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> iOS products like 1Blocker work as well in practice iOS content blockers don't work in any browser except Safari due to Apple's restrictions, which limits Fi

> iOS products like 1Blocker work as well in practice iOS content blockers don't work in any browser except Safari due to Apple's restrictions, which limits Firefox's usefulness and hurts Firefox adoption on iOS in an anticompetitive way. That is one of the reasons Apple should not restrict Firefox from implementing extensions on iOS. There is no reasonable justification for limiting browser extensions to Safari on iOS. > I’m under the impression that Firefox on Android only supports a tiny percentage of Firefox extensions. Firefox for Android can install every Firefox extension from addons.mozilla.org as of December 2023. Turn on desktop mode on addons.mozilla.org to see all of the options. Also, the beta channel of Firefox for Android can sideload any extension through the settings and this feature is on track to make it to the stable release.

CharlesW 3y ago
> iOS content blockers don't work in any browser except Safari… It literally didn't even occur to me that this would be the case. That's a travesty, and I appreciate the corrections. As a Firefox fan, what's your take on why Mozilla has a separate ad- and tracker-blocking "privacy browser" (Firefox Focus) instead of making Firefox on iOS better?
- commoner 3y ago
  When Mozilla launched Focus for iOS in 2016, Apple had two WebKit implementations on iOS. Focus was implemented with UIWebView (slower, with more extensive content blocking capabilities), while Firefox was implemented with WKWebView (faster, with limited content blocking capabilities).[1] Focus was Mozilla's way of offering Tracking Protection on iOS in some form without slowing down the performance of its main Firefox for iOS app. In addition to blocking ads within the Focus browser itself, Focus also provided iOS content blockers, which ironically (due to iOS content blockers being exclusive to Safari) allowed Focus users to block ads in Safari but not in Firefox for iOS at the time.[2] Focus migrated to WKWebView in 2017 after iOS 11 bridged WKWebView's feature gap, allowing Focus to retain its Tracking Protection feature through the transition.[3] With Firefox and Focus both on WKWebView, Mozilla then ported Tracking Protection to Firefox for iOS in 2018.[4] Tracking Protection improved Firefox for iOS, but could never be as comprehensive as the Safari-exclusive content blockers. By that time, Mozilla had already launched Focus for Android in 2017[4] even though Firefox for Android already had the ability to block ads more comprehensively with extensions such as uBlock Origin. As a privacy-focused secondary browser with a one-tap "erase session" feature, Focus was a niche app that turned out to be well-received by users, and Mozilla probably did not have a good reason to discontinue it even after Firefox for iOS gained Tracking Protection. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12977855 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12977855 [2] https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/introducing-firefox-focus-a-free-fast-and-easy-to-use-private-browser-for-ios/ https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/introducing-fir... [3] https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/focus-ios/issues/274 https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/focus-ios/issues/274 [4] https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/latest-firefox-for-ios-now-available-with-tracking-protection-by-default/ https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/latest-firefox-... [5] https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/firefox-focus-new-to-android-blocks-annoying-ads-and-protects-your-privacy/ https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/firefox-focus-n...
  - CharlesW 3y ago
    That's really interesting background, thank you. I thought Focus was still a thing since it's still on the site* and just got an iOS update as I type this, but 2023's updates are all "Bug fixes and technical improvements" maintenance mode stuff. RIP Firefox Focus. * https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browsers/mobile/focus/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browsers/mobile/focus/

CharlesW 3y ago

> iOS content blockers don't work in any browser except Safari… It literally didn't even occur to me that this would be the case. That's a travesty, and I appreciate the corrections. As a Firefox fan, what's your take on why Mozilla has a separate ad- and tracker-blocking "privacy browser" (Firefox Focus) instead of making Firefox on iOS better?

commoner 3y ago
When Mozilla launched Focus for iOS in 2016, Apple had two WebKit implementations on iOS. Focus was implemented with UIWebView (slower, with more extensive content blocking capabilities), while Firefox was implemented with WKWebView (faster, with limited content blocking capabilities).[1] Focus was Mozilla's way of offering Tracking Protection on iOS in some form without slowing down the performance of its main Firefox for iOS app. In addition to blocking ads within the Focus browser itself, Focus also provided iOS content blockers, which ironically (due to iOS content blockers being exclusive to Safari) allowed Focus users to block ads in Safari but not in Firefox for iOS at the time.[2] Focus migrated to WKWebView in 2017 after iOS 11 bridged WKWebView's feature gap, allowing Focus to retain its Tracking Protection feature through the transition.[3] With Firefox and Focus both on WKWebView, Mozilla then ported Tracking Protection to Firefox for iOS in 2018.[4] Tracking Protection improved Firefox for iOS, but could never be as comprehensive as the Safari-exclusive content blockers. By that time, Mozilla had already launched Focus for Android in 2017[4] even though Firefox for Android already had the ability to block ads more comprehensively with extensions such as uBlock Origin. As a privacy-focused secondary browser with a one-tap "erase session" feature, Focus was a niche app that turned out to be well-received by users, and Mozilla probably did not have a good reason to discontinue it even after Firefox for iOS gained Tracking Protection. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12977855 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12977855 [2] https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/introducing-firefox-focus-a-free-fast-and-easy-to-use-private-browser-for-ios/ https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/introducing-fir... [3] https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/focus-ios/issues/274 https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/focus-ios/issues/274 [4] https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/latest-firefox-for-ios-now-available-with-tracking-protection-by-default/ https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/latest-firefox-... [5] https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/firefox-focus-new-to-android-blocks-annoying-ads-and-protects-your-privacy/ https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/firefox/firefox-focus-n...
- CharlesW 3y ago
  That's really interesting background, thank you. I thought Focus was still a thing since it's still on the site* and just got an iOS update as I type this, but 2023's updates are all "Bug fixes and technical improvements" maintenance mode stuff. RIP Firefox Focus. * https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browsers/mobile/focus/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/browsers/mobile/focus/