Firefox for Android Gets Big Redesign, New Browser Engine

Firefox for Android is getting a major update this week, but it’s much more than just a facelift.

While users can now take advantage of a fancy dark mode and new place for all of your tabs and favorite websites, Mozilla has incorporated its own GeckoView mobile browser engine, no longer using Google’s Blink engine that powers browsers such as Chrome, Brave, and Edge. The advantages of using GeckoView, in Mozilla’s words, is the ability to “have complete freedom of choice when it comes to implementation of standards and features.”

Beyond a quicker browsing experience, Mozilla highlights user security and privacy, enhanced mobile productivity, as well as a revamped extensions experience. For said extensions, Mozilla will be highlighting select extensions that will improve privacy and user experience via its Recommended Extensions program.

On the visual side, expect some big changes for Firefox. I mentioned a dedicated dark mode above, but Mozilla also mentions Collections for tabs, which users can create to help organize their sites. Additionally, Firefox users will be able to choose where the browser’s address bar lives (top or bottom), which is a very nice touch.

The updated Firefox for Android will be available in the US starting August 27.

Google Play Link

// Mozilla