Firefox app on android. Never seen this before until today. But Firefox is now putting ads in the app?
Former employee here. Firefox has been adding sponsored content to the new tab page since Firefox 60 in 2018. Their support article gives a good amount of detail on how it works, but perhaps more importantly for you, how to disable it.
So, every real alternative to Firefox, is most likely based on all the work that Mozilla has done on Firefox. People get it for free, and yet they crumple and whine, when Mozilla tries to get the money to keep steady development going.
I want it free, I want them to do all the work, and then I’m going to use another browser, based on their work, because I don’t like that great development cost money - and I won’t pay! Buhuu!
Get over yourself. Mozilla does great work for users worldwide. Don’t like to see ads? Then start donating! Grow TF up, and realize that nothing is free in a capitalistic world!
I prefer to view this as a socialist. Firefox is the work of tens of thousands of laborers, and is not owned by an out of touch upper class. Yet, they are mismanaging it.
It took me time to realize that I, a highly trained engineer, was a laborer and have similar issues to most people the last few centuries.
It is literally needed that the workers of Firefox rise up and revolt before the entire project is harmed beyond repair
That might be… Then you should work for that.
I would pay for Firefox. The same way I donate every year to Thunderbird!
But do you?
While I get the sentiment, I think you are missing the two pieces here. One is that advertising is not the only method of monetization which can support something like Firefox. The second is that advertising is by it’s nature influence. Both in influence over the purchaser and reader. It’s an influence we should not approve of in both cases, without better boundaries.
Oh, do enlighten me. How should they get som money otherwise?
I think Mozilla loathe ads as much as you and I… But do enlighten os, how can they earn enough money otherwise?
They’ve always done that afaik?
This isn’t new afaik. You can disable it in settings
I didn’t mind the occasional sponsor or two for many years. Then one day they went over the line.
Yeah I know i should be on librefox/waterfox. Im lazy okay?
That was actually a server-side bug 8 months ago which they not only fixed within 3 days of the issue being reported but followed it up with a hard block against more than 2 displaying at once to make extra sure this didn’t happen again.
If this is what you’re currently seeing then please report it to them. If instead this is an old screenshot then I’ll just agree that Mozilla has certainly suffered many avoidable self-inflicted wounds but this isn’t one of them.
You can disable them, but also I’m pretty sure the default behavior is just to fill extra space if you have less than 8 pinned shortcuts. Your single shortcut is why there are so many ads.
Switching your firefox profile to a firefox fork is super easy peasy squeezy cheesy peas.
You just need to follow the steps for moving your profile in this Firefox support article: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/back-and-restore-information-firefox-profiles
When you start librewolf or whatever you switch to (librewolf is what I use) it will have everything from Firefox including whatever your last session was (if you save your session) and all of your history and bookmarks and even addons and UI customization etc.
Thanks for believing in me
They’ve been doing it on desktop Firefox for ages
librewolf :3
How do you install it on Android?
It’s not on Android. The Android “equivalent” would be IronFox.
u dont unfortunatly :'3 theres waterfox tho. idk if its any good?
Based on Firefox, and would not exist, if Mozilla didn’t have income.
I guess you want it all for free, and are not yet grown up, and know how the world works.
you can literally turn it off. firefox is one of the last good browsers out there.
Making a browser is expensive (especially with such incompetent management), they need to make money somehow.
They’re already getting money.
Not enough though. You are competing with unlimited money from Google and friends. MAYBE Ladybird browser will be another great foss browser. Time will tell. Go donate or support that project if you aren’t satisfied with Mozilla (for which there are many reasons not to, but each to his own).
I always wonder how these links even work. Who would even click on them except by accident?
There are more shitfox
Explain? I use ironfox and its great.
WaterFox and LibreWolf are decent alternatives if you get tired of needing to opt out of Mozilla nonsense.
Wow. Wtf… Thats absolutely ridiculous.
Edit: oh its the tab page. Never used it…
If you don’t disable it, they always have.
My Android phone isn’t my primary and does not have an active SIM in it (it’s WiFi only), but my Firefox has no ads, and blocks all the ads (that I’ve encountered at least). iOS… is iOS. I mainly use Safari there, but, that’s a whole other story. Suffice it to say, I don’t have this problem on either handset.
