Firefox Preview 4.0 Stable brings uBlock Origin support
Mozilla released Firefox Preview 4.0 on March 9, 2020, the latest stable version of the upcoming re-interpretation of Firefox for Android. The new browser version is only available on the project's GitHub webpage at the time of writing and not on Google Play.
The Google Play version is at 3.2.1 currently while the GitHub version brings the version of the mobile browser to 4.0. Users who want to upgrade to the new version of Firefox Preview Stable right away may download the APK file from the releases page and install it manually. It is necessary to allow the installation of apps from unknown sources to do so though.
Mozilla highlights several new features in Firefox Preview 4.0 including initial extension support, inclusion of the uBlock Origin extension by default, improved login management, and options to bypass certification errors.
One of the main new features of Firefox Preview 4.0 is initial support for browser extensions. While officially limited to the content blocker uBlock Origin, Mozilla promised that it would improve support throughout 2020 to integrate full extensions support in the new mobile Firefox browser.
The uBlock Origin extension is not enabled by default but Firefox Preview users may enable it by selecting Menu > Add-Ons Manager > uBlock Origin. The list of permissions the extension requires is displayed then and a tap on "add" enables the extension in Firefox Preview. The extension can then be managed via Firefox's main menu button. It is a bit harder to manage sites in the extension because of that but all functionality appears to be available.
As far as other major improvements are concerned, there are a few in the release:
- Login Management improvements -- Firefox Preview users may save and autofill logins, copy logins to the Clipboard, delete them, and perform other basic operations on the saved logins of the browser.
- Top Sites --Top visited sites and favorite sites are now displayed on a New Tab Page. Options to remove top sites are included.
- Bypass Certification errors -- Certain certification errors may now be bypassed.
Now You: have you tried the new Firefox Preview already? What is your impression?
Hi everyone.Fennix is not ready yet i know i checked the thing ,i need the addons and they are not there yet .I mostly use fennec firefox .And as previous posts mentioned chomium on phone is bad for privacy or on features with one exeption .
Recently tested kiwi chromium on Android, loaded it with extensions that are allready present in mozilla Amo repository from the same developers also in chrome store.And it was the first ever time i had a somehow descent user experience in a chromium browser on my Android,i don’t understand how is it possible for people to use chrome on android in its current state.kiwi also phones home but i hacked on the app to remove that part and other access points i didn’t favore,i liked the app in generall and mostly i wanted to test what chromium ofers,i believe people tied to chrome/google ecosystem would enjoy it more.Still it is a memory hogg,i usually run two firefoxes with different configuration and move from one to another on usage demand ,but the kiwi browser had higher memory consumption by far causing the system to close my second background running browser,and that happens with much fewer extensions and less tabs open for the chromium,about 30,when i can run 2 firefox apps with hundreds of tabs on each,yes i heavily multitask in browsing.it seems that even 4 GB ram are not enough nowdays…
Set up a firewall and block firefox telemetry ,fight fire with fire i say :p .on android firefox,fennec,nightly is the right way to go with all their extentions ecosystem offering with the rest of Android browsers lack of all the added functionality needed for every respected user. chrome is a browser for desktop among equal capable desktop browsers geckoz and chromium.
Chrome,opera,Bromite,Brave and any chromiums are used by people with no advanced needs for their browsing at least on android.Users are drawn away from gecko browser because all the user cookie bait (pan intended) features are rooted to extensions and a first time user has no clue what to look for, i met this case multiple times with people looking around a brand new firefox installation expecting to find everything preconfigured for their own needs and not finding it ,themselves not knowing what to do to fix it,and Mozilla does not help them in their first steps.That translates to firefox being used from anyone seeking that features and mostly only them.
And also the addons on Android Anti tracking,adblock,scriptblock,vidbusters,screenshots,pagehacking,save HTML page,equalizers, etc you name it gecko foxes have it,firefox is the tool that most Android browsers can not compete.
The chromium dominance is catapulted because of googles android control when most of smartphone and by result web users are taught to use that from infancy . chrome was aided to rule supreme because of googles Android dominance.
without addons support fennix has nothing to offer yet even the file:/// access is dead ,i can not view/work with my local stuff.I dread with the idea that they will do what they had done in firefox 57 dropping legacy extension support then,and loosing some other more functionality now whenever this now comes to bite us again.
You can’t use extensions with Bromite. If you have to use Chromium on mobile, use Brave. Some might say use Kiwi because that does support extensions, but I don’t trust it because they’re running an older version of Chromium and Kiwi phones home as well.
I’m looking forward to Fenix when it becomes stable enough to run more extensions apart from uBlock Origin.
Thank you. Downloaded and running v4.
What other add-ons would be considered essential.
Would adding other extensions like the eff.org Privacy Badger work and play well in FF Preview 4.0? Best Regards.
Didn’t they brought uBlock Origin support like a few months ago as their sole installable extension?
How is this even news?
You answered your own question. Before: Extension, Now: Built-in.
Wait, isn’t this is just extension testing? I mean, wouldn’t after Fenix being fully released uBO would just be extension you can choose to install?
Good news from Mozilla for once. I hope they come to their senses and become a real competitor to Google again.
@anona
They are not allowed to be a real competitor of Google. Google is funding Mozilla, in order to fend of possible antitrust charges against them. They can’t allow Chrome to become a total monopoly, they need a fig leaf to which they can point of unpleasant questions are being raised by various states. That’s the sad reality.
I’m looking forward to giving this overhauled version of Firefox a try. I tried Firefox on my Android phone for a couple months mostly because I wanted a mobile browser that 1) let me use uBlock Origin and 2) was not Chrome, but I was not all that impressed with the browser itself and ultimately switched to something else. I’m actually wondering if the improvements in Firefox will be enough to sway me from my current browser which has thoroughly impressed me, although day 1 support for uBlock Origin (and including it by default, no less) definitely helps.
Is the Dark Reader extension supported?
Oh just give me a “Moz” phone. Maybe I can dream! A phone liberated from Google and Facebook et al. An app store that won’t spy on me or sell me. A truly separated baseband and modem without some USB bodge. A secure phone with regular updates and won’t go in landfill in one years time. Make it repairable and customisable and get the community involved and bring that pure Mozilla goodness to life in an otherwise barren landscape. Let these talented programmers loose on the world and defend the integrity of the internet spreading their Mozilla wholesomeness to the unfortunate souls chained in the world of digital slavery. We love you Mozilla!
@Anonymous
We already had that – it was called Firefox OS, it came preinstalled on various phones. It failed, and it died. Can’t blame Mozilla for that though, it is hard to enter the market when the two top dogs (Google Android, Apple iOS) already have a mammoth lead in app availability.
> defend the integrity of the internet spreading their Mozilla wholesomeness to the unfortunate souls chained in the world of digital slavery.
Not sure if you are serious here. Mozilla’s source of funding is Google, so if anything, they are part of the chain. Mozilla also followed virtually all of Google’s proposals whenever a new web standard was introduced, they also stood idly by when heavy duty DRM was molded into a web standard. They won’t protect you from anything. Sad but true.
B.S. >>> Mozilla’s source of funding is Google, so if anything, they are part of the chain
Facts
The vast majority of Mozilla’s revenue — about $435 million in 2018 — comes from a series of search-engine partnerships that pay Mozilla every time Firefox users press enter in the built-in search box. Much of that money comes from Google, with a portion from Baidu in China and Yandex in Russia and other countries.
Oh, aren’t you ‘fully’ on Mac? Here is your Chain-Gang:
Google paid around $9.4 billion to Apple. That number will climb above $ 12 billion this year, according to Goldman Sachs analyst Rod Hall.Why Google Is Willing to Pay Apple $12 Billion Per Year
Just more B.S. >>>Mozilla also followed virtually all of Google’s proposals
Facts
Even competing browser executives said they respect what Mozilla has to say. The nonprofit Mozilla Foundation has been around for so long, and because it’s been publicly preaching the values laid out in the Mozilla’s Manifesto , they are able to move larger competitors in their direction.
However, Mozilla’s influence outweighs Firefox’s market share.
> B.S. / Facts
You’ve got to be careful when a Mozilla supporter begins to classify facts as “BS” or “fact” depending on whether they have been or not distorted enough by their marketing department before being released for internet consumption. This is a warning sign that they are either going to censor/ban you for not spinning their dirty actions in a positive way, or if they can’t, that they are considering starting a harassment campaign against you. Make the internet a safe zone but not for contradictors doubting our honesty, internet freedom defenders but not for contradictors questioning our actions, shiny manifesto, all that stuff you know.
Here the defense (?) is that Mozilla gets money from Yandex and Baidu too in addition to mainly Google. Yandex and Baidu. Now the web is safe from the grip of surveillance capitalism and anti-privacy search engines dictating their will.
The other “fact” (!) is that Mozilla is a non-profit pushing Google and other giants in their direction with the sole force of their beautiful soul. While in fact the foundation is only a small shell for the for-profit Mozilla corporation that is the bulk of Mozilla’s economic activity, the only part actually developing the browser, founded by commercial deals with search engines that are the worst enemies of privacy and are clearly orienting many search-related or not design decisions, by displaying their own ads targeted on browsing activity, by selling browsing activity to Cliqz (they still have shares in that company by the way), and that can’t spend a year without being guilty of several privacy and other internet rights controversies. Google and others are pushing Mozilla their way, not the other way round.
>>>This is a warning sign that they are either going to censor/ban you for not spinning their dirty actions in a positive way,
This is the warning sign that those who collect so one-sidedly for their thesis, instead of reciprocally addressing different, reluctant perspectives, are not just arguing about the issue. Instead, he feels that he is the only one who can bring the right view to the public.
No thanks
*plonk*99 said:
> This is the warning sign that those who collect so one-sidedly for their thesis, instead of reciprocally addressing different, reluctant perspectives, are not just arguing about the issue. Instead, he feels that he is the only one who can bring the right view to the public.
In my opinion the unconditional defense of Mozilla I see all the time everywhere seems as one-sided and wrong as his defense of Brave. The first may even be doing more damage than the others because hardly anyone trusts Brave anyway (for good reasons) while most trust Mozilla (for bad reasons).
Anonymous said:
> only Mozilla is in the position to truly make a difference in today’s data slurping world.
They are right now doing more bad than good, making you call malicious behavior like adware “we’re making a difference”.
As long as users will believe their lies and as long as Mozilla can see them as captive their malicious behavior can only become worse. We must educate people on their lies and pressure them with more ethical competition, since they won’t listen, like forks cleaning as much of the problems as possible.
Even Brave, while it shouldn’t be recommended, could be used to pressure them by noting the few things they did better than in Firefox.
@Anonymous
> The first may even be doing more damage than the others because hardly anyone trusts Brave anyway (for good reasons) while most trust Mozilla (for bad reasons).
It should be added though that a common reason most people come up with to bash Brave is the Brave Rewards system, which is…
1) Fully opt-in, deactivated by default.
2) Well documented, one can find out easily how it operates.
That’s why I am not agreeing with most criticism regarding Brave, I especially disagree with the Mozilla crowd, as Firefox does the exact same thing for its Pocket Top Stories, yet in Firefox it is opt-out and users earn nothing while using it. I think it is extremely hypocritical of them to criticize Brave for it.
And I don’t think I am one-sided when I say that Brave surpasses Firefox’s default privacy settings, that’s just a fact you can easily research yourself if you don’t trust me.
Dear friend, you need more Mozilla in your life – only Mozilla can remove all those negative energies and replace them with healthy positive energies. Be nice to one another please. Too much Googlefication and Facebookitis can result in negative emotions. Social media is bad for your mental health. I wish you well soon.
@Anonymous
> you need more Mozilla in your life (…) Too much Googlefication (…)
Mozilla is part of the “Googlefication”, look at their finances. Your post makes no sense.
Pure class! A storm in a tea cup. Nobody cares.
Wow, peace out friends – I understand your frustrations, but only Mozilla is in the position to truly make a difference in today’s data slurping world. You’re awesome Mozilla – keep up the good work! I really want a Moz phone now!
@Anonymous
> but only Mozilla is in the position to truly make a difference in today’s data slurping world. You’re awesome Mozilla
You forgot to add “/s” behind your comment, I assume? We are talking about the browser developer who is literally being funded by Google and who literally ships trackers built-in with their browser.
@99
> Mozilla’s source of funding is Google, so if anything, they are part of the chain
That’s what I’ve said, then you say:
> Much of that money comes from Google
Did I miss anything? In how far does that contradict what I’ve said before? By the way, the amount of money Mozilla receives from Baidu and Yandex is peanuts compared to the amount of money they receive from Google. Facts.
> Oh, aren’t you ‘fully’ on Mac?
Yes, because some of the software I need isn’t available on Linux, so the choice is either macOS or Windows for me. Use your brain for once.
> Google paid around $9.4 billion to Apple.
Fine, I guess? The difference is that Apple doesn’t rely on Google’s money to exist in the first place, contrary to Mozilla. That means Google doesn’t have a big influence on Apple. Again, use your brain, and then return to me.
> Even competing browser executives said they respect what Mozilla has to say.
I can’t look into the heads of the people of the W3C, but what actually gets implemented in the end are Google’s proposals.
> it’s been publicly preaching the values laid out in the Mozilla’s Manifesto
That’s the problem right there, “preaching” and actually following it are not quite the same thing. Mozilla stood idly by when Google molded heavy duty DRM into a web standard, they allowed a closed source blackbox into their browser. They also claim to care about privacy while delivering a telemetry-infested browser to the public, sometimes they outright try to grab your browsing history (Cliqz experiment incident). Sorry, but if you really believe that the Mozilla Manifesto amounts to more than lip service on their part, then I have to question how much you actually know about them.
> However, Mozilla’s influence outweighs Firefox’s market share.
What kind of influence? They depend on Google’s money for their very existence, they will do whatever Google wants them to do, as they have in the past.
>>> the amount of money Mozilla receives from Baidu and Yandex is peanuts
>>>Did I miss anything?
Indeed! Deep down in your misty valley of cluelessness you missed the following facts:
ä½ å°±çŸ¥é“ ç™¾åº¦ä¸€ä¸‹ is not a searchengine from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (“Mir wëlle bleiwe wat mir sinn “), nor is Ð¯Ð½Ð´ÐµÐºÑ a searchengine of an unknown Siberian tribe, way out in a far distance and on the other side of your known world.
But of course!
>>> Apple doesn’t rely on Google’s money to exist in the first place
Appel’s more than 20 percent burgeoning services revenue from Google is just a lousy $12 billion worth little peanut they easily can ignore. At least in your words …
*Again, use your brain, and then return to me.*
Oh wait, at the time I wrote the “Anal Probe API for health recommendations” joke I had forgotten that the Mozilla Foundation had actually already recommended in their “privacy lists” a connected sex toy sending intimate data to the company “for health studies”. The future is now. I’m going to have to be more imaginative to find privacy crimes that they have not commited or encouraged yet.
@Anonymous
Another person who, much like @99, doesn’t understand that Brave’s ad matching algorithm operates offline from start to finish, it is not a privacy threat, as no kind of data leaves your PC / phone towards Brave Software Inc. or any third party. Plus, Brave Ads are opt-in. More info here:
https://www.ghacks.net/2020/03/10/here-is-what-is-new-and-changed-in-firefox-74-0-stable/#comment-4456442
> Another person who, much like @99, doesn’t understand that Brave’s ad matching algorithm operates offline from start to finish, it is not a privacy threat
We’ve had that discussion already, I know how it works, I just disagree with your favorite adware’s definition of privacy. Any exploitation of private data by advertisers is a privacy offense, that data is sent away or not is a secondary issue. 99 doesn’t fundamentally disagree with you because he supports Firefox Pocket targeted ads that work more or less on the same idea. In fact he understands remarkably well how the two browser adwares are similar, considering how hard he worked to find a small difference between them (spying on all browsers or only one) to blow them up to be able and take the standard righteous Mozilla pose about the smaller anal probe diameter (smaller indeed, but longer, here).
As predicted and no one even asked about it, you provide a confusing explanation, which obviously shows that you have no idea what you are talking about.
By example
>>> an in-browser ad matching algorithm (or “agentâ€), which analyzes your browsing behavior offline.
Offline??? Ah, now I see!
Brave’s intelligent “in-browser agent” first studies “all valuable data feeds”, then interrupts your online connection, calculates offline, makes his decision offline, eh voilà Sire “Here is your Adidas shoe advertising!”
Goggle at the advertisment long enough and .:｡✿*ﾟHi diddly ho‘ﾟ･✿.｡.:* you win some $*BATerinos*$ … Brave new offline “Privacy-by-Default”!
Humble question: Who’s the one now to restore the online connection?
Do you actually realize with what crude mixture of ignorance, pseudo-knowledge and PR gibberish you entertain your fellow readers?
Btw. this is the question you are evidently unwilling to answer:
Brave is open source at github.com. Each line of code has a permalink.
Example
https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/blob/8780ef24136d20d6c64225acf5289a4b383862af/src/js/advanced-settings.js#L33
Please provide the fellow readers with a permalink to the function that indicates “the studies of all valuable data feeds†is stopped while you are opt-out. And explain it in a way even non-programmers can follow you!
@99
I’ve long held back, but I need to say it: It doesn’t make any sense, whatsoever, to discuss Brave with you. Your replies show that you lack both the willingness and the capacity to understand how Brave operates. It also doesn’t make any sense to discuss a product with someone who hates this product with a passion for whatever reason.
—
> Brave’s intelligent “in-browser agent†first studies “all valuable data feedsâ€, then interrupts your online connection, calculates offline, makes his decision offline, eh voilà Sire “Here is your Adidas shoe advertising!â€
Brave doesn’t interrupt your connection, and neither does any other browser. The algorithm which determines which ads are displayed to you by picking them from a list Brave previously downloads OPERATES offline, meaning it doesn’t establish a connection to Brave servers, that doesn’t mean though that your entire PC and all of its applications are suddenly offline. You can check which connections Brave establishes with tools like Wireshark, it doesn’t indicate any phoning home.
> Goggle at the advertisment long enough and .:｡✿*ﾟHi diddly ho‘ﾟ･✿.｡.:* you win some $*BATerinos*$ … Brave new offline “Privacy-by-Defaultâ€!
Shows again that you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. It doesn’t matter how long a Brave ad is being displayed, even if you immediately close it the amount of BAT earned stays the same. Your tone is extremely childish, by the way. You sound like a six year old when you throw your usual temper tantrum
> Humble question: Who’s the one now to restore the online connection?
Your operating system establishes and and interrupts network connections, of course. The browser can’t do that, it doesn’t even have that privilege. At most, it can monitor whether an Internet connection is present, it doesn’t have the privilege to establish or interrupt it. That’s OS level stuff. Basic IT knowledge.
> Do you actually realize with what crude mixture of ignorance, pseudo-knowledge and PR gibberish you entertain your fellow readers?
You not understanding or disliking what I write doesn’t justify your allegations, at all. And as far as ignorance and pseudo-knowledge goes, you are the absolute and undisputed champion so far, and it is not even close.
> Please provide the fellow readers with a permalink to the function that indicates “the studies of all valuable data feeds†is stopped while you are opt-out.
You don’t even need to look at the code in the first place, albeit you are free to do so. It suffices to check the connections Brave establishes while you are not using Brave Rewards with tools like Wireshark – this already clearly shows that Brave is not phoning home.
> And explain it in a way even non-programmers can follow you!
I already have: https://www.ghacks.net/2020/03/10/here-is-what-is-new-and-changed-in-firefox-74-0-stable/#comment-4456442 You being unable or unwilling to understand it is not my fault, and I certainly won’t post such a writeup again. If I did, you would come up with your nonsensical and untrue “copy and paste” allegations again. I don’t have time time to spare for this shit anymore…
→ start B.S .....Brave doesn’t interrupt your connection, and neither does any other browser. The algorithm which determines which ads are displayed to you by picking them from a list Brave previously downloads OPERATES offline, meaning it doesn’t establish a connection to Brave servers, that doesn’t mean though that your entire PC and all of its applications are suddenly offline. You can check which connections Brave establishes with tools like Wireshark, it doesn’t indicate any phoning home.
..... B.S. stop â†The algorithm […] OPERATES offline ↠Sorry but the algorithm OPERATES – aka processes – local.
Brave has no and cannot afford a freak’n centralized “AI backboneâ€â€” the key to “personalized experiences†that deliver “the most relevant content†—like any other leading surveillance capitalists has.
YOUR shiny machine is their tiny little part of their shiny new decentralized “AI backboneâ€. YOUR machines processing power is used to extract and monitor YOUR DATA from an internal(sic!) model.
And this happens locally! … in real time, and nowhere is said, that it stops *learning* while the user is ‘opt-out’, nor can *YOU learn* what this creepy **In-device machine learning** algorithm blackbox is actually studying or not studying!
The only unknown known we know, is → it starts serving ads when you opt-in … it stops serving ads when you opt-out.
Ah … I hear … it’s open source!??? Ask Google … Facebook … Amazon … and so on about their algorithm.
Welcome the Brave new kid in Surveillance Capitalists Avenue, Pardonnez-moi $$$Revenue$$$
@99
Centralized remote data analyzing = good, decentralized local data analyzing = bad? Give me a break, lol. The latter wouldn’t even be a privacy threat if it indeed continued to run while users are opt-out, as no data sets are being sent anywhere. Really, you have an irrational hatred for Brave out of a desire to defend Google-funded Mozilla, and you are hellbent on smearing Brave while not fully understanding how it works – which is the worst basis for dialogue imaginable.
It is pointless to discuss Brave or any other browser with you, until you get your facts straight, and until you really ask yourself whether remote data analyzing or local data analyzing is more private (Hint: The latter is more private, but shhh, top secret!).
Have a nice day, tinfoil foxboy.
B.S. >>>Centralized remote data analyzing = good,
No! It’s sh*t! But …
… at least you have the chance to block the vast amount of it. Thanks to developers like Gorhill and many others and their tools to resist this privacy threat.
B.S. >>> decentralized local data analyzing = bad?
YES! It’s the worst sh*t! someone can imagine. Because …
… this trojan blackbox **In-device machine learning** not only infiltrated your machine, YOU have also given your express permission. That’s the worst privacy threat even Gorhill can not fight.
Top B.S. of the day >>> (Hint: The latter is more private, but shhh, top secret!).
It’s no secret, that I dont care if YOU – the self-proclaimed Brave new “privacy protection expert” who has flooded this forum with his foolish “expertise” – sells his Privacy for a handfull of $$$BATerinos$$$.
@99
Your comments become more and more idiotic as time goes by. The worst shit that can happen is centralized remote analysis of data, and Brave does block it by default (contrary to Firefox, lol). To whom does Brave sell my data again? Advertisers never see anything related to my browser history thanks to the local algorithm Brave uses, you are just spreading BS again. My data sets never leave my PC with Brave. Your claim that it is a blackbox is equally idiotic, Brave is fully open source. And I never claimed to be an expert, though I am fairly sure that I know more about that stuff than you do. Because you know very little.
>>> Your claim that it is a blackbox is equally idiotic, Brave is fully open source.
Your “Next generation Brave” is open source at github.com. Each line of code has a permalink.
Example
https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/blob/8780ef24136d20d6c64225acf5289a4b383862af/src/js/advanced-settings.js#L33
Go ahead and provide fellow readers seeking additional enlightenment a permalink to this “fully open source” **In-device machine learning** algorithm.
No further comments whose claims are “equally idiotic” is needed anymore.
*plonk*> *Again, use your brain, and then return to me.* linking to
“For behavior targeting, our approach [Brave’s] uses an in-browser agent that studies all the valuable data feeds in every browser: navigation, search queries, ecommerce form filling and submitting, page views and visibility known in fraud-free terms by the browser’s rendering engine.”
“in every browser”, even worse than Mozilla Pocket targeted ads. What’s the next spyware step from Brave/Google/Apple/Mozilla/Microsoft/… to target ads ? Anal Probe API for health recommendations ? And then we’ll discuss who is the best privacy hero browser for having the probe with the smallest diameter ?
YES! Been using Nightly wiht uBlock Origin and it has been a great experience on my phone.
im almost ready to ditch Google Chrome as my default browser on Android
Yeah it’s no longer looking grim for Android web browsers. I hope Mozilla delivers full extension support soon.
@Greg
https://www.bromite.org/
Other than you stupidly advertising something…you know that part of Firefox’s advantage on Android is their ability to install extension and not just things built-in?
Bromite doesn’t have extension support, so why should you want to advertise that to people who WANT extension?
@Dude without a suit
Because most people using Firefox on Android use uBlock Origin as their sole installed extension. And pointing out that Bromite has a far better privacy level than Firefox (Firefox on Android literally comes with baked in, hardcoded trackers) is not exactly advertising it – it’s absolutely provable.
> inclusion of the uBlock Origin extension by default
> The uBlock Origin extension is not enabled by default
Even if it’s not enabled by default, including ublock origin by default is a great initiative from Mozilla, this is a good surprise. I would love to see it enabled by default too in the future, this would be the real efficient change, and also in desktop Firefox. But would they do it ? The benefits would be superior to the page breakage problems, and if Mozilla is very worried about those, they could also contribute to the existing filter lists to report problems just like any of us.
Kind reminder that Firefox Preview comes with preinstalled trackers (Leanplum, Google Analytics) which are active by default:
https://old.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/blt6ft/mobile_firefox_app_shares_your_data_with/
Another kind reminder that Bromite does adblocking by default, and on top of that isn’t a privacy nightmare: https://www.bromite.org/
Waiting for the Firefox fan comments who will say that this is an amazing thing despite other browsers doing it by default already, without needing an extension. If you specifically need Firefox on Android for whatever reason, using something other than Fennec F-Droid shouldn’t even be considered.
Hi Iron Heart ,i understand your frustration trying to find the perfect Browser ,Fennec fdroid will perish if mozilla`s fennec seeze to exist,and chromium Browsers are tied to google and whatever functionallity they choose to allow for you to have access.The solution for firefox is configuration about:config and addons ,painlfull i know.I use multiple firefox installations.Bromite is nice but again you need a ride in their chrome:flags and config.Best to support multiple Browser options for you to have a future chance to even have that option. I use a configurated firefox and Bromite and Fdroidz fennec for specific user cases i have appointented them for.
Brave shields are more powerful then bromite adblocking, as i used both of them.also you have to install bromite updates manually.privacy wise both are good.but i prefer brave because it have good interface,dark mode,sync.sadly Firefox contains trackers in all their playstore apps.
You install Bromite from F-droid and receive updates trough it -> www dot bromite dot org/fdroid
@ Iron Heart
Bromite my browser of choice on Android, after a long search. So agree with you here.
I have just grabbed the latest Firefox Preview, after holding back updates since around the end of last year. Presumably if it supports uBO, then such trackers can be blocked anyway, making your concern less of a concern?
I’m not sure if ublock can do anything about trackers in the base code, I guess it depends how they are implemented.
Clueless people parrotting that anything chromium based automatically has 666 imprinted on them has become boring. API’s aren’t the be all and end all for developers. For example manifest 3 is being ignored and bypassed in a number of chromium based browsers, others have introduced anti-tracking not relying on API’s. So it doesn’t matter what Google does they will still work. It is open source, not closed source with just API’s you can plug in to.
That’s the problem people have with ff. You shouldn’t have to know what you’re doing to make it privacy friendly it just should be when it’s marketed as privacy friendly. Plus the vast, vast majority of people don’t know how to harden it or even know that you can.
@3rdrock
> I’m not sure if ublock can do anything about trackers in the base code, I guess it depends how they are implemented.
These trackers are hardcoded into the codebase, uBlock Origin can’t remove them. Just wanted to clarify.
+1 for your comment
@Sophie
Firefox comes with trackers built-in, these won’t be deleted if you purge cookies, nor can they be blocked by uBlock Origin. uBlock Origin only blocks trackers coming from external sources, e.g. websites, it can’t block the baked in ones. You can disable these in the FF Preview settings, this won’t remove them, but it will turn off their data transmission to Mozilla.
Again, Fennec F-Droid is the clean version of Firefox that doesn’t come with this BS. I would use this once it switches to the FF Preview codebase, if you really need FF on Android. Bromite is perfectly fine and clean, though.
Iron Heart shitting on Firefox, on schedule. Voice recorder never fails it seems.
@Dude without a suit
So… What is your opinion about the built-in trackers? Or are you just shitting on me instead of dealing with what I have to say – which would of course be very uncomfortable for you, Mozzarella fanboy.
Firefox Preview already had tracking protection from desktop Firefox built-in. So it could block many trackers already. Now, uBlock Origin can block ads as well
@CKing123
I am not debating that. The thing I criticize is that Firefox comes with several trackers built-in, these are hardcoded and can’t be removed or controlled by uBlock Origin, nor is there an option to manually delete them available.
“Bromite is Chromium”
Nothing to add to that anymore.
It is chromium – period. It is limitied to whatever Google wants it to be.
If Google decides to cut an API or anti-tracking featueres, so doese Chromium.
Mozilla is not perfect no. Mozilla needs Money so they are somewhat depend.
But they are the only ones out there with an independent browser.
You need to know what you need to customize and they you got a 100% privacy fiendly browser.
I am laughing at your petty Chromium Browser “Bromite”
WOW, Firefox nails wallstreet to the cross with Ublock Origin. Great work!
@Gondolium
> Bromite is Chromium. Nothing to add to that anymore. It is chromium – period.
Chromium is free and open source software, it is neither better nor worse than Firefox in that regard.
> It is limitied to whatever Google wants it to be. If Google decides to cut an API or anti-tracking featueres, so doese Chromium.
Well, that’s wrong. Bromite’s adblocker isn’t an extension, it is native code, and therefore it doesn’t rely on extension APIs. Whatever Google does to extension APIs, it won’t affect the Bromite adblocker. Anyway, I think it somewhat funny that you are concerned about what Google might or might not do to Chromium-based browsers, when the alternative – FF Preview – already comes with trackers built-in (one of which is Google Analytics btw), as if that would be an improvement. Never mind that you would use both products on Android anyway, mainly developed by Google.
> Mozilla is not perfect no. Mozilla needs Money so they are somewhat depend. But they are the only ones out there with an independent browser.
Independent? In how far is receiving 80%+ of their annual income from Google, your “competitor”, “independent”? Google wants Mozilla to exist as controlled opposition, so that they can fend off antitrust charges. They can’t allow Chrome to become an outright monopoly, they still need a fig leaf to point to, in case unpleasant questions are being raised. That’s Mozilla’s role, in case you are interested.
> You need to know what you need to customize and they you got a 100% privacy fiendly browser.
That’s the thing, it should be private out of the box, if it is advertised as such. FF is way, way worse than alternatives like Bromite in terms of privacy. And in case you haven’t noticed, you can’t remove certain stuff with about:config, e.g. the built-in trackers of FF Preview will still be sitting there no matter which about:config setting you flip, so don’t pretend that it is the solution for all problems when it isn’t.
> I am laughing at your petty Chromium Browser “Bromiteâ€
At least it doesn’t come with non-removable trackers built-in, nothing more to add.