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Mozilla Launches Firefox For IOS
An anonymous reader writes: Mozilla today launched Firefox for iOS worldwide. You can download the new browser for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch now directly from Apple's App Store (iOS 8.2 or later required). Until today, Firefox for iOS was available as a public preview, and only in New Zealand. Also at Ars Technica.
iOS 9's content filtering only works on Safari. I use Firefox on the desktop and was hoping this iOS version includes built-in blocking support, which it doesn't appear to have.
Too little, yes, but it's never too late to stop being a Chrome clone and go back to the roots of a reliable browser.
It's not using WebKit on iOS because it doesn't want to use Gecko, it's because it can't use Gecko. You can't release a web browser with its own rendering engine on iOS, you have to use the built-in WebKit The Chrome app for iOS also does this. What you're getting with Chrome/Firefox for iOS is the synchronization with your bookmarks and whatever other niceties you get with different interface styles.
The one exception is the Opera browser on iOS, but it also doesn't use its own rendering engine on the phone. It renders the page on a server and then sends your phone an image of it. This is a workaround and it also makes browsing really fast but it has zero privacy or security. You probably wouldn't want to browse anything sensitive like your bank info since Opera would get to see it too. This is assuming that Opera Mini hasn't changed any, that is.
Schnapple
Which is why it's no use trying to find an alternative to the godawful Safari Mobile. Any other browser available in iOS will suck in the same way, just with some extra suckiness (like less interoperability with other apps) layered on top.
"Awesome - ok... Does it allow addons?" A: No
"Does it block ads?" A: No
"Does it sync?" A: Well, kind of - if you use iCloud.
"I don't want a Safari clone with a Firefox branded UI. Shoot..."
I'll try it, but it sounds like it'll be in vain. I've used Mozilla and then Firefox since the dark Netscape 4.x days... and even knowing this was the likely end result, this is still probably the most disappointed I've been about Firefox during that decades-long run. I do not want to switch to "Google Owns You" Chrome, and Safari sucks.
"Does it sync?" A: Well, kind of - if you use iCloud.
Actually I just used the built in Sync for firefox and it did sync my bookmarks. Otherwise I'm not really sure what the point of it is and I use Firefox as my primary browser. (Chrome is buggy, IE is Windows Only and Safari is Mac only) I'm pretty much exactly who would think about using it and I don't see much point.
When was Firefox or Mozilla or Netscape ever stable?
I use Firefox daily to this day and haven't experienced a meaningful stability problem on Windows or a Mac in probably 10 years. Not to say it doesn't have any issues but stability does not appear to be one of them. Maybe some versions on linux had problems but I haven't run into any myself. I honestly can't remember the last time I managed to crash Firefox. Certainly hasn't been within the last 5 years.
We commonly get stuff in Australia or New Zealand first when companies try to test new things in western markets to see what the response is like.
Not just talking about apps, restaurants and other companies do it often.
idk why they mentioned it in the summary though *shrug*.
You can tell how powerful someone is by the magnitude of the crime they can commit and be able to get away with.
It depends on RAM. iOS will pretty aggressively throw away tabs, and reload them when you switch back, if you're low on RAM. There are other possible implementations of this obviously, and Apple seem to have gone for the simplest. It can be pretty annoying, but Safari on the desktop will often reload pages when you use the back button, which is even worse.