The new Firefox for Android is faster and can block third-party trackers by default. But Mozilla faces complaints from some who are upset with the redesign and the lack of supported third-party adds-on.
Mozilla is rolling out a new version of the Firefox browser for Android that places the URL bar at the bottom of the screen. The tweak is part of Mozilla’s attempts to create a better user experience, which includes “some massive changes under the hood” to also improve Firefox’s loading times, the company wrote in today’s announcement. “One of the things we were trying to accomplish was to actually sit back and imagine what a browser designed from scratch in 2020 would look like,” Mozilla SVP Dave Camp told PCMag in an interview. SEE ALSO: Microsoft Tries to Retire Internet Explorer 11 By Pulling Microsoft 365 Support “Our first reaction was the thing you interact with the most (the URL bar) probably needs to be near your fingers,” he added. We tried out the new Firefox and dig the change. With the URL bar at the bottom, the browser is easier to use, especially one-handed, and if your phone has a 6-inch screen. The decision to relocate the URL bar also creates more screen space at the top, an area where your eyes might naturally focus. Still, users may have a love-hate response to the search bar’s placement. If you don’t like it, you can revert to traditional search bar placement by going into the browser’s settings and visiting customize. « With regard to appearance, we redesigned the user interface of our Android browser completely so that it’s now even cleaner, easier to handle and to make it one’s own, » the company added. There’s also a dedicated dark mode, and an alternative mode that’ll try to match the color scheme to your phone’s device theme. In addition, you can organize your numerous browser tabs into collections, which can offer an easy way to access your favorite sites on the software’s startup.
