The road towards a full extension ecosystem in Firefox for Android was long and difficult. Mozilla Firefox for Android supported the majority of desktop extensions for a long time. This changed when Mozilla switched from Firefox’s own native extensions system to the one used by Google Chrome and Chromium.
Suddenly, users of Firefox for Android could install just a handful of extension. While the selection included popular extensions, it reduced the extensibility of the browser significantly. Development editions were not as limited, but it still was complicated to install extensions that were not selected by default.
Mozilla did add more extensions over time to Firefox for Android, but the selection remained limited.
This changed with an announcement earlier this year that Mozilla planned to unlock extensions in Firefox for Android. An update on December 14th, 2023 brought the much awaited change to the stable version of Firefox.
Firefox users may now browse more than 500 extensions for the Android version of the browser already. This is a ten-fold increase over the situation on December 13th, 2023.
While that is still miles away from the thousands of extensions for desktop Firefox, it is a great start and something that sets Firefox apart from its main competitors. Chromium-based browsers, including Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Vivaldi, do not support extensions in mobile versions.
Firefox for Android Extension Tips
Here are five extensions that I use in Firefox for Android. They improve the browser in several meaningful ways. Feel free to post your extensions in the comment section below and let me know whether you agree or disagree with my selection.
A remark on YouTube. I use a third-party app to watch YouTube, and don’t need any extension therefore in Firefox for that. If you watch YouTube videos in Firefox you may find ad skipping extensions and others useful.
Extension 1: uBlock Origin
There is no doubt about this, uBlock Origin is a must have extension for Firefox for Android. It blocks advertisement and tracking, which leads to all kinds of positive effects: faster page load times, improved privacy, improved security, less distractions, improved battery load and performance.
Extension 2: Bitwarden
Bitwarden is a popular password manager. While there are others, it is open source, available for various platforms and free to use without any impairing functionality limitations. The paid version is relatively cheap at $10 per year and highly recommended to support the project.
Extension 3: Single File
Single File adds support for saving entire webpages as a single file on the Android device. It is useful to save a local copy of a webpage either for safekeeping or offline access. It is also useful if you fear that the content may change in the future.
Extension 4: Dark Reader
Dark Reader brings a dark mode to any website, even those that don’t support it. It comes with lots of customization options to make dark mode work exactly the way you want.
Extension 5: Reddit Annoyances
Reddit Annoyances deals with Reddit’s attempt to get users to use the app instead of a mobile browser. It blocks those, which makes browsing Reddit in Firefox much nicer. One reason for using Firefox is that it will block ads on Reddit, if you have installed a content blocker. Only useful if you visit Reddit, e.g., from search results.
Also useful in this regard: Old Reddit Redirect.
Now You: do you use extensions in mobile browsers?