Tag: firefox

Firefox

Firefox’s address bar is getting a makeover: here is a first look

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla’s Firefox web browser remains a popular choice, especially for open source enthusiasts and users who want as much customization options as possible.

While Mozilla is going through some form of decline, at least when Firefox’s usage share is concerned, it is still used by hundreds of millions of users each month.

Mozilla tried several strategies to turn the tide. It continues to reduce its reliance on Google money through new products, but most revenue still comes from that one search deal with Google.

Recently, Mozilla introduced much-requested features in Firefox. From tab groups to vertical tabs. an improved profile manager and the upcoming link previews feature.

Now, it is the address bar that is getting a makeover.

Tip: check out my guide on enabling compact mode in Firefox.

The improved Firefox address bar

Improved selection of search engines and search data

Image source: Mozilla

Click on the icon at the left side of the address bar to pick any search engine for search. You may also select internal options, such as bookmarks or the browsing history from the menu.

My take: Good addition, but nothing major.

Search term instead of search URL

Image source: Mozilla

A controversial change. When you run a search, Firefox displays the original search term in the address bar instead of the URL. Mozilla says that it is done to give users easier access to change the phrase and to run the search using a different search engine.

My take: Don’t like, as the URL should always be visible.

Search using keywords

This feature is not really new, as Firefox supported keyword-based searches for a long time.

Use @bookmarks or @tabs to limit searches

My take: not really new, but may expose the feature to more users.

Actions to take

Image source: Mozilla

Actions is a new feature. An action is a command that you want Firefox to execute. Options include printing the active page, opening the Settings, viewing the page source, or clearing the recent history.

My take: this one is handy for users who prefer the keyboard over mouse.

Contextual search suggestions

Firefox shows contextual options for some searches or prompts. It may show a shortcut to search the active site or to switch to a specific tab.

My take: sounds like a useful feature, not entirely new though.

No HTTPS:// anymore, but clear warnings for insecure sites

Since most sites use the secure HTTPS now, Mozilla decided to hide the protocol from Firefox. It continues to show warnings if a site uses HTTP or another insecure protocol or misconfigured protocol.

My take: I prefer to see all protocols all the time, so, not something that I like.

Good news is that you can make changes to Firefox’s configuration to alter the defaults. Check out Mozilla’s blog post for additional screenshots and information.

Now You: what is your take on these features? Something that you find interesting or superfluous? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Security

Firefox 138.0.3 fixes two crashes and some other issues

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla plans to release a new point update for its open source Firefox web browser later today. Firefox 138.0.3 is a non-security update that fixes three issues in earlier versions of the web browser, including one crash issue.

If you use Firefox on the desktop only, you may ask yourself if you missed the Firefox 138.0.2 release. You may have, as this special version was only released for Firefox on Android.

Firefox 138.0.3: the fixed issues

Firefox 138.0.3 fixes a WebGL-related crash. Mozilla notes that Firefox could crash when websites that use WebGL were opened. WebGL, which stands for Web Graphics Library, is used to render 2D and 3D graphics using JavaScript.

Web games and other interactive or animated content may make use of WebGL. So, if you ran into crashes while running the recent version of Firefox, there is a good chance that this was caused by the WebGL bug.

The update fixes a second crash. This one occurred on websites where certain SVG effects were applied to very small areas.

Firefox 138.0.3 fixes two additional issues:

  • Videos looked washed out on Linux under Wayland, if HDR was not supported on the system.
  • The keyboard shortcut Alt-C did not work as expected in the sidebar search.

Mozilla has not published the official release notes at this time. The release notes will be published shortly after the Firefox 138.0.3. You can access them here afterwards to check them out.

The new update is only available for the desktop versions of the Firefox web browser. Furthermore, Firefox ESR are not updated, as they appear to be unaffected by the issues.

Mozilla plans to release the next major version of Firefox and Firefox ESR on May 29th, 2025. The following versions will be released on the day:

  • Firefox 139
  • Firefox 115.24 ESR
  • Firefox 128.11 ESR

Now you: where you affected by one or several of the fixed bugs? How do you handle point updates usually? Do you install them right away, postpone their installation, or skip them? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

How to enable Compact Mode in Firefox

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla’s Firefox web browser supports two display densities by default. These determine the size of the toolbar and the elements that are displayed on it.

The two options are normal and touch. Normal is the default value, unless Firefox is used on a touch display.

Firefox supported a third for a very long time officially. Called compact, it reduced the size of the main toolbar to free up room for the display of websites in the browser.

While the mode is not shown anymore by default to users of the web browser, it is still available, albeit officially as “not supported”.

Still, if you are like me, you prefer your browser’s interface as tidy as possible to give website content more room.

Here is a step-by-step guide to enabling compact mode in the Firefox web browser.

Note: This works only in Firefox for the desktop. Also, since the feature is not supported officially, there is a theoretical chance that Mozilla is going to remove it at one time. The interface would revert to the default density in that case though.

Enable Compact Mode in Mozilla Firefox

Firefox Compact Mode

The first step enables the Compact Mode option in the interface, the second sets the interface to the mode.

  1. Load about:config in the address bar.
  2. Confirm the warning page to continue.
  3. Search for browser.compactmode.show.
  4. Click on the toggle icon to set the value of the preference to true.
  5. Select Menu > More Tools > Customize Toolbar.
  6. Locate the “Density” menu at the bottom and click on it to display its options.
  7. Choose “Compact (not supported)” from the available options.

Firefox changes the density of the toolbar and its elements immediately. The toolbar’s height should be a bit smaller than the height of the normal or touch toolbar.

Note that you may undo the change at any time starting at 5) above and switching to Normal or Touch under 7).

Now You: What is your preferred display mode? Smaller, with more space for websites and content, or larger?

Firefox Link Previews

Firefox’s Link Preview feature is quite good – here is why

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla has officially launched a preview of the upcoming Link Preview feature of its open source Firefox web browser. Unlike traditional link preview extensions, Firefox’s implementation offers a modern take by incorporating AI for summarizing key points.

The AI runs locally on the device, which is excellent for privacy. The tradeoff is that computing will usually take longer, especially on older or slower systems.

Enabling Link Previews in Firefox

The feature is available as a preview currently in Firefox Beta and Nightly. You need to enable it before it becomes available.

  • Load about:config in the Firefox address bar.
  • Confirm the security prompt to continue.
  • Search for browser.ml.linkPreview.enabled.
  • Toggle the state to True to enable it.
  • Restart Firefox.

Tip: the preference browser.ml.linkPreview.outputSentences defines the number of A_generated keypoints. The default is three. The preference browser.ml.linkPreview.allowedLanguages defines the supported languages, which is English at the time.

Using Link Previews in Firefox

Hold down the Shift and Alt keys on the keyboard before hovering over a link. Firefox displays an overlay that lists key information, including a preview thumbnail, full title, reading time, and a meta description.

Below that is a list of keypoints, generated by AI, that summarize key elements of the linked webpage.

Note: Generation of the keypoints takes longer on first use of the feature. It was relatively speedy on my fairly potent HP laptop, but took quite some time on an older system. This is a one-time process.

Keypoint generation is not instant, but it took a few seconds usually after the initial setup. The processing is relatively quick, even on longer articles, e.g., those on Wikipedia.

The quality of the keypoints is quite good. You should realize that this is not a summary of the article, but three key arguments or points made in the article. It is often good enough for a quick overview of the content, which is the main purpose of the preview feature.

To sum it up:

  • AI runs locally, which is great for privacy, but adds to the processing time.
  • Keypoints give good overviews usually.

Closing Words

Link Previews is a useful feature that bakes privacy-friendly AI into Firefox. While it remains to be seen how popular the feature will be once it launches, it is definitely a welcome addition in the browser.

An option to change the keyboard shortcut from Shift-Alt would be welcome, as it may improve usability.

Now You: do you use link previews? What is your take on the feature that Mozilla added to Firefox?

Firefox AI Summaries

First Look at Firefox’s new Link Preview feature with AI Summaries

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla is working on introducing link previews in its Firefox web browser. The feature is in testing in the latest Nightly version currently and includes support for local AI summaries.

The main idea behind the feature is to give users a tool at hand to check information about linked resources without visiting them directly.

Here is how it works: You hold down the Shift and Alt-keys on the keyboard and move the mouse cursor over links in the browser’s interface. Firefox displays a popup then that shows a preview image, the page title, and some basic information.

It uses AI, processed locally entirely according to Mozilla, to create key points that are displayed in the popup. This works for English webpages only at the time. Sören Hentzschel notes that you may add additional language support in the advanced configuration, but that the summaries are often in English.

The speed of processing depends entirely on the local system and its capabilities. I tested this on a fairly old computer and the processing took too long to be of use. Still, even without it, link previews worked quickly and reliably already.

How to enable the feature

You need the most recent version of Firefox Nightly, as this is only baked into Nightly at the moment. Note that the feature is in active development and that some features may be missing and that you may experience bugs while using it.

To enable Firefox’s new link preview feature:

  1. Load about:config in the Firefox address bar.
  2. Confirm that you will be careful.
  3. Search for browser.ml.linkPreview.enabled.
  4. Set the experimental preference to True.
  5. Restart Firefox.

Tip: you can add new supported languages to the preference browser.ml.linkPreview.allowedLanguages. Just append them. The default value is en. To add Spanish and Japanese, expand the string so that its value is en,es,jp in the end.

Again, languages other than English may not work overly well at this stage in development.

Closing Words

Firefox supports link previews on mobile already. You can long-press a link to get a preview. On desktop, users need to install extensions for that purpose, unless I’m mistaken (correct me please on this if that is the case).

The shortcut Shift-Alt is not overly elegant, but it works. The preview opens quickly and you get some information that you would not get otherwise, including the page title and a short description.

The AI summary feature did not work well on an older test system, but it may work better on modern hardware.

Now You: do you make use of link previews regularly or click on links right away all the time? Would you use Firefox’s new feature? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Firefox

Mozilla updated its Terms of Use again to address concerns

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Wow, this week has to be one of the worst for the people over at Mozilla. There has been tremendous backlash to the organization’s updated Terms of Use.

Maybe not has big of a deal to Mozilla’s Mr. Robot blunder or the announcement to drop Firefox’s custom extensions system for that of Chromium, but still.

To recap: Mozilla announced terms of use and an updated privacy notice for Firefox on Wednesday. These were worded in lawyer-speak and included the following sentence:

When you upload or input information through Firefox, you hereby grant us a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to use that information to help you navigate, experience, and interact with online content as you indicate with your use of Firefox.

Tech sites wrote about it and users were up in arms over the wording. Mozilla tried to calm users in an update, stating that the new terms did not give it ownership over user data or the right to use it for anything, even things not mentioned in the privacy notice.

It appears to have helped little. Mozilla published a new statement yesterday saying that it has updated the wording in the new terms of use to make things clearer for users.

The new wording includes the following paragraph now:

You give Mozilla the rights necessary to operate Firefox. This includes processing your data as we describe in the Firefox Privacy Notice. It also includes a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license for the purpose of doing as you request with the content you input in Firefox. This does not give Mozilla any ownership in that content. 

Mozilla says it has also removed the “reference to the Acceptable Use Policy” because it seemed “to be causing more confusion than clarity”.

The Privacy FAQ was updated as well to better provide information on terms like “sells” according to the update.

This is a fairly common statement. Google, for example, has a big section of its terms of service dedicated to the worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license that users give it.

If you check the terms of other browsers, you probably encounter something similar.

Was it an overreaction? Even with all the explaining, it seems likely that Mozilla won’t convince everyone that it was.

What is your take on this? Do you use Firefox currently? Let everyone know in the comment section below.

Vertical Tabs in Firefox

Firefox: give vertical tabs and tab groups a try in Firefox Stable

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla is working on two highly requested features, tab groups and vertical tabs, for its Firefox web browser. These features are still in active development at the time of writing, but that does not mean that you can give them a go already in stable Firefox.

This guide provides you with everything you need to get started. It explains how to enable the features and highlights the current functionality.

Vertical Tabs in Firefox

What is it? Vertical tabs move the tab bar from the horizontal placement to the sidebar. Firefox users can display tabs on the left or right side of the browser.

Why do some users prefer vertical tabs? Vertical tabs give tabs more room in the browser window. This gives users more control and an improved overview, especially on widescreen monitors.

How to enable it? Here is how you enable the functionality:

  1. Load about:config in the Firefox address bar.
  2. Confirm the security page that is displayed.
  3. Search for sidebar.verticalTabs.
  4. Click on the toggle-icon to set the preference to True.

To disable, set the preference to False.

Firefox switches to vertical tabs right away. The default displays just icons, but you can use the Expand Sidebar button to display page titles as well. There is also a shortcut, Alt-Ctrl-Z, to switch between icon and expanded view.

A click on the settings icon in the sidebar displays a few related options. There you find the option to move the sidebar to the right side, if you prefer that.

The implementation supports several features already:

  • Create or close tabs.
  • Move tabs using drag & drop.
  • Right-click on open tabs to get he tab context menu.

But it is beta, right? Yes, Mozilla has not enabled the feature yet in Firefox Stable. It worked without any issues in my preliminary tests though.

Tab Groups in Firefox

Firefox Tab Groups

What is it? The ability to group tabs together. This improves organization and management of tabs in the browser.

How to enable Tab Groups in Firefox? Here is how that is done:

  1. Load about:config in the Firefox address bar.
  2. Confirm that you will be careful.
  3. Search for browser.tabs.groups.enabled.
  4. Use the toggle to set the preference to True.

To disable, set the preference to False.

Firefox enables the tab grouping functionality right away. It works with horizontal and vertical tabs, which is great.

You can create a new group by right-clicking on a tab and selecting the “Add tab to group” option. You get the option to create a new group or add the tab to an existing group.

Each group has a name and a color.

The following functionality is supported at the time of writing:

  • Create and delete Tab Groups in Firefox.
  • Move tabs into groups or remove them from groups.
  • Change the position of groups on Firefox’s tab bar.
  • Save and close tabs.
  • Move tab groups to new windows.
  • Collapse tab groups to show only the icon/title.

The feature is also in development. It worked well and without any hitches during tests in Firefox Stable.

Closing Words

Mozilla is playing catch-up in regards to the two features. Chromium-based browsers have supported tab groups for ages and more are starting to support vertical tabs.

While that is the case, it is still welcome that Mozilla is implementing the features finally in Firefox, as they may improve usability when used.

Now it is your turn. Vertical or horizontal tabs? Tab groups or individual tabs? What is your preference in this regard and why?

Firefox 134.0.2

Firefox 134.0.2 is here with a few non-security corrections

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla plans to release a second point update for Firefox 134 later today. Firefox 134.0.2 is another non-security update that addresses a few pressing problems in the browser that had to be fixed early.

Most Firefox installations will be upgraded automatically once the update is released. As this does not happen in real-time, some users may want to trigger the update manually instead.

How to update Firefox: One easy way of doing so is to select Menu > Help > About Firefox. The browser displays the current version and runs a check for updates. It should pick up the latest, download it and install it. A restart is required to complete the process.

Good to know: Firefox 134.0.1, released last week, fixed an issue on YouTube and a crash issue.

Firefox 134.0.2: the changes

The official release notes are not available yet. Mozilla will publish them later today on this page.

Here is a quick overview of the included fixes:

  • After a crash, the crash reporter was not displayed for some localized builds.
  • Anchored links in HTML framesets pointing to local files did not work.
  • Network requests could not be resend in the Developer Tools when debugging extensions.
  • Data consumption from service works could unexpectedly halt.

Most Firefox users should not be affected by any of these issues, as they apply mostly to edge cases or development related cases.

Suggested course of action: Since the release does not fix any security issues, most users should not feel pressed to install the update immediately.

The next major release happens on February 4th, which is about two weeks from today.

Firefox 134.0.1

Firefox 134.0.1 fixes a crash and an issue on YouTube

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla plans to release a point update for Firefox 134 later today. Firefox 134.0.1 is a small non-security update that addresses three main issues.

The details:

  • Fixes a startup crash that prevented some users from upgrading from Firefox 133.
  • Fixes user interface hangs on YouTube and Google Docs.
  • Fixes an issue with the search engine menus.

Firefox 134.0.1: the fixes

The big fix of this update is the crash fix. A bug prevented some Firefox Stable users from upgrading the browser to the recently released version 134.

Mozilla found out during an investigation that the bug affected some Firefox 133.0.3 users only. Once Firefox 134.0.1 gets released, it should be downloaded on those systems automatically and the update should run through without issues. Note that it is also possible to download and install Firefox manually from Mozilla.

The second issue affects some Firefox users who open YouTube or Google Docs in the web browser. The issue is caused by ghost windows being opened on the Google properties, according to Mozilla. Each of these windows is using between 30 and 100 megabytes of memory and memory usage could go up to several gigabytes as a consequence.

The third and final issue that Mozilla fixed in Firefox 134.0.1 impacted the selection of search engines in the browser. Some users reported that they did not see any search engines in Firefox, others that they had issues interacting with search engines.

Mozilla says that the issue has been caused by a search settings migration that it ran and that failed for some users.

All three bugs appear fixed in the new update. Note that it may take hours or even days after the release of the update before it reaches most Firefox Stable users. You can run a manual check for updates going to Menu > Help > About Firefox after the update has been released to install it as soon as possible.

Now You: do you use Firefox? Did you ran into any of the issues mentioned?

Firefox

Firefox 134 improves video playback on Windows

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla has released the first Firefox update of 2025. Firefox 134, Firefox 115.19.0, and Firefox 128.6.0 are already available.

The details:

  • Firefox 134 is a smaller release with just a few new features and changes.
  • It is also a security update.

Tip: Most Firefox installations are configured to update automatically. You can speed up the process by selecting Menu > Help > About Firefox.

Firefox 134

The official release notes list just a few changes. The new version introduces two new features:

  • Support for hardware-accelerated HEVC video playback.
  • Touchpad hold gestures support on Linux.

Hardware-acceleration should improve resource usage when that specific type of video is played in Firefox. The Linux feature works by placing two fingers on the touchpad of the computer. This stops any momentum scrolling happening at the time.

Other than that, search engine Ecosia is being added to more regions as an option.

Another change is being rolled out to users from the United States and Canada only. It changes the New Tab layout of the browser. The main difference is that Firefox displays “thought-provoking stories” now there as well, plus the obligatory sponsored stories.

Here is a sample image that Mozilla released that shows the new tab page:

Firefox New Tab page layout. Currently only in the US and Canada.

Mozilla lists the applied security fixes on the advisories website. The aggregate severity rating is high and 11 security issues rated high and moderate have been addressed in the update.

Firefox ESR updates

Mozilla maintains two Firefox ESR versions currently. Firefox ESR 115.19.0 is only available for older versions of Windows and macOS.

The current branch version, Firefox ESR 128.6.0 is only available for newer operating systems and versions.

Both release notes pages list just security fixes.

Now it is your turn. Do you run Firefox? If so, which version? How happy are you with the browser currently? Feel free to leave a comment down below.