Firefox for Android gets major redesign, new features

Firefox for Android has always been a popular alternative to Google’s Chrome, having been downloaded over a hundred million times on the Play Store. With its latest update, Mozilla’s mobile browser has received a significant design overhaul, with the main goal behind it being to make the app faster, safer and easier to use.

In a blog post, Mozilla notes that this update has been named “Firefox Daylight” as “it marks a new beginning” for the Android browser. Its simplified interface, which no longer has a visible back button (but it’s still available) now allows for moving the search bar to the bottom of the phone. This is extremely convenient for one-handed usage and on larger phones. Firefox for Android has now also gotten a picture-in-picture feature, simplified switching between Light and Dark mode and a general increase in performance.

Firefox for Android is notable for also supporting add-ons, unlike Chrome for Android. This support for addons has been improved as well, and allows for customizing the browser further, by installing different password and download managers, for example. Tabs can now be organized in Collections, aiming to make your browsing experience less cluttered.

If you’re interested in checking out the new version of Firefox for Android for yourself, you can download it here. But do keep in mind that while the update has seemingly rolled out in many regions, it’s still to reach North America on August 27.

Despite Mozilla’s best efforts to make Firefox for Android more approachable, negative reviews from users unhappy with the changes started showing up shortly after the update. Some users noted the sudden lack of support for certain extensions, while others claimed that the update brought stability issues.

Recently we reported on Mozilla shifting its priorities as a company due to a decrease in revenue caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 250 Mozilla employees were laid off as CEO Mitchell Baker announced that the now smaller team will be focusing more on the financially viable Firefox and less on riskier projects.

Source: Phonearena