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Firefox Android is finally enjoyable to me.

I used to be a long term Firefox desktop user. I kind of drifted to Chrome on desktop because I switched my mobile browser to Chrome from Dolphin Browser. After a few years of this, I started getting fed up with giving in to big tech. I'm not getting much in return for my data other than a nice Google Discover feed. It was actually the Microsoft buyout of Activision that somehow got me rolling in this direction once again.

I decided to give alternative browsers yet another try. I had tried Firefox Android several times in the past but hated it upon installation and would quickly get rid of it. I had heard last year that they switched to a new mobile browser engine but it didn't feel right until I tried it in January.

I'm running it with only Ublock Origin and so far it's faster than Chrome on my OnePlus 9 Pro. I'm getting better battery life too. I love the homepage but I disable pocket as I don't like having curated news on my start page unless I'm able to choose the news sources. I'm using most of the Ublock filters minus Pete Lowe's stuff and the social lists. I think I finally found the sweet spot that gives enough speed and battery boost without annoying myself.

I also have Vivaldi as my back up browser on my phone. I actually prefer Vivaldi on desktop but Firefox on mobile. Vivaldi on mobile has an excellent bottom navigation bar with quick access to bookmarks. Brave isn't bad on mobile either. Their private Brave search beta is quite good for a beta.

Some webpages that I visit not only load faster than Chrome but look different and have the ads stripped out without leaving a white box or blank space more often than other ad blocking browsers. Some even have differences in appearance that I so far prefer. I'm even experiencing less pop ups and annoying behavior than Chrome. I keep testing websites that I have bookmarked and I'm shocked as Firefox in general doesn't benchmark well. I guess real world performance is different.

I highly recommend Firefox on Android in its current state with the Ublock Origin extension. Try it.

Are there any alternative browser fans in here?
 
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Fbh

Member
Might give it another chance.
I tried it last year and while having ublock on mobile was nice, it was giving me this weird issue where it would randomly stop loading sites. It would start behaving as if there was no internet even though every other browser and app worked fine.

Currently I'm using the Duckduckgo browser. It's fast and responsive and "burn" button to clear all tabs and data is nice, the only issue is that duckduckgo as a search engine isn't great.
 
I straight up unironically use the Samsung Browser on Android. It's a Chromium browser so pages will just work correctly since everything is made for Chromium now, and it has AdGuard built-in for free. It's quietly superior to Chrome because it's basically Chrome with ad blocking and that's pretty much what you want on a mobile browser.

You aren't given any choices on iOS but Safari is fine so that's what I use on my iPad.
 
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Might give it another chance.
I tried it last year and while having ublock on mobile was nice, it was giving me this weird issue where it would randomly stop loading sites. It would start behaving as if there was no internet even though every other browser and app worked fine.

Currently I'm using the Duckduckgo browser. It's fast and responsive and "burn" button to clear all tabs and data is nice, the only issue is that duckduckgo as a search engine isn't great.


Did you go into the settings of Ublock? I had to fiddle with which lists to run for a bit. I have Brave Search added to my Firefox Android browser. I like that you can add search engines like on a desktop browser. I know what you mean about DuckDuckGo. I also added Qwant and Startpage.
 

Mato

Member
I've been using it for more than 7 years. Never had any problems with it and uBlock Origin is certainly a big bonus. You can also use it to navigate YouTube without ads and if you toggle on "Desktop site" it will keep playing even if you use other apps or even lock the phone's screen.
 
I straight up unironically use the Samsung Browser on Android. It's a Chromium browser so pages will just work correctly since everything is made for Chromium now, and it has AdGuard built-in for free. It's quietly superior to Chrome because it's basically Chrome with ad blocking and that's pretty much what you want on a mobile browser.

You aren't given any choices on iOS but Safari is fine so that's what I use on my iPad.


I thought Firefox was available on
iOS?
 

Bitmap Frogs

Mr. Community
I use Firefox on desktop and used to use on mobile when I had android phones, these days I use an iPhone so Firefox is a no go sadly 😞
 

Tams

Member
Too little, too late for me.

I'm on Vivaldi now and they've got lots of nice features that I use. And they managed to get their desktop browser down from being a complete resource hog. Sure, it's still Chromium, but Firefox/Gecko is really any different these days, and Vivaldi is made by the founder of Opera, a browser I used to use ardently until they switched to Chromium.

I also have Kiwi installed for extensions, but I don't really need them on my phone and they are an utter pain to install.

I still want old Opera back, with all the features, not being a resource hog, data saving in their desktop program and mini mobile OS app, and Presto engine.
 
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Too little, too late for me.

I'm on Vivaldi now and they've got lots of nice features that I use. And they managed to get their desktop browser down from being a complete resource hog. Sure, it's still Chromium, but Firefox/Gecko is really any different these days, and Vivaldi is made by the founder of Opera, a browser I used to use ardently until they switched to Chromium.

I also have Kiwi installed for extensions, but I don't really need them on my phone and they are an utter pain to install.

I still want old Opera back, with all the features, not being a resource hog, data saving in their desktop program and mini mobile OS app, and Presto engine.


Vivaldi and Firefox are the only two browsers worth switching to IMO.
 
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