Firefox for Mobile

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Firefox for Mobile
Firefox 3.5-4.0 logo.png
Fennec 10.0 android 4.0 en.png
Firefox for Android 10.0 displaying Wikipedia
Developer(s) Mozilla Corporation
Mozilla Foundation
Stable release 10.0.2 (for Android)  (February 17, 2012; 9 days ago (2012-02-17)) [±]
Preview release 11.0 Beta (for Android)  (February 24, 2012; 2 days ago (2012-02-24)) [±]
Written in C++, XUL
Operating system Android 2.1 and above[1]
Type Mobile browser
License MPL 1.1 or later
GNU GPL 2.0 or later
GNU LGPL 2.1 or later[2]
Website www.mozilla.com/mobile/

Firefox for Mobile (codenamed Fennec) is the build of the Mozilla Firefox web browser for devices such as mobile phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs).

Firefox for Mobile uses the same Gecko layout engine as Mozilla Firefox. For example, version 1.0 used the same engine as Firefox 3.6, and the following release, 4.0, shared core code with Firefox 4.0. Its features include tabbed browsing, password manager, location-aware browsing, and the ability to synchronize with the user's computer Firefox browser using Firefox Sync.[3]

The user interface is completely redesigned for small screen optimization, the controls are hidden away so that only the web content is shown on screen and it uses touchscreen interaction methods in place of dragging actions with a mouse.[4]

Contents

[edit] History

Plugin support was initially disabled by default, removing compatibility with popular web content types such as Adobe Flash.[5] In September 2011, Flash support has implemented in pre-release builds for pre-Honeycomb versions of Android.[6] Flash support for Android 2.3 and earlier has been planned for version 11, while support for Android 3.0 and later will come in a later release.[7]

The browser's version numbering was bumped from version 2.0 to version 4.0 to more closely match desktop releases of Firefox since the rendering engines used in both browsers are the same.[8]

Release dates:

[edit] Name

The codename used for Firefox for Mobile is Fennec. It comes from the Fennec Fox, a small desert fox (just as the Fennec Browser is a small version of Firefox browser). Firefox for Maemo Beta 5, released in 2009, was the first release to have official Firefox branding, with Firefox name and logo.[16]

[edit] Platforms

It is currently available for Android 2.1 and above devices with an ARMv7 CPU.[17]

Support for the Nokia N900 Maemo device ceased with version 7.[18]

An alpha of version 1.1 (1.1 Alpha 1) for Windows Mobile, released on February 19, 2010, is the last build for this operating system.[19][20] Following the Windows Phone 7 announcement and Microsoft's decision not to release a native development kit, development for Windows Mobile was put on hold.[21] If Microsoft releases a native development kit in the future for its Windows Phone 7 OS, then Mozilla will consider developing Fennec on the Windows Phone platform again.[1]

Tristan Nitot, president of Mozilla Europe, has said that it's unlikely that an iPhone or a BlackBerry version will be released, citing Apple's non-compete application approval policies[clarification needed] and BlackBerry's limited operating system as the reasons.[22]

There are no plans to develop Firefox for the Symbian platform.[1]

Mozilla has no plans to develop Firefox for Palm's WebOS,[1] although an unofficial port to WebOS was made, but is not longer maintained.[23]

An unofficial port is also available for the OpenPandora Handheld.[24]

While desktop versions are not supported, versions for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux are available; these versions are intended as a way to give people who do not have a supported operating system the ability to localize, experiment and build add-ons.[25][26]

[edit] Reception

The reception to Firefox for Mobile has been very weak. Main complaints include slow browsing speed, lack of flash support, and the inability to render a web page in desktop version.[27][28] The average rating of the browser on the Android Market is 3.5/5[29], a low score as compared to other popular browsers on the Android market - such as Dolphin Browser[30], Opera Mobile[31][32], Skyfire[33], Maxthon[34], and many others.

[edit] See also

Portal icon Free software portal

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d "wiki.mozilla.org/Mobile/Platforms". https://wiki.mozilla.org/Mobile/Platforms. 
  2. ^ "mobile-browser: LICENSE@9aa835472fed". Hg.mozilla.org. http://hg.mozilla.org/mobile-browser/file/9aa835472fed/LICENSE. Retrieved 2010-08-11. 
  3. ^ "Firefox mobile features". Mozilla. http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/mobile/features/. Retrieved 2010-01-30. 
  4. ^ "Firefox Mobile Features Touch Friendly Interface". http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/mobile/features/#touch. Retrieved 2010-05-26. 
  5. ^ "Mozilla releases Firefox for Mobile for Maemo phones". Techworld. http://news.techworld.com/mobile-wireless/3211674/mozilla-releases-firefox-for-mobile-for-maemo-phones/. Retrieved 2010-02-02. 
  6. ^ "Support for Flash on Android Fennec". https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=630007. Retrieved 2011-09-21. 
  7. ^ "Fennec Features Plugins". https://wiki.mozilla.org/Fennec/Features/Plugins. Retrieved 2011-12-10. 
  8. ^ "Fennec 4.0 – New and Notable". http://starkravingfinkle.org/blog/2010/09/fennec-4-0-new-and-notable/. 
  9. ^ "Firefox for Nokia N900 Release Notes". mozilla.org. 2010-01-28. http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/mobile/1.0/releasenotes/. Retrieved 2012-02-09. 
  10. ^ "Mozilla Launches Firefox 4 for Android, Allowing Users to Take the Power and Customization of Firefox Everywhere". http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2011/03/29/mozilla-launches-firefox-4-for-android-allowing-users-to-take-the-power-and-customization-of-firefox-everywhere-2/. Retrieved 2011-03-29. 
  11. ^ "Firefox 5 for desktop and Android released, Firefox 8 before Christmas". Extremetech.com. 2011-06-20. http://www.extremetech.com/computing/87228-firefox-5-for-desktop-and-android-released-firefox-8-before-christmas. Retrieved 2012-02-04. 
  12. ^ Mozilla. "Firefox for Android Has a New Look and Tools that Empower Developers to Build Rich Mobile Web Experiences". Blog.mozilla.com. http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2011/08/16/firefox-for-android-has-a-new-look-and-tools-that-empower-developers-to-build-rich-mobile-web-experiences/. Retrieved 2012-02-04. 
  13. ^ "Firefox 6.0.1 and 3.6.21 desktop security updates now available". Developer.mozilla.org. 2011-08-30. https://developer.mozilla.org/devnews/index.php/2011/08/30/firefox-6-0-1-and-3-6-21-desktop-security-updates-now-available/. Retrieved 2012-02-04. 
  14. ^ "Firefox 6.0.2 and 3.6.22 security updates now available". Developer.mozilla.org. 2011-09-06. https://developer.mozilla.org/devnews/index.php/2011/09/06/firefox-6-0-2-and-3-6-22-security-updates-now-available//. Retrieved 2012-02-04. 
  15. ^ "Firefox for Mobile 10.0 Release Notes". mozilla.org. 2012-31-01. http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/mobile/10.0/releasenotes/. Retrieved 2012-02-07. 
  16. ^ "Firefox for Maemo Beta 5 Released". http://blog.mozilla.com/blog/2009/11/09/firefox-for-maemo-beta-5-released/. 
  17. ^ "Mobile System Requirements". https://wiki.mozilla.org/Mobile/Platforms/Android#System_Requirements. 
  18. ^ "No updates in Maemo5". https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=681422#c1. 
  19. ^ "Fennec Alpha for Windows Mobile Release Notes". http://www.mozilla.org/projects/fennec/1.1a1-wm/releasenotes/. 
  20. ^ "Final Fennec Alpha for Windows Mobile 6". http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/mobile/nightly/2010/03/2010-03-24-01-mobile-1.9.2/. 
  21. ^ "Stopping Development for Windows Mobile". http://blog.pavlov.net/2010/03/22/stopping-development-for-windows-mobile/. 
  22. ^ "Mozilla rules out Firefox for iPhone and BlackBerry". http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology/2009/11/09/mozilla-rules-out-firefox-for-iphone-and-blackberry-115875-21809563/. 
  23. ^ "Fractal Brew". Fractal Brew. 10 October 2011. http://www.fractalbrew.com/. 
  24. ^ "Fennec in the OpenPandora App Store". OpenPandora. 29 May 2010. http://apps.open-pandora.org/cgi-bin/viewapp.pl?/Application/fennec.inf. 
  25. ^ "Fennec Beta 5 for Maemo release notes". http://www.mozilla.org/projects/fennec/1.0b5/releasenotes/. 
  26. ^ "releases for Linux, MacOSX, MSWindows". http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/mobile/releases/latest/. 
  27. ^ http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Android-Web-Browsers,review-1705.html
  28. ^ http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2383721,00.asp
  29. ^ https://market.android.com/details?id=org.mozilla.firefox&hl=en
  30. ^ https://market.android.com/details?id=mobi.mgeek.TunnyBrowser
  31. ^ https://market.android.com/details?id=com.opera.browser
  32. ^ https://market.android.com/details?id=com.opera.mini.android
  33. ^ https://market.android.com/details?id=com.skyfire.browser
  34. ^ https://market.android.com/details?id=com.mx.browser

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