We’ve been getting glimpses of the things that Mozilla is doing over on its Firefox for Android app but now finally we’re seeing the official rollout of the update. A lot of the features may already be familiar to those who are using the Firefox desktop app but now you’ll be able to see them on your mobile app. Those in Europe are already able to update and use the redesigned mobile browser while those in North America will receive the update starting August 27.
Over the years, Firefox has been able to distinguish itself from arguably the more popular Chrome browser by focusing on privacy and security. With the latest update, they are bringing Enhanced Tracking Protection to the core by turning it on by default. Ad trackers will be automatically blocked but you can also customize privacy settings if you want stricter protections. Private Mode is also now more easily accessible from the home screen. You can even create a shortcut so you can launch it automatically.
When it comes to its appearance, the URL bar can now be placed at the bottom of the screen for easier one-hand browsing on your smartphone. However, if you don’t like it placed there, you can always just put it back at the top if that’s more convenient and aesthetic for you. Collections is also now available for mobile as you can organize frequent sites that you visit into various, well, collections. You can share it across devices, personalize the browsing experience, and basically stay organized on your browser.
Other features in this revamped mobile browser include Picture in Picture browsing for those who like to multitask, dark theme option, and a revamped extensions experience. For the latter, we previously reported that they will be limiting add-ons at launch. For now, only 9 add-ons from their Recommended Extensions program but they did say that they are working on adding more in the future. This is still a bummer for those who relied on using extensions for a lot of tasks on their browser.
The new Mozilla for Android should also run faster than ever before and privacy and security features should be intact if not better. No news yet when it will roll out in other regions aside from Europe and North America.
