Firefox Arrives On Android

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Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday April 28, 2010 @12:52AM from the well-good-for-them dept.

Barence writes "Mozilla has launched a 'pre-alpha' version of Firefox for Android smartphones. The mobile version of Firefox, codenamed Fennec, has until now been restricted to Maemo Linux handsets. But following a surge in developer effort, Mozilla has unveiled a build for handsets running Android 2.0 or above. Mozilla is making no guarantees about the browser's stability. 'It will likely not eat your phone, but bugs might cause your phone to stop responding, requiring a reboot,' writes Mozilla developer Vladimir Vukicevic on his blog. 'Memory usage of this build isn't great — in many ways it's a debug build, and we haven't really done a lot of optimization yet. This could cause some problems with large pages, especially on low memory devices like the Droid.'"

25 of 164 comments (clear)

Re:Why then by gnud · 2010-04-28 00:56 · Score: 4, Insightful

Unless you want to help debug and/or develop, I doubt anyone expects or even wants you to.
Re:How can it be pre-alpha? by QuantumG · 2010-04-28 01:00 · Score: 3, Funny

If you report bugs on alpha code the developers will thank you. If you report bugs on pre-alpha code, the developers will collectively roll their eyes and suggest that maybe you should wait a month or two before installing another pre-alpha.
Oh wait, firefox, yeah.. I guess it's always pre-alpha ;)

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How we know is more important than what we know.
firefox pretty good on my phone by Kludge · 2010-04-28 01:05 · Score: 3, Interesting

I like Firefox mobile on my n900. It works pretty well, gives me features not available in the default browser. I have not had memory leak problems with it. However, it does get sluggish if you turn on flash and visit pages with a bunch of flash ads. I should put adblock on it...
Re:How can it be pre-alpha? by arndawg · 2010-04-28 01:07 · Score: 2, Insightful

Pre-alpha is just PR talk. Just like how game-developers claim their new screenshots is pre-alpha build. "Oh. it doesn't look so good now. but it's just pre-alpha. We promise, in 3 months when it's released it will be AWESOME". (ref. bungie halo series)
Re:Why bother? by ircmaxell · 2010-04-28 01:13 · Score: 2, Insightful

Some of us don't like our data being proxied and processed off our phones. I know it's a fine line, but my Android browser has good JS support. Why would I want to throw that away for a little bit of speed?

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If a man isn't willing to take some risk for his opinions, either his opinions are no good or he's no good
Is it as fast as Opera Mini with Turbo? by commodore64_love · 2010-04-28 01:16 · Score: 2, Informative

Probably not.

--
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
Well, I tried to post from Firefox on Droid by Zeussy · 2010-04-28 01:24 · Score: 4, Interesting

But I made the fatal mistake of putting it into landscape to get a better keyboard, and it brought my phone (Desire) to a crawl. I assume it was trying to rebuild the page layout, something bad happened and displayed a black page.

It Shows promise, it is not usable (obviously) but the UI design seems better than the inbuilt browser. With tabs off screen to the left, and navigation buttons off screen to the right.

Would of been nice to see pinch zoom working, and I am assume that it will (or a custom build that will).
From what I have seen, when it heads into a more stable phase, I would probably swap right away.

--
Automation - The Car Company Tycoon Game
Re:Why then by kaiser423 · 2010-04-28 01:29 · Score: 2, Insightful

Because you might want to help make it better by submitting feedback and tracking bugs as it heads into alpha/beta stage and reporting them?

Because tinkering is cool, and it doesn't replace your webkit browser?
Re:Why then by Anonymous Coward · 2010-04-28 01:38 · Score: 2, Insightful

It's not really a valid point, you're both criticizing this as if it were a release.. It's alpha for a reason. Like the GP says, they don't expect nor want people with your expectations to try this build.
As far as why you'd want it at all, well, competition is always a good thing..
Android momentum... by Fnkmaster · 2010-04-28 01:39 · Score: 5, Interesting

I can smell the momentum in the air with Android. I was one of the first people (suckers/early adopters) to buy a G1 handset from T-Mobile. At the time I had a 2G iPhone. Used the G1 for a week, went back to my unlocked, jailbroken iPhone because it had a bunch of great apps that worked well, better form factor, better touchscreen, and much more usable.
Fast forward 16 months, during which time the G1 has sat there and gathered dust. I've finally gotten fed up with my 3G iPhone, the closed ecosystem, the limited email application which is the dealbreaker for me (lack of IMAP IDLE still - msgpush.com is not an option for me, and switching email services to support the technologies Steve Jobs approves of is ridiculous). The other day I decided to blow the dust off my G1, update to the latest software (which on a G1 means running CyanogenMod since the official updates are still stuck at Android 1.6 for G1s, and CyanogenMod is a 1.6/2.0 hybrid - and despite rumors to the contrary, CyanogenMod is rock-solid stable on the G1) and see how much things have improved over the last 18 months.
The openness of the Android platform is what really is blowing me away. Running CyanogenMod, installing themes, downloading up-to-the-minute app releases and bug fixes from open source projects and vendors without having to go through Market is absolutely liberating after 2 and change years of iPhone usage, and having to clamor for every feature addition and update. On Android, if you want a new feature, you can usually find it or you can add it yourself - K9mail is the best living example of this itch-scratching driving innovation.
Anyway, more specifically on the topic - I don't know if Fennec/Mobile Firefox will be a winner or not in the short run. Most likely it will take a while to get there - remember how long Mozilla took to get to a usable desktop browser? But ultimately, more browser competition on Android will be a very good thing, and AdBlock would be sweet. The fact that we have these choices on Android drives innovation and competition, and is the reason that the platform is currently improving faster than the iPhone platform. And makes it a much more fun place to be as a geek than iPhone-land right now.
1. Re:Android momentum... by D+Ninja · 2010-04-28 02:04 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  I absolutely agree with you regarding the momentum of Android. I know the iPhone still has a significant part of the market share, but, I was at a conference this weekend in which I saw a large portion of the crowd using Android phones. Much of that crowd was made up of college students and young professionals, many who were very technically competent. I know that people who have been asking me which smartphone to get have been getting recommendations to go with the Android platform. I can only assume that other tech-savvy folks are making the same recommendation to their friends and family.
2. Re:Android momentum... by Big+Boss · 2010-04-28 02:48 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  I've written code on Android. It's based on Java, and includes most of the standard Java SDK library classes. If you've written Java, or even C++, you should be fine. You can add external libraries if you like, but most apps probably won't need to. I really like the Eclipse integration they did, you can even do interactive debugging on the code while it's running on your phone. There is also a nice emulator you can use if you wish to test other versions of the OS and such. Overall, I find it quite easy to get most things done, and the docs are pretty good. At least as good as the Java SDK.
3. Re:Android momentum... by SilentMobius · 2010-04-28 02:50 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  * Wireless and USB tethering.
  * CIFS mount,
  * Bluetooth HID keyboard demon (with some fiddling)
  * Extra 200+MB memory (Due to a kernel problem in the stock rom the N1 can only use half it's memory).
  * Use of the LED flash as a torch, ability to use coloured notification lights in the trackball
  * Ability to screenshot any app without using the SDK
  * 360deg screen rotation
  Those are the things that I unlocked my N1's bootloader for
  
  --
  Loop, twist and loop again.
4. Re:Android momentum... by Fnkmaster · 2010-04-28 04:33 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  Well, I originally clarified, but edited my post for brevity. In short - the reason Android came so far in the first 12-18 months post launch was because it sucked at launch, and those early gains were easy. That is true. You can say essentially the same thing about the iPhone of course - at launch it lacked a real SDK or app framework, it was slow and buggy and limited in functionality, so it came a long way at first as well.
  But factoring that first rush of progress out and looking at what's going on right now - things like k9mail and CyanogenMod have no real analogs in the iPhone world. These are improvements to the fundamentals of the platform (email app, home page/launcher, browser, etc.) that are being made by the community, rather than by Google itself or the hardware licensees - though some licensees such as HTC have made their own excellent improvements as well (HTC's keyboard, and their Sense UI).
  I think Steve Jobs is the nail strip - the unwillingness to open up the platform to real changes or innovations from the outside gives Apple more control over the user experience, and may make things more consistent and predictable and profitable for Apple, but it also limits progress in the longer run.
5. Re:Android momentum... by Fnkmaster · 2010-04-28 05:25 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  CyanogenMod no longer bundles the Google applications, since October or thereabouts. You can download those in a separate package from a third party, or pull them from your existing ROM. The current solution was implemented with consent from Google. Unlike Apple, who actively try to shut down jailbreaking and modding, Google doesn't really care, and doesn't interfere, as long as you aren't redistributing copyrighted, closed source apps of theirs.
  In any case, my iPhone was unlocked and jailbroken, so I am comparing apples to apples here. One significant difference is that with every release Apple tries harder and harder to prevent unlocking and hacking, while Google has come out with the Nexus One where you have root and complete freedom out of the box. Another is that even a jailbroken iPhone has limitations - you can't compile a custom version of the Mail app, for example, since it's all closed source, and fundamental improvements to the operating system are much harder to make.
How does this work? Native or links to java? by leuk_he · 2010-04-28 01:40 · Score: 2, Insightful

How does this technology work? Since the android gui is written in a java dialect, and firefox is written in C/C++, how does a C++ program run on a java VM? As one big native plugin?
anyway,having a runnin POC might attact other developers, that cannot be bad for fennec.
Just tried it by bloosh · 2010-04-28 01:49 · Score: 2, Interesting

I just installed it on my rooted, custom ROMmed and overclocked Motorola Droid.... and it worked! I played with it for about 10 minutes. It didn't crash my phone, reboot my phone or damage my phone in any way.
It's absolutely alpha quality software at this point, so don't expect much from it. But it has lots of potential and I'm absolutely confident this will turn into a great browser on Android.
Re:Why then by YouWantFriesWithThat · 2010-04-28 01:52 · Score: 3, Insightful

so your question is 'why would i download a pre-alpha release and play around with it on my phone' because it MIGHT NOT WORK

...mine is why are you on slashdot if that sounds like something you wouldn't do? i was really excited about the release and installed it immediately for my Moto Droid and then i come into the one place on the web where i thought that others would share my enthusiasm and here you two are pissing all over it for being, you know, an alpha release.
Re:Why then by christopherfinke · 2010-04-28 02:18 · Score: 2, Informative

If the mobile version supports plugins, and those plugins are in the same format as the desktop ones. There's no guarantee of either, though.

It does, and they are. There are a few tweaks that add-on authors should make to their add-ons to support the mobile versions (mainly UI-related), but those are trivial for most cases. I say this as someone who has ported more add-ons to Firefox for Mobile than anyone else (as far as I know).
Re:Why then by roseblood · 2010-04-28 02:21 · Score: 2, Insightful

Why then would I want to replace my webkit browser with this? I understand this is an Alpha and that bug might be fixed, but again, why would I want to use this over my webkit based browser?

Because some of us view OSS as more than just free software. Some of us want to help debug/test it and add to the community. Some are out for more than just a free-ride (although there's nothing wrong with a free-ride when it's offered.)

--
There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.
Clueless about testing... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-04-28 02:24 · Score: 5, Informative

I see you're one of those people who knows a few testing buzzwords, and thus consider yourself an expert in the field.
Just so you know, "UAT" refers to user-acceptance testing, not "usability testing" like you've mistakenly claimed. Usability testing checks whether or not the program is convenient to use, whether or not it's accessible to people with handicaps, whether or not it works well with various input and output devices, and so forth.
User-acceptance testing ("UAT") refers to testing that the client or user performs in order to ensure that the system meets their minimum requirements in terms of functionality, usability, stability, reliability, performance, and so on.
Oh, and your breakdown of the tests applied to each release level are pure bunk. They don't even correspond to Firefox's development practices at all. Please refrain from spewing mountains of bullshit the next time you post. Thank you!
1. Re:Clueless about testing... by nomad-9 · 2010-04-28 03:07 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  First of all, I didn't mean to equate usability Testing with UAT. I put the latter in parentheses, as a possible add-on during that phase, the same way I did for unit testing. True, looking back at it, I could have been more clear, but you throwing insults at me was unwarranted. You could have asked for clarification.
  Second, I have been working in Software development since 1994, so yes, I consider myself reasonably knowledgeable in the field, and do not really need a lecture on testing .
  Third, my breakdown applies to what is *generally* understood by the terms, not by Firefox's own practices, of which I have no particular knowledge, and don't care that much about anyway. There are differences with each company.
  Lastly, if I want more crap from you, I'd just squeeze your little head. So act as an adult, and people will respond accordingly. Or insult, and be insulted. Thank you!
Re:What about resource usage? by tibman · 2010-04-28 02:36 · Score: 2, Insightful

Good god man, my FF never goes over 100mb, even with lots of tabs open. It averages at 70mb and i'm sure you can configure it to be even more minimal.
It's possible your build is bad. Are you using something stable and tested by your distro?

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http://soylentnews.org/~tibman
Re:What about resource usage? by ZosX · 2010-04-28 03:10 · Score: 2, Informative

I have a g1. You really need to use a task manager and uninstall anything that possibly runs at boot/in the background. They are just waaaay too ram limited. Also check out cyanogen mod as well as the 10mb RAM hack and turning on compcache and swap. My phone flies compared to stock android 1.6 and I have stuff on every desktop. Just keep getting rid of stuff till it gets smooth again....

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zosxavius photography
Re:Sweet! by mweather · 2010-04-28 03:39 · Score: 2, Funny

BTW, the prices are in Euro but Slashdot can't show the symbol when I type it ... this is quite embarrassing for a geek web site.
It's not Slashdot's fault that UTF-8 doesn't support the euro symbol.