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> What is really hitting Firefox hard is the lack of a viable (or at least popular) mobile browser. The new Firefox Mobile, currently in beta, is quite good -
by azakai 15y ago
> What is really hitting Firefox hard is the lack of a viable (or at least popular) mobile browser.
The new Firefox Mobile, currently in beta, is quite good - it uses a native Android UI and is very fast and smooth. The older version, which used XUL, was indeed sluggish.
But, to be fair, none of this really matters. iOS and Android are by far the top mobile OSes, and hardly anyone replaces the default browser on them, which makes it extremely hard for alternative browsers (Firefox, Opera) to make any headway. Tech people like HN readers might, but 95% of people just use the default browser on their phone.
- eurleif 15y agoSo if it doesn't use XUL, does that mean extensions can't alter the UI? And if so, what's the point? :/
- azakai 15y agoPartly. You can still write addons, and they still have a lot of flexibility to change stuff - including the UI - but it is more limited than with XUL. The performance cost of XUL, though, is just too much for mobile.