is terrible. Yandex's works really well. [1]Kiwi Browser also offers full extension support [2] Yandex makes you jump through hoops to install some extensions by refusing to install them as 'incompatible'. However by enabling Developer Mode and using 'Load Unpacked' you can usually get around this. I run Yandex browser on Android with uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger, ViolentMonkey, Windscribe VPN and I Don't Care ABout Cookies. BTW --to pre-empt the tediously predictable: * I use <Russian product> * Ha! All your data belong to Vladimir Putin! or * I use <Chinese product> * Ha! All your data belong to CCP! responses If I didn't use Yandex browser on Android, Kiwi browser would be my second choice. On paper, it offers the same must-have features as Yandex; text-reflow and full extension support. But, in practice, I find it pretty clunky and glitchy. And, the reason I brought up the subject of Firefox mobile, in the discussion of Firefox's demise is that: 1. For quite a while now, more people have been browsing the web on mobile than on desktop. So having a decent mobile version of your browser is paramount 2: Many people [myself included] enjoy the convenience of being able to 'pick up where we left off' when switching between using browsers on our laptops / desktops /mobile devices. So finding one browser that we can use [and sync] across all devices is preferred. I still have Firefox on my laptops & desktops. But, these days, I rarely ever fire it up, as I know anything I do on there will be lost to me when I switch to one of my mobile devices.
- alserio 4y ago
  Isn't there the issue with manifest v3 crippling ublock and other adblockers? How do those browsers fare? Do they patch chromium?

blub 4y ago

They screwed up a lot, but the real reason they lost is because they were sabotaged at every step by Google. Remember the “oopsies” where Google sites were breaking on Firefox and the advertising and bundling onslought for Chrome. Google was being obviously anti-competitive and the US authorities were giving zero fucks as usual.