In a blog post today, Mozilla confirmed the new Firefox Android experience will be launched in full this fall. At the moment, the experience is available in preview. “We realized that users demanded a full-fledged mobile browsing experience, but more private and secure than any existing app,” Mozilla says. “So we decided to make Firefox more like Focus, but with all the ease and amenities of a full-stack mobile browser.” This is the latest attempt by Mozilla to make an impact on mobile. Its Firefox browser is the second most popular desktop browser with 10% of the market. However, on mobile the company has struggled. Across iOS and Android, Firefox has a tiny 0.5% of share. Mozilla has been developing a new browser experience in an effort to changes its mobile fortunes. One success on Android was Firefox Focus, which offered a stripped back browser with additional privacy capabilities.
Features
Firefox Focus development has now been halted and many of its features are available in Firefox Preview. Features of the new preview include:
Trackers blocked by default. Freedom from invasive advertising trackers and other bad actors, resulting in fewer annoyances and faster browsing. Up to 2x faster than previous versions of Firefox for Android. A minimalist start screen and bottom URL bar. Collections, a new feature that helps you save, organize, and share collections of sites. Save and return to tasks like your morning routine, shopping lists, travel planning, and more.
