Mozilla is taking another stab at mobile browsing with a new version of Firefox on Android currently known as "Firefox Preview" and now we’re here to fill you in everything you need to know about it, how fast it is, how secure it is, and the best new features we’ve found.
Firefox has a sizable niche carved out of the desktop browser market, but it remains woefully underrepresented in the mobile space. Part of that is because of Chrome’s default near-ubiquity on Android, but even Mozilla admits that Firefox mobile could be much better.
Rather than attempt to drastically change the current mobile app’s course, Mozilla opted to start over with an all-new Firefox app. This new Firefox is built on the GeckoView open-source mobile browser software, which Mozilla claims makes Firefox Preview up to twice as fast as the previous Firefox Mobile version, and brings many of the same privacy-protecting features of the desktop version to mobile.
How Firefox Preview performs
Firefox Preview’s core functionality is identical to any other mobile browser—you can open and juggle between multiple tabs, there’s a private mode, and you can perform quick searches in the URL bar from your preferred search engine (which can be set during setup and changed in the settings menu). Firefox veterans can sign in and sync their bookmarks, browsing history, and other settings (depending on your sync settings, of course), but the differences between Firefox Mobile and Firefox Preview quickly become apparent.
One thing everyone will notice is the sleeker interface. Firefox Preview has a much more trimmed-down and focused UI compared to Firefox Mobile. It’s much easier to jump immediately to a page, and the homepage is free of recommended articles and other clutter that make Firefox Mobile feel cramped. The new, trim navigation bar has been moved to the bottom of the app screen, and stays stays mostly out of the way while your scrolling and reading a page. It’s more like using a browser in reader-mode, in that regard.
Faster browsing
Firefox Preview is also a much faster browsing experience, in general. One of Mozilla’s big claims for Firefox Preview is that it’s two times as fast as the current version of Firefox on Android. Firefox Preview certainly feels a bit faster, and the the Mozilla Kraken benchmark tool confirms that it is, in fact, a speedier browser overall.
To speak more specifically about features, here are some new functions Firefox Preview will offer, partially enabled by GeckoView:
- Faster than ever: Firefox Preview is up to 2x faster than previous versions of Firefox for Android.
- Fast by design: with a minimalist start screen and bottom navigation bar, Preview helps you get more done on the go.
- Stay organized: Make sense of the web with Collections, a new feature that helps you save, organize, and share collections of sites. Quickly save and return to tasks like your morning routine, shopping lists, travel planning and more.
- Tracking Protection on by default: Everyone deserves freedom from invasive advertising trackers and other bad actors so Firefox Preview blocks trackers by default. The result is faster browsing and fewer annoyances.
Light or Dark Mode Locked
Another cool feature worth pointing out is dark mode. Plenty of apps have a dark mode, but it’s absent in the current Firefox Mobile browser, so it’s a welcome upgrade. Firefox Preview can be locked to either its light or dark mode, or set it to dynamically swap the theme based on your phone’s display settings. Personally, I prefer to keep dark mode on all the time whenever possible, and Firefox Preview’s slightly purple tinge to its dark mode is a nice visual difference from the dark modes of other apps.
How to get Firefox Preview on Android
Anyone with a compatible Android device can download the latest version of Firefox Preview from one of the following locations:
Mozilla also says it will continue to optimize and update Firefox Preview for the rest of the year, and that the final version scheduled to release in fall will have even more new features and upgrades compared to this early preview build.
