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Technology @lemmy.ml

soyagi @yiffit.net

2y ago

Firefox to become first mobile browser to support desktop extensions later this year

blog.mozilla.org blog.mozilla.org | 504: Gateway time-out

blog.mozilla.org | 504: Gateway time-out

Source: https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2023/08/10/prepare-your-firefox-desktop-extension-for-the-upcoming-android-release/

Archived version: https://archive.ph/x9dHq

45 comments

Chrome: We're going to make adblocking on mobile even harder.
Firefox: We're gonna make adblocking on mobile as easy as its ever been.
Gee, wonder which one I'm gonna be using after this.
- Firefox on android already has ublock origin available

Alright so what's the biggest threat that the Open Web is facing right now? Web Enviroment Integrity.
What's the biggest browser engine that's not Chromium? Gecko. (Firefox)
Which group of people use Chrome most? Average Joes.
What attracts Average Joes? Shiny new features.
What is this post about? Shiny new features.
I think this is a perfect opportunity to make people switch to Firefox.
Though an antitrust lawsuit would probably be quicker.
- Average Joe doesn't use extensions.
  
  So many average Joes use ABP. They should use ublock origin, but they’re average Joes.
  
  Some
  
  They use the crypto and shopping shit that Joe rogan or amazon.com recommend..
- Antitrust lawsuits are a lot of things, but quick isn't one of them.
- It's not a new feature, not especially attractive to average joe and I don't really think average joe even cares about features as long as Youtube, GMail and Google Drive load.

They already were the first? I still remember when I upgraded Firefox on my phone and all of the extensions were gone. It's nice that they're finally bringing them back after all these years, but it's just a return to the way things used to be.
EDIT: Headline here was changed from the original article, which doesn't claim "first", just "only".
- I was also confused about it

Friendship with Brave has ended. Firefox is my new best friend

not sure what's new here, I've been using firefox with ublock origin on my phone for years. glad that it's getting more attention though
- only a small list of extensions is available today
- Ublock Origin and some other extensions were whitelisted. With this change, any extension can (theoretically) be used on mobile.
  
  oh that's sick, awesome

Kiwi Browser on Android already supports chrome extensions...
- Even Orion Browser on iOS supports extensions. Bit perplexed by this headline.
- And Developer Tools! :D

Please bring this to iOS! Or at least just ublock origin.
- Unless things have changed, Apple's policy of generally not allowing programs to download executable code would block this. Browsers are locked into using Apple's allowed web engines because of this, so basically every browser on iOS is safari or re-themed safari
  
  There are some browsers that have extensions on iOS, notably Orion (which unfortunately is iOS and MacOS only, no Windows)
- The Orion browser on iOS currently allows the use of some Firefox and Chrome extensions, including uBlock Origin.
  
  Yup, which is awesome and gives me hope that Firefox can follow… eventually
- Orion Browser should do fine with WebExtension support (from both Chrome and Firefox add-on stores) until Mozilla steps ahead.
  
  Unfortunately they don’t have a Windows version which means no native syncing bookmarks and history

All of the extensions?
- It looks like support is either up to the developer or simply optimization is up to the developer. They mention that extension devs should start optimizing their desktop extensions for mobile but doesn't say whether that's required or simply suggested as a non-optimized extension may not work properly.
  But theoretically, any extension at the very least could be made to work on mobile. It appears to be an open system as opposed to now where it's only approved ones.

Kiwi browser...

Doesn't ir already do this on nightly??
- And Beta too :)

Safari supports extensions. What makes Firefox the first?
- Safari mobile is a great browser, but it does not support desktop! extensions, just mobile ones from Apple's store.
  
  yes it does. safari extensions are universal. they have been for years.
- Also Firefox mobile already supports (a tiny limited subset of) extensions. And the version before their big UI overhaul supported extensions from the add-on store - although it would be unusable if you loaded up too many.
  The big change is that the new shinier faster version of Firefox will now support their new desktop extension platform - and probably run them much more efficiently.
  Pretty sure the person who wrote this headline only ever used Chrome mobile.

Now if only Firefox didn't constantly crash on foldable phones. Or at Least on mine.
- Thankfully those are only getting more popular unlike things like Windows phone back in the day. Hopefully it will continue improving over time
  
  Fingers crossed. Especially since Google now makes a foldable. They have a vested interest to make the experience better.

I'll be nice to have containers back.

45 comments