In order to support Firefox for Android users, you should at least get familiar with the product. In this article, you will learn more about top features in Firefox for Android and its product history.
Table of Contents
- 1 Features highlight
- 1.1 Enhanced Tracking Protection
- 1.2 Private Browsing Mode
- 1.3 Move the navigation bar from top to bottom
- 1.4 Dark mode
- 1.5 Customizable homepage
- 1.6 Change wallpaper
- 1.7 Supercharge with add-ons
- 1.8 Sync with Mozilla account
- 1.9 Search from your phone’s home screen
- 1.10 Picture in Picture (PiP)
- 1.11 Firefox Suggest
- 2 Migration and feature parity
- 3 Latest features
Features highlight
Enhanced Tracking Protection
Enhanced Tracking Protection protects you from ad and analytics trackers as well as cryptomining and fingerprinting trackers. Firefox lets you change your level of protection from Standard to Strict (default) or to Custom.
When you use Strict Mode, the Total Cookie Protection to prevent sites from tracking your activity from site to site while allowing non-tracking cookies (cookies that are required for a website to work properly).
Private Browsing Mode
Firefox for Android lets you open sites in private browsing tabs, so you can search and browse without the browser saving any history.
Move the navigation bar from top to bottom
Firefox for Android allows you to move navigation bar from top to bottom or the other way around.
Dark mode
You can change the look of your Firefox app at any time by selecting between Light and Dark mode.
Customizable homepage
Firefox let you customize your homepage to displays your top visited sites, recently visited tabs, recently saved bookmarks and searches, collections, and articles and topics recommended by Pocket.
Change wallpaper
In addition to customize homepage, you can also change wallpaper for your Firefox for Android.
Supercharge with add-ons
You can install a limited number of extensions from the Recommended Extensions program to add features to Firefox for Android.
Sync with Mozilla account
Mozilla accounts let you sync your bookmarks, history, logins and open tabs across devices, including Firefox for Android.
Search from your phone’s home screen
Firefox lets you search with Firefox from your Android home screen without first launching the browser.
Picture in Picture (PiP)
Picture-in-picture mode lets you continue watching a video from a website while visiting other tabs. You can even continue watching the video while using other apps.
Firefox Suggest
The address bar in Firefox for Android makes it easy for you to find what you’re looking for. Enter search terms or a specific web address to get search suggestions based on your open tabs, bookmarks, history and search engines — all within the same field.
Migration and feature parity
The initial version of Firefox for Android was codenamed Fennec. However, in 2020, a redesigned version of Firefox for Android (codenamed Fenix, and also branded as Firefox Daylight) was released, which introduced a new internal architecture and user interface, new privacy features, and switching to curated WebExtensions for add-ons. (souce: Wikipedia)
Feature parity
about-config support on the release version (GitHub issues)
To understand context around this decision, you may read the this explanation from a former employee.
We should advise users who wish to do more customization by utilizing the about:config functionality to use the Nightly version.
Add-ons extended support (GitHub issue)
We should advised users who would like to propose specific add-ons to support to vote or submit their feedback to this Mozilla Connect thread.
Advanced/technical users can use the Nightly version to test add-ons for Firefox for Android. Please see Extended add-on support to learn more about the guidelines.
Save as PDF (GitHub issue)
Save as PDF functionality is on the product roadmap for 2022. In the meantime, users are advised to utilize Android’s screenshot functionality (hold Volume ’-’ and Power button) to save it as a picture.
View source code (GitHub issue)
Advanced users are advised to use this workaround. Alternatively, users can also use the Nightly version and utilize this add-on.
Latest features
Check out the latest release notes for Firefox for Android to get to know the latest features.