Mozilla Launches Firefox Focus, a Stripped-Down Private Browser For iOS (venturebeat.com)

Krystalo quotes a report from VentureBeat: Mozilla today launched a new browser for iOS. In addition to Firefox, the company now also offers Firefox Focus, a browser dedicated to user privacy that by default blocks many web trackers, including analytics, social, and advertising. You can download the new app now from Apple's App Store. If you're getting a huge feeling of deja vu, that's because in December 2015, Mozilla launched Focus by Firefox, a content blocker for iOS. The company has now rebranded the app as Firefox Focus, and it serves two purposes. The content blocker, which can still be used with Safari, remains unchanged. The basic browser, which can be used in conjunction with Firefox for iOS, is new. Firefox Focus is basically just an iOS web view with tracking protection. If you shut it down, or iOS shuts it down while it's in the background, the session is lost. There's also an erase button if you want to wipe your session sooner. But those are really the only features -- there's no history, menus, or even tabs.

Comments

Nice

[Geoffrey.landis]

Nice. If "stripped down" means none of the useless bells and whistles, just simple functionality, I'm all for it.
The privacy part doesn't hurt, too.

Re:Nice

[Hognoxious]

They probably just removed the UI. Or made it so low contrast you can't see it anyway.

Check the setting before you use

[wafflemonger]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2...

It phones home by default. Turn off telemetry if that bothers you.

Re:Check the setting before you use

[Anonymous Coward]

The problem is not Telemetry, not even with MS. The problem is being quiet about it, not telling the user what data is sent, when it's sent, and enabling it by default. I have no reason to trust even Mozilla that their telemetry data is innocent. Until they provide a clear specification of the telemetry data, and a UI to verify it, I will assume that they'll log and send home every single keystroke, every visited site, every single click

Re:PC version?

[SeaFox]

They should release it for other platforms and call it Phoenix.

Apple

[DarkOx]

Why bother, until Apple allows someone to build a browser that isn't just a thin wrapper around their one webkit library who cares?

I mean what is the point, its as if you can offer much in terms of experience on a phone. Its probably the one place where a web browser really should be stripped of just about any UI other than a combine address/search bar, which is the trend everywhere anyway. As far as 'privacy' you are one IOS update away from Apple deciding to break it utterly by having webviews cache update typed word suggestions, or otherwise spew data all over the place.

Its all a big waste of time really.