Recent updates to Firefox on desktop added vertical tabs, tab groups, and profile switching, but the Android version of the app still just kind of sucks. Firefox on Android far behind its competitors, like Brave, Vivaldi, and even vanilla Chrome, lacking basic features for tablet users, like multi-window support, proper keyboard shortcuts, and a real big-screen mode. https://www.notebookcheck.net/Firefox-got-two-major-highly-requested-features-for-tab-hoarders-but-it-still-sucks-on-Android-tablets.1008084.0.html
I like your articles usually, Julian, but this whole article here is definitely for "Misc" and not here for "News.
I mean come on...
QuoteTo call Firefox on Android a frustrating experience would be a disservice to just how bad it is.
...that's your own thought and preference, not an undeniable fact. For me it is far better than any non-Firefox browser, and I simply cannot use Chrome at all (and I'm certainly not the only person thinking that way, just like you aren't the only thinking your way about this matter). Chrome has better translator and that's pretty much it. Also 90%+ desktop extensions work on the Android version too. Can't say the same for Chrome.
Edit: Totally forgot to mention - Chrome's animation are horrendously slow, switching between tabs is a torture. Firefox is basically instant, no waiting for unnecessary animation to finish. Edge, Brave and others are fairly decent though.
Quote from: Worgarthe on Yesterday at 21:19:44I like your articles usually, Julian, but this whole article here is definitely for "Misc" and not here for "News.
I mean come on...
QuoteTo call Firefox on Android a frustrating experience would be a disservice to just how bad it is.
...that's your own thought and preference, not an undeniable fact. For me it is far better than any non-Firefox browser, and I simply cannot use Chrome at all (and I'm certainly not the only person thinking that way, just like you aren't the only thinking your way about this matter). Chrome has better translator and that's pretty much it. Also 90%+ desktop extensions work on the Android version too. Can't say the same for Chrome.
Edit: Totally forgot to mention - Chrome's animation are horrendously slow, switching between tabs is a torture. Firefox is basically instant, no waiting for unnecessary animation to finish. Edge, Brave and others are fairly decent though.
Well said. I can't emphasise how important it is that Firefox is not Chromium based. Let's see the author spout his nonsene when he's forced to use manifest V3 that will destroy all adblockers. I hate Chrome and would only use Brave or Vivaldi but all of them will be forced into manifest V3 so I won't be using any of them. Hopefully the DoJ breaks up Google and spins off the browser and search.
Quote from: Worgarthe on Yesterday at 21:19:44I like your articles usually, Julian, but this whole article here is definitely for "Misc" and not here for "News.
I mean come on...
QuoteTo call Firefox on Android a frustrating experience would be a disservice to just how bad it is.
...that's your own thought and preference, not an undeniable fact. For me it is far better than any non-Firefox browser, and I simply cannot use Chrome at all (and I'm certainly not the only person thinking that way, just like you aren't the only thinking your way about this matter). Chrome has better translator and that's pretty much it. Also 90%+ desktop extensions work on the Android version too. Can't say the same for Chrome.
Edit: Totally forgot to mention - Chrome's animation are horrendously slow, switching between tabs is a torture. Firefox is basically instant, no waiting for unnecessary animation to finish. Edge, Brave and others are fairly decent though.
Hey, there! Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, this isn't a news article. It's a rant for the magazine section. Sort of an opinion piece. I would love to use FF on my tablet, which is part of my work-away-from-home get-up, but the limitations I mentioned in the article make it impossible for me. I use FF on my Linux machine at home as my main browser, though. It's excellent on desktop, and about half the reason I use it is exactly because it's not Chromium-based. I agree with both of the previous comments that Firefox is important, specifically as an alternative to Google's monopoly, and I called that out towards the end of the article.
There are some things I'd like to see done better in FF on Android, but it not being chromium-based and by proxy having its own non-chromium-based extension store gives it access to desktop-class ad-blocking in Android, something no other Android web browser can currently boast.
The fact that firefox for android has plugin support already makes it the best for android.
The most annoying thing about firefox was it randomly killing tabs when you scroll but that was fixed not long ago making it almost perfect.