Firefox, Android phone, entering about:config

fwor

Ok, it's a dumb question that everyone who uses their Android based smartphone all day every day will think of as obvious:

After a recent automatic update, my phone has started receiving notifications from "Hello You" about news items that it thinks I should see. I don't want to receive these notifications, but an internet search tells me that I should go to the Firefox configuration page and turn off an option.

The problem is that the Firefox configuration page is at the address about:config but I cannot enter that as an address! If I try to, Firefox gives me the answer to the search term "about:config", which is (obviously) not where I want to go. If I try to enter a full address (e.g. http://about:config) Firefox simply tells me that this is not a valid address.

Hopefully someone here can quickly put me out of my misery without telling me to RTFM?

sausage_time

You can enter via Settings.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/manage-notifications-firefox-android

flaneurs_lobster

The "about:config" is fully enabled on the Windows version of FF (and MAC/OS?) but it's disabled on the Android version.

Here's how to get to it anyways

AI Overview

The literal equivalent is still about:config or its internal address chrome://geckoview/content/config.xhtml, but it is hidden by default on the standard release version of Firefox for Android. You can access advanced configurations by switching to a developer channel or unlocking the debug menu.

How to Access Config on Android

• Firefox Nightly: Download Firefox Nightly from the Play Store, where about:config is fully enabled and accessible by typing it in the address bar.
• Firefox Beta: Download Firefox Beta, which also allows hidden configuration adjustments.
• Unlock in Stable Release: Go to Settings > About Firefox, then tap the Firefox logo 5 times until you see "debug menu enabled". You can then navigate directly to chrome://geckoview/content/config.xhtml in the URL bar.
• Alternative Browsers: Use a fork like Iceraven, which keeps about:config natively active in its stable build.

fwor

Thanks for the replies - I'll try with Notifications set to Blocked. Anything that stops my phone from pinging and bonging at me is a step in the right direction. If it's on my phone, it can wait…

HillStreetBlues

"Hello You" is inbuilt on (some?) Motorola phones and has nothing to do with Firefox.

fwor

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82090591#Comment_82090591

Yes, I suspect that you may be right - this is a Moto G.

The problem seems to be that there is no such app as "Hello You" installed - which may mean that it's one that they bundle with the phone and get some sort of kickback from the people who run it (and also protect so that you can't uninstall it).

But it's annoying - if I tap on one of the notifications, it opens as an unidentified app, and there appear to be no "Settings" where I can tell them to F off and leave me alone. I've owned the phone for around 3 years, but it only started doing it a week or so ago, when I think there was an update from Motorola.

Ah, right - I think you were on the right track. There's an app called "Motorola Notifications", which had permission (unsurprisingly) to log notifications. It doesn't now!

HillStreetBlues

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82090773#Comment_82090773

It's annoying that some companies do that, had same issue with a Blackview in the past