Use Firefox Updater to install and update Firefox on Android without Google Play
Firefox Updater is an open source application for devices running Android that provides its users with options to download, install and update the Firefox web browser and some other products without Google Play.
Google Play is installed on many Android devices but not on all. Some users prefer not to use Google Play and prefer to sideload applications or install them using a third-party marketplace such as FDroid instead.
Firefox Updater, FFUpdater, is an application that has been designed to make managing Firefox installations on Android easier if Google Play is not available or unwanted.
The application can be used to download the following apps to the Android device:
- Firefox Stable
- Firefox Beta
- Firefox Nightly
- Firefox Focus
- Firefox Klar
- Firefox Lite
Additionally, it may be used to download, install and update Firefox Lockwise, Mozilla's password management app, and the Brave web browser for Android.
First thin that needs to be done is download F-Droid to the Android device. Head over to the F-Droid website and follow the download and installation instructions on the site to install the software repository. One core difference between F-Droid and Google Play is that the former hosts only FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) applications.
Open F-Droid afterwards and search for FFUpdater using the search field. Select the result and activate the "install" button on the page to download Firefox Updater and install it on the device.
Open the application after its installation to get the list of supported apps. Only Firefox Stable, Beta and Nightly, and Brave browser are listed. You may add all other apps that Firefox Updater supports using the plus button.
Tap on the download icon to download the latest version of the application from official Mozilla servers. Downloads are made using HTTPS connections and each file's certificate is checked by the app to ensure that it has not been tampered with.
Firefox Updater performs periodic checks to determine if updates are available. A notification is displayed if updates are found to give users the option to download and install these updates on the device. Note that the application detects only updates for applications installed using its interface; it does not support applications installed through other means, e.g. directly.
Closing Words
Firefox Updater for Android is a straightforward application to install different versions of the Firefox web browser, Firefox Lockwise, or Brave on Android devices. It is a good option for devices without Google Play and for users who prefer to avoid Google Play on Android.
Now You: Do you keep your Android apps and devices up to date?
Hi guys.
Does anyone care to comment on whether Brave on android as a browser is preferable to Firefox (regular or focus)?
Wanting Firefox browser for android tv,had a few downloads they all seem corrupted,ads freeze up tv,mostly ones stating you need to download this cleaner,Have same problem with Chrome on android tv,these are from various side loading options such as filelinked ,even the ones at Aptoid doing same thing. I had one Firefox from a youtuber shortcut via downloader,loved the way it worked,but ads would interupt IPTV viewing in the evening,any suggestions,no I dont want puffin browser.
microsoft, google and apple have made our computers and phones a dystopian nightmare.
“One core difference between F-Droid and Google Play is that the former hosts only FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) applications.”
And very importantly, F-Droid flags anti-features like ads and tracking, because nowadays FOSS is not enough to avoid that. It’s the solution to the spyware plague that is the norm among mobile applications thanks to Google and Apple.
About FFUpdater, don’t bother with it, once you’ve understood that you should install F-Droid, you can use the partly cleaned F-Droid version of Firefox, “Fennec F-Droid”, instead of the smelly original:
https://f-droid.org/packages/org.mozilla.fennec_fdroid/
It’s interesting that the original Firefox is not on F-Droid because Mozilla never accepted to remove Firefox’s proprietary bits.
@Anonymous
Thumbs up for Fennec F-Droid, whoever needs Firefox on Android should actually be using this. Mainly for privacy reasons.
if you don’t need a full-featured browser on your mobile, i would HIGHLY recommend ditching Firefox and using Privacy Browser instead, also available on F-Droid
Inferior to Bromite in every way imaginable.
@Iron Heart wrote this nonsense:
> The guy should also provide a Firefox uninstaller, for it will be needed in due time. Mozilla will abandon it in favor of Chromium or they might even exit the browser market completely, focusing on advocacy efforts.
Why does this troll continue to push such unfounded nonsense? If they had credible sources to backup their nonsense (which we all know they do not), then they would post them, and do it a more appropriate place than here.
So tired of people like that trolling on gHacks. Get a life already and stop trying to pump false information… most people here hopefully aren’t as gullible regarding tech issues as you apparently think.
Or you can, you know, not read his opinions?
It’s the owners of this website’s fault that they haven’t implemented an account system for so long. Imagine if some spammers found out about it and flooded it with their website advertising.
It will become like this: https://i.imgur.com/09oZYnd.png
@Allwynd
It’s not even my “opinion”, it just reflects the current market situation. What I said is bound to happen at this stage.
I’d even encourage an account system on gHacks for that would hinder imposters. Martin would have no reason to ban / delete my account because nothing I say is ban-worthy. Unless one thinks market realities should be banned from being discussed here…
People must spread their opinion. It’s internetnature.
@Ronaldo
> If they had credible sources to backup their nonsense (which we all know they do not), then they would post them, and do it a more appropriate place than here.
You mean a source for Firefox being on its way out? Here it is:
https://www.bleepstatic.com/images/news/u/1097497/Windows-10/Browsers/browser-wars-2020/browser-market-share.jpg
Web devs are testing for different browser engines, and the only two relevant ones these days are Blink (Chromium) and WebKit (Safari). Gecko losing users and becoming more and more irrelevant leads to websites becoming less and less compatible, again driving people away from Gecko – it’s a death spiral. Gecko has 3% market share meaning the end is nigh.
Mozilla is an Internet advocacy group (it’s on their website), so if they exit the browser market, it is only reasonable to assume that this will be their main focus.
I am not a troll, and your worthless bickering and accusations out of thin air won’t change that.
Getting rid of Google and Samsung apps using debloater or Titanium Backup always brings joy to my heart.
Updating apps manually every couple of months is no big deal.
>Do you keep your Android apps and devices up to date?<
I keep Play disabled. I'm not a big phone user and Play just scrapes and scrapes and scrapes data. With our four phones, every six hours or so, it uses hundreds of MB's of additional data if kept on.
I use FF Focus as a browser, will have to see if there's a sideload for it; Google Play hides the real downloader, instead giving you screen after screen of scrolling with bogus links and a suspiciously slow install.
Since google play recommends saudi spy corona app i use only the Aurora Store (also from F-Droid).
The guy should also provide a Firefox uninstaller, for it will be needed in due time. Mozilla will abandon it in favor of Chromium or they might even exit the browser market completely, focusing on advocacy efforts.
Nice short term project anyway.
You can do that through app info so no need.
@edio
You can also update Firefox via the Play Store already, and you can uninstall it without the app, too. The app this article describes is useless, unless you use a specifically de-googled custom ROM. My posting had a tad of irony in it.
How can it be ironic when you just gave great reason why this a good feature?
@edio
Look up the market share of custom ROMs (and remove all users who install Google Play Services anyway, even on custom ROMs, from the equation) and you’ll see that it’s useless for the vast majority of users.