Firefox For Android Coming In February! (UPDATE)
| by Anthony Perez on January 28th, 2010 |
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UPDATE: It appears that February was a bit “optimistic” and Firefox for Android is more likely several months away although progress is being made quickly. To follow progress of the project visit this link.
Good news for those looking to replace the stock Android browser on your device. The first beta version of Firefox for Android (Fennec) will be released in February 2010. Currently, Firefox is among the most popular PC browsers, and my personal favorite. We have seen Fennec operating on the Nokia N900, but now with Firefox for Android the company’s plans go even further.
Mozilla’s Fennec browser for Android OS has been in the works for awhile but with its imminent release (beta version), its time to get psyched!
[via AndroidSpin]
1. swehes wrote on January 28, 2010
Firefox is good. But I think I like Google Chrome better. That would be a nice web browser to have on the Android.
2. Abrown wrote on January 28, 2010
Meh, from what videos I saw on the Nokia, fennec looked like crap.
3. Haggie wrote on January 28, 2010
It is amazing that Firefox can be ported to Android faster than Chrome.
Proves the theory that unlimited money and a huge staff are the antithesis of an efficient software development program…
4. MrS wrote on January 28, 2010
According to the official Firefox dev blogs, this rumor is incorrect.
5. ex-Googler wrote on January 28, 2010
@swehes The browser on Android is a Chrome browser variant. Google makes Android, and Google makes Chrome Browser…what browser did ya think came on Android?
6. Talton "Phases" Pettigrew wrote on January 28, 2010
Lookin’ forward to it.
7. Wilco wrote on January 28, 2010
Seriously, I can’t imagine the webbrowser makes that much of a difference. The CM browser is very cool, because it offers pinch to zoom, and I like the way it manages bookmarks. But the only “features” I could ever imagine worth using are zoom, bookmark management, cache management, and a clean exit option (not available in CM or stock browser).
8. Cool wrote on January 28, 2010
What’s wrong with the stock browser?
hahaha
9. swehes wrote on January 28, 2010
@ex-Googler
Not sure what browser was coming on Android. It would make sense, but it doesn’t say that it is Chrome running on it.
10. Nukeador wrote on January 28, 2010
Firefox for Android is months away of its first alpha acording to their developers:
http://www.camp-firefox.de/node/215#comment-356
11. Ben wrote on January 28, 2010
Hope they include pinch and zoom
12. Giuliano wrote on January 28, 2010
I am citing Mark Finklewords written today on his Facebook profile:
No other comments are needed I think ;)
13. Bob wrote on January 28, 2010
Yeah. This is definitely wrong. No way it’s coming in February.
http://www.androidcentral.com/android-mozillas-road-map-dont-expect-fennec-anytime-soon
14. treefq wrote on January 28, 2010
Used Firefox for many years. its the best!!!!
15. GZ wrote on January 28, 2010
Dolphin!
16. G wrote on January 28, 2010
FWI “pinch and zoom” work on Android 1.5 (I think it would work on ANY android phone 1.0+) Looks like there is now HARDWARE limit on it.
I am using “pinch and zoom” on Dolphin and it works.
Strangly it did not work on Dolphin on 1.5 tell I upgraded with rogers 1.5 HTC sence gui upgrade….
17. Dave wrote on January 28, 2010
Firefox RC1 on Maemo was AWFUL. I’m not surprised that they removed Flash support from RC2, but it has a year or so of tweaking to catch up to the N900’s built in browser pace (WITH Flash).
18. Chuck wrote on January 28, 2010
xScope > dolphin > stock browser
19. Lamarr Wilson wrote on January 28, 2010
I’ll pass. lol
20. CC wrote on January 28, 2010
I’ve been using the Dolphin browser…it works amazingly well on my Hero. I don’t have any of the skins applied…not even sure if they are available for the latest update, but I really like it. Fast, reliable…never had a FC. I’ll take a look at Fennec when it’s released…but it’ll have to be awful good to take me away from Dolphin
21. Gunner wrote on January 28, 2010
According to this……
http://www.camp-firefox.de/node/215#comment-356
“Sorry for responding in English, I’ll include a Google Translation below. I am one of the engineers at Mozilla working on the Android port, and we are many months away from having an alpha version of Firefox for Android. We’re still working on low-level software porting like getting the Netscape Portable Runtime (NSPR) layer working correctly on the platform, and there are many issues to be solved. We don’t yet have a feeling for when the work will be done, but if you want to follow our progress, you can look on our Mozilla wiki at https://wiki.mozilla.org/Android .”
…there is no Fennec in February. Just rumors running wild.
22. twrock wrote on January 28, 2010
I’m holding out for an Internet Explorer port. ;-)
23. Matt wrote on January 28, 2010
This is definitely incorrect. http://androidandme.com/2010/01/news/alpha-version-of-firefox-for-android-still-many-months-away/ How long is Phandroid going to leave an incorrect article up…?
24. ArcticFox wrote on January 28, 2010
Will it slow down , devour threads and gobble up ridiculous amounts of memory just like Firefox does?
25. Matt wrote on January 28, 2010
@swehes You’re right, the Android browser isn’t Chrome, just like this ISN’T Firefox. This is Fennec.
26. Brad wrote on January 29, 2010
Too bad, I was really looking forward to this. Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve about had it with both the stock browser and the Dolphin browser on my Droid Eris. When it comes to a mobile phone browser, quite frankly, less is more. I don’t have a problem with the stock browser for the most part, partly because HTC customized it to enable multi-touch, but it has absolutely terrible tab management. Dolphin renders a bit better, I think, and has good tab management, but the whole thing feels too bulky and crowded with features I will never use. Some people may love gestures, but they drive me nuts because I don’t use them and they get in my way. I don’t honestly know why it’s so hard to write a web browser for Android. I thought there would be lots of them by now, but the few I can find besides Dolphin all have horrible reviews. Give me a clean, lightweight web browser that has decent tab management and multi-touch, and pinch/tab zooming (i.e. make it “just work” like Safari does on the iPhone), and I will love you forever. There are a lot of things I like about Android, but after using it a while, there’s simply no denying the fact that it’s missing a lot of the “it just works” polish that I had on my iPod Touch.
27. lassegs wrote on January 29, 2010
Google has previously said that the Chrome browser team and the Android browser team are two seperate teams with seperate projects. Obviously they both use webkit, but AFAIK thats where the similarities end.
28. Yva wrote on January 29, 2010
Looking forward to it! (with prism and weave)
29. virtualizer wrote on January 29, 2010
Hope it definitely comes with any one-handed zoom mechanism. I use Dolphin and find myself using the “touch-and-hold and choose zoom from the pop-up semi-circular menu” almost exclusively. Don’t want to use two hands for pinch-and-zoom in situations like standing in a crowded train with phone in one hand and …
30. jerry wrote on February 3, 2010
Firefox will begin showing up on mobile devices at the end of this year. I got the chance to test a beta version of Firefox on a pre-release mobile device. The browser, code-named Fennec, is the closest thing yet to a real, desktop-class browser for mobiles.
Wow, its about time that Firefox shows up on our mobile-phones! More details: http://bit.ly/android-firefox-details