Why you SHOULD be using Firefox

[Ormy1]

If you travel to a Friends house and use their computer then how do you access your firefox passwords?

This is a super bad idea, you are just asking to have your accounts hacked.

1.) Your friend's computer (with or without your friend's knowledge) could be sniffing your passwords and sending them to a malicious 3rd party.

2.) Pretty much everyone has a computing device (phone) in their pocket 24/7, why would you ever need to log in to things on someone else's computer?

3.) If you really must do this, as soon as you're finished use one of your own devices to change the password.

As you can tell, I'm very privacy conscious, hence I use firefox with quite a few extensions including uMatrix, timezone spoof, random user-agent, canvas defender, nighteye, etc.

I'm forced to use chrome on my work computer, in terms of resource usage it's fine but all the anti-privacy 'features' really annoy me. Like when I log in to google drive (again, mandated by my employer) one tab, it logs me in on the entire browser, on every tab. If I have youtube open in another tab and wish to remain signed out of youtube while being signed in to google drive, google makes this very difficult to accomplish. That's one example out of dozens. Google does not respect user privacy, their entire business model is built on invading your privacy and selling the analysis of the data they collect to the highest bidder.

 

[Orcvader]

HTTPS Everywhere.
UblockOrigin.
DuckDuckGo.
NordVPN.
Routinely delete all files within the browser including cookies and log back in to sites you use and are known as safe to you.
If you want the best privacy disable JavaScript but almost all sites will fail to work.
For the majority this is not needed and is just an extra step for the most paranoid.

HTTPS Everywhere is no longer needed, it's even being retired since FF now has it built in: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/09/https-actually-everywhere

Go to Settings -> Privacy & Security -> HTTPS-Only Mode and change to enable in all windows.

 

[lsg1r]

Seems like searchpreview is no longer going to be maintained

I liked having the little thumbnails next to the page links on searches because it made life easier finding 'what I was looking for' so any ideas for an alternative?

 

[V F]

Seems like searchpreview is no longer going to be maintained

I liked having the little thumbnails next to the page links on searches because it made life easier finding 'what I was looking for' so any ideas for an alternative?

I see no mention of the reason, I wonder why?

 

[lsg1r]

I see no mention of the reason, I wonder why?

No idea but it's been going for 15 years so maybe 'real life' just got in the way...

Maybe it's cost related, seems they hosted the thumbnails themselves, but I don't think I've ever seen a donation option either....

It is a bit sudden and considerably shorter notice than most would like though.

This is the sort of thing firefox should add to firefox (it's a recommended add on) rather than focusing on adding rubbish like pocket (seriously does anyone actually use it...) and junk to the address bar....

 

[mrk]

New update out with various bug fixes.

I'm really liking this space theme though, it puts little stars that fade about on the toolbar subtly. Kinda neat to look at and aesthetically a pleasing feel.

 

[Glanza]

Didn't know they had started with animated themes

 

[Firegod]

I'm seeing if I can cut my Google ties and I'm now trying DuckDuckGo in the browser for search, along with the extension. Kinda cool how it shows how the site grade improves when using the extension, for example OCUK forums has gone from a B rating to B+ because of what the extension has detected and stopped. Neat.

 

[mrk]

I'm seeing if I can cut my Google ties

Never!

 

[TheSwede]

I'm seeing if I can cut my Google ties and I'm now trying DuckDuckGo in the browser for search, along with the extension. Kinda cool how it shows how the site grade improves when using the extension, for example OCUK forums has gone from a B rating to B+ because of what the extension has detected and stopped. Neat.

What extension is that exactly ?

 

[Firegod]

What extension is that exactly ?

This one.

DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials – Get this Extension for Firefox (en-GB)

Download DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials for Firefox. Privacy, simplified. Our add-on provides the privacy essentials you need to seamlessly take control of your personal information, no matter where the Internet takes you: tracker blocking, smarter encryption, DuckDuckGo private search and more.

addons.mozilla.org

 

[Glanza]

Version 106.0, first offered to Release channel users on October 18, 2022
New

• It is now possible to edit PDFs: including writing text, drawing, and adding signatures.
• Setting Firefox as your default browser now also makes it the default PDF application on Windows systems.
• You can now pin private windows to your Windows taskbar on Windows 10 and Windows 11 for simpler access. Also, private windows have been redesigned to increase the feeling of privacy.
• Swipe-to-navigate (two fingers on a touchpad swiped left or right to perform history back or forward) now works for Linux users on Wayland.
• Text Recognition in images allows users on macOS 10.15 and higher to extract text from the selected image (such as a meme or screenshot).
• Extracted text is copied to the clipboard in order to share, store, or search—without needing to manually retype everything. (This feature is compatible with “VoiceOver,” the built-in macOS screen reader. For more information, check out our SUMO article.)
• “Firefox View” helps you get back to content you previously discovered. A pinned tab allows you to find and open recently closed tabs on your current device, access tabs from other devices (via our “Tab Pickup” feature), and change the look of the browser (with Colorways). (For more information, check out our SUMO article.)
• With the launch of the “Independent Voices” collection, Firefox is introducing 18 new “Colorways.” You can now access a “Colorways” modal experience via “Firefox View”; each new color is accompanied with a bespoke graphic and a text description that speaks to its deeper meaning. The collection will be available through Jan 16. (For more information, check out our SUMO article.)

Fixed
Various security fixes.
Developer
Developer Information
Web Platform
A major upgrade to our WebRTC capabilities (libwebrtc library upgraded from version 86 to 103) brings multiple improvements:

• Better screen sharing for Windows and Linux Wayland users.
• Lower CPU usage and increased frame rates during WebRTC screen capture on macOS.
• RTP performance and reliability improvements.
• Richer statistics.
• Cross-browser and service compatibility improvements.

 

[darael]

I don't see any option to remove the List all tabs button from the toolbar. I prefer to have several windows open per session, therefore that arrow on the top right is useless and annoying to me - at least until I get used to it's presence which is pointless to myself.

 

[Dup]

Removed that silly Firefox View button straight away, looked awkwardly positioned and styled too. That permanent list all tabs button is also daft. Sure it's not taking up much room or distracting in any way but not a feature I would use, I prefer fewer tabs open as possible, even as a web dev.

 

[darael]

Removed that silly Firefox View button straight away, looked awkwardly positioned and styled too. That permanent list all tabs button is also daft. Sure it's not taking up much room or distracting in any way but not a feature I would use, I prefer fewer tabs open as possible, even as a web dev.

I also removed that Firefox View button. I just don't see what it's for and why I would need it.

Another niggle is when you enter private browsing and there's an obnoxiously large "Private browsing" title on the top right.

This update has less than impressed me.

 

[Rroff]

Still getting a couple of issues with Firefox - sometimes a site will just stop loading until I restart the browser - trying to open pages on that site by any means will just result in a blank page or infinite loading on a blank page. Sometimes sites like the BBC an article will be missing images and other media in the main content part of the page - the media at the sides will load - and no amount of reloading or force refreshing the tab will make it load those bits but closing that tab and reopening the page in another works. Doesn't happen with any other browsers.

 

[darael]

Still getting a couple of issues with Firefox - sometimes a site will just stop loading until I restart the browser - trying to open pages on that site by any means will just result in a blank page or infinite loading on a blank page. Sometimes sites like the BBC an article will be missing images and other media in the main content part of the page - the media at the sides will load - and no amount of reloading or force refreshing the tab will make it load those bits but closing that tab and reopening the page in another works. Doesn't happen with any other browsers.

I get that with BBC iPlayer sometimes. Things improved when I changed the DNS over HTTP provider from NextDNS to Cloudfare.

 

[Rroff]

I get that with BBC iPlayer sometimes. Things improved when I changed the DNS over HTTP provider from NextDNS to Cloudfare.

Things improved a bit when I fiddled with HTTPS related settings but didn't fix it - just made it happen less often for some reason.

 

[Firegod]

Still getting a couple of issues with Firefox - sometimes a site will just stop loading until I restart the browser - trying to open pages on that site by any means will just result in a blank page or infinite loading on a blank page. Sometimes sites like the BBC an article will be missing images and other media in the main content part of the page - the media at the sides will load - and no amount of reloading or force refreshing the tab will make it load those bits but closing that tab and reopening the page in another works. Doesn't happen with any other browsers.

Sounds more like a DNS issue that. Strange. Have you tried as @darael suggested also, trying a different DNS provider?

 

[Rroff]

Sounds more like a DNS issue that. Strange. Have you tried as @darael suggested also, trying a different DNS provider?

Happens on multiple different internet connections, different systems and I've tried various different HTTPS and DNS settings, etc. the only commonality is the tabs I have open.