Mozilla Launches Privacy-Minded 'Firefox Focus' Browser For Android (venturebeat.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from VentureBeat: Mozilla today launched a new browser for Android. 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 Google Play. Because Google isn't as strict as Apple, Android users can set Firefox Focus as their default browser. There are many use cases for wanting to browse the web without being tracked, but Mozilla offers a common example: reading articles via apps "like Facebook." On iOS, Firefox Focus is basically just a web view with tracking protection. On Android, Firefox Focus is the same, with a few additional features (which are still "under consideration" for iOS):

• Ad tracker counter -- Lists the number of ads that are blocked per site while using the app.
• Disable tracker blocker -- For sites that are not loading correctly, you can disable the tracker blocker to fix the issues.
• Notification reminder -- When Firefox Focus is running in the background, a notification will remind you so you can easily tap to erase your browsing history.

Comments

Why should I use this?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why should I use this? I run Firefox for Android with several add-ons that limit tracking including Adblocker Ultimate, Ublock Origin, Decentraleyes, and Noscript Anywhere. Unfortunately, I'm not sure Noscript Anywhere is still being developed, and it has to be downloaded from noscript.net instead of from the normal repository. Still, how would this be any better than add-ons that each address specific issues?

Re:Why should I use this?

[Presence Eternal]

NSA is 100% abandoned as far as I know. I think the closest you can get that's being supported is the so called "hard mode" for ublock. I think medium and hard mode are good ideas. Problem is they're unbearably clunky on android and superfluous on Linux and PCs where noscript is alive and well, but ublock is. Still, ublock is in fact actively supported.

Re: Why should I use this?

[Anonymous Coward]

That's not an example of a conflict of interest. That's healthy competition and the alternative is stagnation. I wish Mozilla would steal a few more good ideas from their own addon ecosystem and stopped stealing bad ideas from Chrome.

Re:Why should I use this?

[Teun]

This is a very fast browser but with limited options like no tabs.
But it is a very new development, we'll see where it leads.
For some people it might have it's uses.

Re:Why should I use this?

[mrchaotica]

On devices with a large enough screen for the UI to work well, I like using uMatrix instead of uBlock + NoScript.

Re:Why should I use this?

[omfglearntoplay]

Sounds really nice to me. Once they get tabs introduced, I'm going to be using it plenty and more than that recommending to non-techies that want some privacy.

kinda nice

[kangsterizer]

its kinda nice. doesnt seem to use mozilla's engine though. very fast browser actually, lol

Re:heh

[Anonymous Coward]

requires not just an account, but acceptance of Anal Probe terms...

Re:Apple makes it hard???

[110010001000]

Apple won't let the app with those features they don't like in their walled garden (app store).

Re: Apple makes it hard???

[Anonymous Coward]

Non-Webkit browsers are not allowed in their app store.

Re: Apple makes it hard???

[bigtiny]

I've got it...I was thinking about macos, not ios (iphone/ipad).....got it.

Thanks for the replies.

Hope they improved the "fling"

[DigitAl56K]

One of the main reasons I don't use Firefox for Android is that you can't fling pages as fast/far as you can on Chrome. It sounds like a petty reason but when I want to move quickly around a page it's frustrating to have to exert extra effort or perceive lag.

I'd try Focus myself but it's not listed for me in the Play store search. Perhaps it's only available to certain devices initially?

Re:Hope they improved the "fling"

[No Longer an AC]

I'd try Focus myself but it's not listed for me in the Play store search. Perhaps it's only available to certain devices initially?

I had to scroll down 3 or 4 screens to find it even though I searched specifically for Firefox Focus.

The link in the summary also goes directly to it.

It seems alright I guess. I really don't do much browsing on my phone anyway so I I'm not going to review it beyond that.

No tabs

[DigitAl56K]

Can't create a new tab. Can't open links in a new tab. Chances of me using this thing: zero.

Bookmarks?

[jpkunst]

It seems that there is no way to save bookmarks in this browser.

Re:heh

[TheRaven64]

Came to say the same thing. I used to use Firefox on Android, installed via F-Droid, but I've now switched to using the browser that's the default in LineageOS because Firefox in F-Droid is depracated and the Mozilla folks don't seem interested in supporting an open source ecosystem. I would love to use this, but I'm not going to install it from Google Play.

Force Desktop Mode

[makitso]

On my android tablet I use the Ghostery browser. The primary reason is that Chrome, Firefox, or Opera will not remember the use Desktop setting.

Re:Force Desktop Mode

[Sporkinum]

As far as I know, the Ghostery browser is now Cliqz. I have been using is for a while now and seems pretty decent.

Re:Force Desktop Mode

[preflex]

What about the Desktop by Default addon for firefox?

Re:heh

[TheRaven64]

If the only supported way of getting an open source package is via a proprietary distribution system, then it's not an open source eocsystem, it's an open source component in a proprietary ecosystem.

Georestriction on installation?

[uigin]

The download seems to be Georestricted. Is this a US only product from Mozilla, or a mistake on the configuration on Play store?

Other download locations?

[Kludge]

If they really wanted to make it privacy minded, they would make it available from somewhere other than "Google Play". I do not have "Google Play" installed on my phone, and will not have it. Why can they not just put an apk on their web site? And no, just because other people are too stupid to install it that way is not a good reason not to make it available to us.

Re:Other download locations?

[preflex]

Have you tried the "releases" section on their github page?
https://github.com/mozilla-mob...

Re:heh

[mrchaotica]

Firefox in F-Droid is depracated

Why?

Really really fast

[omfglearntoplay]

Try Slashdot in this browser. Blazing fast... feels like old times before the world wide web became a bloated nightmare!

Why not a mobile browser that does add-ons?

[Tyrannosaur]

I have used Ghostery for a very long time on my desktop browsers; it works amazingly. Is there any real reason why mobile browsers don't do add-ons?

You probably shouldn't use this.

[emil]

As I understand it, this uses the Android system WebView with a few of the privacy controls from Firefox (but without the Gecko rendering engine).

There is already an existing product that does this (and likely offers more features).

KitKat users should be particularly careful with WebView browsers, since their engine (likely) hasn't been updated since XP went out of support.

Re:Apple makes it hard???

[tlhIngan]

Apple won't let the app with those features they don't like in their walled garden (app store).

Funny enough, but Apple did make it possible for apps to implement ad blocking which takes place on all webviews and the main safari browser.

This is a new feature as of iOS 10, and there are more than a few ad blockers in the App Store. One of the best made the developer feel guilty which lead him to remove it.

Firefox could do the same - rather than use a webview app, just implement the ad blocker extensions and block it all system wide.

Sort of

[Kludge]

Yeah, like that, but from a web site that I trusted, like mozilla.org.

Re:heh

[TheRaven64]

And how do I make sure that it's up to date (something essential for a program that connects to the Internet and handles untrusted data)? Do Mozilla host an F-Droid repository with the latest builds, or do they require me to either use a proprietary distribution channel or manually download and install each version?

Re:heh

[preflex]

Can you use the FFUpdater app available in F-Droid? It's not automatic, but you can always run it before you begin a browsing session.

Besides, new Firefox releases are widely-reported, including right here on slashdot. It's not really a Sisyphean task to stay updated on your own. The calendar for major releases is published far in advance.

There is also fennec-fdroid available from fdroid's archive repo. It's up-to-date, but not in the main repo because reasons.

GNU Icecat is also available, but hasn't been updated since March.

Firefox really is a much better browser than the stock browser in LineageOS. I find the benefits of FF vastly oughtweigh the minor annoyance of keeping it up-to-date.

Re:heh

[TheRaven64]

Can you use the FFUpdater [f-droid.org] app available in F-Droid? It's not automatic, but you can always run it before you begin a browsing session.

Tried it. It's manual and unreliable. Worst of both worlds.

Besides, new Firefox releases are widely-reported, including right here on slashdot

Really? Including minor point releases with security fixes?

There is also fennec-fdroid available from fdroid's archive repo. It's up-to-date, but not in the main repo because [f-droid.org] reasons [f-droid.org].

Exactly, with 'reasons' including that the Mozilla folk don't want to support an open source ecosystem.

Firefox really is a much better browser than the stock browser in LineageOS. I find the benefits of FF vastly oughtweigh the minor annoyance of keeping it up-to-date.

Tell me that again when you've had your Internet banking details stolen because your web browser had known vulnerabilities and you forgot to install the update.