Tag: firefox

Mozilla’s original plan was to release Firefox 125.0. Stable today. This did not happen and Mozilla revealed that it had to postpone the release.

Now it appears that Firefox 125.0.1 has been released, on the same day. The new version of Firefox is already in distribution. Most Firefox desktop installations get updated automatically eventually.

Users who do not want to wait for that to happen may follow the top below to run a manual check for updates.

Tip: you can check your Firefox version by selecting Menu > Help > About Firefox on desktop. On mobile, you select Menu > Settings > About Firefox.

Security information: Firefox 125.0.1 addresses several security issues in the browser. The aggregate security rating is “high” and there appear to be no attacks in the wild. You can check out the security updates here.

Firefox 125.0.1: major changes

Firefox 125.0.1 is a security and feature release. As far as features are concerned, here are the major changes:

• Better media streaming — support for AV1 codec for Encrypted Media Extensions (EME) added. Means that video providers may use this codec to deliver streams to Firefox.
• Firefox PDF Viewer — supports text highlighting now. The feature is rolled out gradually.
• Firefox View — displays pinned tabs in the “open tabs” section.
• Addresses — save and autofill addresses, but only in the U.S. and Canada.
• Downloads — Firefox blocks more downloads that it considers potentially untrustworthy.
• Address Bar — clipboard URLs are now shown as suggestions at the top (but only if the site is not open already).
• Web Proxy Auto Discovery — option to enable the feature when using system proxy settings.

Closing Words

While it is still unclear why the release of Firefox 125.0. had to be cancelled, the same day release of Firefox 125.0.1 is commendable. Mozilla seems to have fixed whatever caused the retraction of Firefox 125.

Firefox 125.0.1 makes the same changes and most users probably do not even notice the release change.

What is your take on this new release? Any feature you like?

Mozilla will release another point update for Firefox 124 later today. Firefox 124.0.2 is a bug fix update that addresses four non-security issues in the browser. Apart from a crash on Linux AArch64, it is fixing a video playback issue that is causing video playback on sites such as Netflix to go blank or crash the browser.

The update is not available yet, but it will be released shortly to the public. You may check Menu > Help > About Firefox to display the current version. Firefox runs a check for updates. Once released, it will download and install the update automatically.

Firefox 124.0.2: the fixes

The main fix of the point update addresses a playback issue on video sites such as Netflix. The bug report offers a very specific example, and it is unclear how narrow the issue is based on it.

According to the report on Bugzilla, the issue was caused on Netflix when users activated the “Inuyasha” icon to play it. Firefox’s window would then flash and go blank. Mozilla reproduced the issue and found out that the issue was caused by a crash of the GPU process.

The new Firefox release fixes several other issues:

• Users with large amounts of bookmarks could not restore backups of bookmarks. This has been addressed in this release. The bug report suggests that this was caused if the bookmarks were crossing the 32766 mark.
• Fixed a crash that affected Linux AArch64 builds. Details about the patch can be found here.
• Fixed the loading of some webpages on Ubuntu 24.04 systems caused by the “changes made to the default AppArmor configuration”.

Closing words

There is no need to rush the update if you have not experienced any of the issues in Firefox. Firefox 125, expected on April 16, 2024, will include these fixes.

Do you use Firefox or another browser as your main driver?

Mozilla confirmed this week that its Firefox web browser will continue to support the extensions Manifest V2 next to the new version Manifest V3.

Google announced several years ago that it would move Chrome’s extensions manifest to a new version. The manifest defines the capabilities of browser extensions. Google’s initial draft drew the ire from users, privacy advocates, and developers alike. The company’s engineers made several adjustments to Manifest V3, which addressed some criticism but not all of it.

It now plans to end support for Manifest V2 extensions later this year in Chrome. Most Chromium-based browsers will share the fate. In fact, the only option to avoid this is to spend engineering time on reintroducing support for Manifest V2 in the browser engine after removal by Google.

Mozilla is in a better position this time. The organization’s Firefox browser uses its own browser engine, which gives it more control over its set of features. While Mozilla has been pushing Firefox towards improved Chromium compatibility in the past, it has made decisions in the past against this if it thought that it would be in the best interest of the organization.

In the case of Manifest V2 and Manifest V3, Mozilla published a statement about the future of Manifest V2 shortly after Google’s announcement regarding the change. Summed it, it confirmed that Mozilla would not follow Google’s implementation to the letter. Firefox would continue to support Manifest V2, and thus all extensions that relied on it, next to Manifest V3.

In other words, Firefox users would get the best of both worlds. Future compatibility with Manifest V3 extensions and also backwards compatibility to make sure that extensions continued to work.

Not all extensions can be ported to Manifest V3. Some may be ported, but with an impact to the functionality. Especially content blockers and other security tools are on the receiving end in this regard.

Mozilla reiterates its stance

With Google’s deadline to end Manifest V2 support in Chrome coming closer and closer, Mozilla published an update on its stance regarding the change. Mozilla confirmed that it has not changed its strategy at all.

While Firefox is supporting Manifest V3 extensions to a degree already, it will continue to support Manifest V2 extensions as well. Firefox continues to “support MV2 extensions for the foreseeable future” according to Mozilla.

Mozilla keeps a back door open, but you cannot really blame the organization for doing so. The organization promises that it will inform developers and users at least 12 months before making a a change in this regard, if it decides to re-revaluate the decision.

Closing Words

Firefox continues to support Manifest V2 extensions for the foreseeable future at the very least. It is too early to say if the decision will have an impact on the browser’s usage numbers. Once Google launches the change in Chrome, users with Manifest V2 extensions installed will notice that they cannot use these anymore.

These have several options, one of them is migrating to a browser that continues to support them. It will be especially interesting to see how content blockers behave after the changes land.

Now You: What is your take on the Manifest V3 push by Google?

Mozilla’s Firefox web browser supports native language translations since Firefox 118 in desktop and Android versions of the browser. This feature, called Firefox Translations, supports additional languages now.

One of the main distinguishing factors between Mozilla’s implementation of a translate feature in Firefox and that in other browsers is that Firefox’s runs locally.

Translations happen on the local device. All that is required for that is the downloading of a language pack for each language. Google, Microsoft, and other browser makers use cloud-based translation services. The consequence here is that information is submitted to company servers. Google and Microsoft know about the text that gets translated. Not a problem for some, but if you value privacy, you may prefer Mozilla’s implementation.

Firefox Translations improvements

Firefox Stable supported a good dozen languages up until now. These were Bulgarian, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Polish and Portuguese.

The Estonian language is added to the list of fully supported languages.

Mozilla added support for additional languages, but these are limited to being translated. In other words, Firefox cannot translate other languages into these languages yet.

The additional languages are Finish, Greek, Hungarian, Russian, Slovenian, Turkish and Ukrainian.

Support for these new languages is added remotely to Firefox, an update of the browser is not required. You should see the languages listed already on about:preferences#general under Translations.

Support for additional languages in development

Mozilla is working on adding support for additional languages to Firefox. Users who run development versions of Firefox gain access to additional languages or capabilities.

The focus is on European languages, with Persian (Farsi) being the exception.

Dev users get full access to Czech and Persian (Farsi). Additionally, support for translating Catalan, Icelandic, Lithuanian, Maltese, Norwegian (Bokmål and Nynorsk) are also available. Lastly, support for translating languages into Hungarian, Russian, and Ukrainian is also available.

Closing Words

Firefox’s translation feature supports many European languages already. Several are still missing, including Danish, Swedish, and Croatian among others.

Support for non-European languages is lacking severely at this stage. These still require the use of other translation services at the time of writing and the foreseeable future.

Now You: which translation service do you use? (via Sören Hentzschel)

More than eight years after Mozilla decided to remove tab groups from Firefox, the organization confirmed today that tab groups will make a comeback.

When Mozilla launched Firefox’s Panorama feature, which introduced tab groups in Firefox years before Google implemented the feature in Chrome, it was ahead of its time.

Tab groups improve tab manageability by allowing users to put multiple tabs into groups in the tab bar. These groups may be collapsed to free up room on the taskbar.

While Mozilla did introduced Tab Groups before Google, it was Google that made them practicable to use.

Current implementations in Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers are easy to use. It is an elegant solution. Panorama on the other hand showed tabs of the active group only to the user.

Mozilla announced the end of tab groups in Firefox about nine years ago. The organization cited low usage, a lack of quality, and high maintenance costs.

Mozilla CEO confirms Tab Groups

This month, something remarkable happened. Firefox user Belfox published a letter to Mozilla CEO Laura Chambers. In it, they asked Chambers to consider adding a tab grouping feature to the browser.

Firefox lacks proper tab grouping support. All Chromium-based browsers support it, thanks to the shared codebase. Belfox noted that tab groups was the top requested feature on Mozilla’s Connect website.

Nothing happened for about a week, but then, Chambers replied to the user on the Mozilla Discourse website.

She wrote:

Hello! Thanks for reaching out. I have some good news! I checked in with the team, and they have prioritized the work and have a people assigned to work on it.

In other words; Mozilla’s CEO confirmed that a team is working on tab groups and that it is a development priority.

The response is remarkable. Not because of confirming that tab groups will (likely) come to Firefox. It is remarkable because it is the first time in a very long time that Mozilla’s CEO communicates directly with the community.

Not with a letter or blog post, but in a discussion.

Chambers confirmed that Firefox would become a priority at Mozilla again after taking over the reigns from Mitchell Baker. It seems that she is making good on the promise.

This direct interaction with the Firefox base could help bring management, developers, and users closer together again. It gives hopes to a community, of which no small part felt neglected in recent years.

Closing Words

Firefox is getting tab grouping support, which is good news for users of the browser. The CEO partaking in discussions about the browser and responding to user requests is even bigger than that.

Chambers remains CEO for a limited time only. A successor has not been found yet and it remains to be seen if the future Mozilla captain will follow her lead.

Mozilla is also working on bringing tab previews to Firefox.

Now You: do you use tab groups?

Mozilla is porting the private translations feature of the desktop version of its Firefox web browser to the Android version. The organization introduced translations support in Firefox 118. A core difference between Mozilla’s implementation and that in other browsers is that Mozilla’s runs locally.

When you use Google Translate or Bing Translate, data is transferred to Google or Microsoft servers. It is processed there and then returned to the browser.

Firefox translates webpages directly on the device. No data is transferred to Mozilla or elsewhere. In other words, Mozilla does not know the text that you want translated nor the site it is published on.

Firefox for Android: first look at translate feature

Translate is only available if Firefox Nightly for Android at the time. Even there, it is not visible right away but needs to be enabled by users.

Here is how that is done:

1. Select Menu > Settings.
2. Open About Firefox.
3. Tap five times on the Mozilla logo on the page until you get the notification that debug is enabled.
4. Go back to the main Settings page.
5. Locate the Secret Settings menu.
6. Toggle “Enable Firefox Translations” to turn the translate feature on.

A new translate icon is now displayed in the address bar when you open a foreign language page.

Tap on the icon to get options to translate the content into another language.

Firefox Translate for Android: the options

The main translate menu lists the source and the target language only. You may change those and hit the translate button to get the page translated immediately.

A tap on the settings icon displays translate options. Here you may enable “always” or “never” translate options. These are:

• Always translate a specific language. When enabled, Firefox will translate the language automatically when it encounters it.
• Never translate a language. Blocks translate functionality for pages in that specific language.
• Never translate this site. Blocks translate functionality on the current site, but not on others.

Firefox uses local language pack for its translates. These need to be downloaded once for each language and this happens automatically when you select the translate option the first time for that language.

You may download all languages immediately in the Firefox settings. Note that this version of the translate feature supports only the four languages English, French, Italian, and German. All language packs have a size of about 28 megabytes.

Closing Words

It is unclear when the translate feature is rolling out in Firefox Stable for Android. It is likely that this is going to happen later in 2024, but Mozilla has not announced its plans yet in this regard.

Since translations happen locally, it is privacy-friendly. There is one downside at the moment: language support.

The desktop version of Firefox supports just a few dozen languages at this point. These will all come to Firefox for Android, but it may take a long time before Firefox’s translate feature supports the majority of languages.

Still, Mozilla is bringing another requested feature to Firefox for Android. This helps close the feature gap between Firefox and Chromium-based browsers. Also worth to note is that Firefox supports features that major Chromium-based browsers do not support. Extensions support is a major one.

While Microsoft is working on bringing extensions support to its Edge for Android browser, it is not there yet.