Firefox fights Back

[Chiefcrowe]

See the future Firefox right now

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/see-the-future-firefox-right-now


hmm.. mainly excited for performance boost and I'm hoping most of the new stuff is customizable/removable if we want.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Anyone look at Firefox Focus? It's a stripped-down browser, purportedly private, yet data mines your web activity itself.

I've been looking for a non-Chrome option for my tablet. Been using FF on my desktops.

 

[Chiefcrowe]

I've heard of Firefox Focus, but haven't used it yet. So you're saying it does more data mining more than browsers normally use?!?

I have been using the mobile Firefox on android and it is pretty good.

 

[lxskllr]

I'm using the German version of Focus, Klar. It makes a decent default browser for one-off use, as from an app share(rss reader, reddit reader, email, whatever...), but I wouldn't want it as my main browser. I use normal android firefox for that.

https://f-droid.org/packages/org.mozilla.klar/

 

[FeuerFrei]

I've heard of Firefox Focus, but haven't used it yet. So you're saying it does more data mining more than browsers normally use?!?

I have been using the mobile Firefox on android and it is pretty good.

Don't really know details. Just stumbled on the browser myself. Haven't installed it.
Regardless, a browser touting ultimate privacy, shouldn't be a privacy invader itself. It maketh no sense.

 

[Chiefcrowe]

What exactly does it do to undermine privacy?

 

[corkyg]

Good question, Chief. Apparently it sends data via telemetry to a 3rd party. Wolf in sheep's clothing or a misread of facts?

https://www.ghacks.net/2017/02/12/firefox-focus-privacy-scandal/

 

[lxskllr]

What exactly does it do to undermine privacy?

It sends anonymous usage statistics to mozilla by default. Not a huge deal, but some people, me included don't want anything sent anywhere without explicitly opting *in*. Focus also depends on Play services which I have disabled, and custom roms sometimes don't have. Klar doesn't have those restrictions.

 

[Chiefcrowe]

Hmm... Well, at least you can turn off the option for data collection.

 

[PeterRoss]

I am actually interested how these versions of Firefox will do in the future. I am still skeptical about using any 3rd part "ACTUALLY PRIVATE" browsers. As I am not sure about how much they actually keep private, and how much data is being filtered elsewhere.

 

[Centauri]

I deserve a medal or something apparently - I've been using Firefox since Phoenix and have never left it.

 

[lxskllr]

I deserve a medal or something apparently - I've been using Firefox since Phoenix and have never left it.

I've used it almost as long. It was still called Firebird when I switched.

 

[PeterRoss]

I guess I will be one of the few people who stuck to Chrome extensively and only occasionally touch Firefox for development purposes.

 

[Puffnstuff]

I only wish that I would wake up one day and find that FF had transformed itself back into.....Netscape.

 

[nemesismk2]

i like trying them all to find one which i can use all the time which is firefox.

 

[William Gaatjes]

I do too, but holy shit is it ever slow and crashy. It's /almost/ too much to deal with, but the features(via addons), and philosophy keep me using it. I'm pretty happy with the desktop, but I'd love to see the android client improve.

I too noticed that since the update to firefox 55 in 32bit, it is slow at times, stutters and seems to freeze for seconds at a time. But that may be because i still have addons that are not written in the new standard for add ons. For now i wait, firefox used to be fine.

I will wait until the addons like adblocker plus, ghostery and noscript are adapted to the new firefox addon standard. Also, if i may believe the hype, firefox 57(64 bit) is going to be very good. Now we need to wait for the add ons to catch up.

 

[mindless1]

I have no performance issues (once I moved from 32 bit to 64) with tons of add-ons, add-ons I will not give up using.

I use firefox primarily on desktop and will continue to do so, but am (already have) ceasing updates at ver 54.0.1
... already rolled back a couple systems I'd left on auto-update before I realized this BS stunt they are pulling. The add-ons are WHY I use it. Get rid of those and meh, it's just another browser.

 

[William Gaatjes]

The new add on framework is called webextensions.
And it is a modern version as well to create more seucre add ons. I assume this is done to prevent add ons that could function for example as key loggers and other malicious code that could grab screenshots.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-add-technology-modernizing

What's happening?
In the past, add-ons often stopped working each time a new version of Firefox was released, because developers had to update them every six weeks to keep them compatible. Since add-ons could also modify Firefox internal code directly, it was possible for bad actors to include malicious code in an innocent-looking add-on.

To address these issues, and as part of broader efforts to modernize Firefox as a whole, we’ve been transitioning to a new framework for developing Firefox extensions. Outside of rare instances, add-ons created with the new standard, called WebExtensions, won’t break in new Firefox releases. You can still personalize Firefox with add-ons the same way you do now, except they won’t break in new Firefox releases.

Note: Starting in Firefox 57, which will be released in November 2017, only add-ons built with this new technology will work in Firefox. These are indicated by the "Compatible with Firefox 57+" label on addons.mozilla.org (AMO). Add-ons built with the old technology are labeled "Legacy" in the Add-ons Manager (about:addons) tab.
If an add-on does not have the "Compatible with 57+" label or has the "Legacy" label, the developer may be in the process of transitioning to the new technology.

We are aware that certain add-ons will not be transitioning to the new standard; we will continue to assist developers to the fullest possible extent. As we get closer to November, we will suggest suitable replacements of add-ons not making the transition.

If you are a user of Firefox Nightly, please note that Firefox 57 reached the Nightly channel on August 2, 2017. Legacy add-ons will be disabled, but will be enabled again if the developer releases a compatible update.

In the meantime, you can check if an add-on is planned for migration (popular add-ons only), look for alternatives or reach out to the developer to inquire if they will migrate their add-on. You may find developer contact information on the right side of the add-on listing on AMO.

 

[PeterRoss]

As far as I can tell WebExtensions is a great API and limits features that add-on developers shouldn't have. Unfortunately, it also limits some functionality here and there.