Firefox

Supatramp

What on earth has happened to Firefox, on my tablet?  It has changed out of all recognition and is totally unuseable.  And on certain sites, when pressing  the 'back' button, it goes back several steps, when only one was wanted.

I'll have to find a new browser if this isn't rectified, and the version on my laptop, Windows, is working as normal.

bowlhead99

It's hard to speculate what has happened to it if all you tell us is that it has changed out of all recognition. Other than the back button issue, what's actually missing or different?

debitcardmayhem

The register said this days ago https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/25/firefox_android_update/

Heedtheadvice

Well I agree with Supatramp!

There are too many changes to list and it is hardly recognisable from the previous Firefox - not in a good way either. That link gives an overview (have a read bowlhead if you want to know more!) and it is not the sort of things that tech responses on this board can help with.

To add:

too many times it freezes

Some web sites are now very slow to load

No back button, relies on tablet back generic button but that does not always work, freezes, does not go back, does not reload the previous page, does not respond...

Still supposed to sync with other non mobile versions so stored passwords remain but usually do not populate the login pages of web sites. One or two do, some after hitting the sites password reminder button to get to the 'request page' then without completing that request going back to the login page it has then populated.

No tabs, function for working with multiple pages works by using a 'tab' menu page. That is different but workable...and not great but I can see that might be better with very small screens. By itself not a show stopper.

Whole GUI is different and diverges from PC versions (that latter is still ok).

I would give up on it right now if it were not for the sync facility - for history, common password management etc. So many differences between PC and mobile versions it has lost a lot of it's attactions (now hardly a functional method in common) I would not be using it except for the now defunct historical reasons!

If they do not fix the planned in issues (according to the above link it is not a very poor beta trial release but designed the way it is!!) then I will be off to another browser.

Poor show Mozilla! Not what is expected from you.

Heedtheadvice

p.s. I had originally thought so the problems were bugs so started to raise but reports (these are now done via a third party website if you follow the community help pages). Raised one and then realise how many others have also been raised, most likely against designed in 'mistakes'!

.....and I now add:

No way apparently to search history of sites visited

Could not pay bill last night via mobile after several attempts (PC version worked first time)....coincidence?

Tablet back and other generic buttons now difficult to see being white on an off white background (except when on screen keyboard is visible)

.......need we say more?

Supatramp

Thanks debitcard, and especially heedtheadvice, somebody who actually uses it!  It's nothing short of a disgrace, it's an utter shambles, and if they are planning to do the same with the Windows version, I'll certainly be off.  Have Mozilla lost their marbles??

poppellerant

I do agree that the new Firefox for Android is one hell of a facelift, which came with no warning and very little in the way explaining the new changes.  But having taken the time to get used to it, I don't think it's that bad.  Are the changes enough to make me uninstall Firefox from my phone? No.

For me the biggest change was Top Sites and adding sites to the front screen/homepage of Firefox.  But after taking a little time to explore, it became obvious how to add sites into the list of Top Sites on Firefox's homepage.

Heedtheadvice

As documented above it is not just a hell of a facelift!! IMHO. Many a system go through changes and 'improvements' for a variety of reasons but now we have effectively the 'same' browser that is diverging in functionality not just a change to the glassy exterior.

Can get used to facelifts etc but the big problem is things that do not work or work well anymore!

poppellerant

Heedtheadvice said:

As documented above it is not just a hell of a facelift!! IMHO. Many a system go through changes and 'improvements' for a variety of reasons but now we have effectively the 'same' browser that is diverging in functionality not just a change to the glassy exterior.

Can get used to facelifts etc but the big problem is things that do not work or work well anymore!

I can't force myself to agree with you, as some of the GUI changes have alienated loyal users, with little to no support or explanation where things have moved to or why they have been changed or removed.

forgotmyname

Still using an old version of Firefox, didnt like their latest offering.

Did clock a single Firefox window using over 600MB of RAM.  Removed all addons and it dropped to
384MB thats just a single window with google.co.uk open.  Am i too old school where every byte counted
when you had so little to work with but with most systems having tons of storage and memory they no longer
try to streamline their content?

Neil_Jones

forgotmyname said:

Still using an old version of Firefox, didnt like their latest offering.

Did clock a single Firefox window using over 600MB of RAM.  Removed all addons and it dropped to
384MB thats just a single window with google.co.uk open.  Am i too old school where every byte counted
when you had so little to work with but with most systems having tons of storage and memory they no longer
try to streamline their content?

Its not so much the program itself but more to do with everything else, its dependencies, code bases and whatever else that makes it work.  The memory usage is allocated to the program in Task Manager but it rarely tells the whole story.  Its the size of the dependencies and the way Windows works that pushes the memory usage up.

If you look at the "building Firefox" section of Mozillla's website, to download all the dependencies to build it yourself is already best part of a gigabyte so...