Mozilla has released the third version of the experimental browser Firefox Preview, which was previously known by its code name Fenix. Firefox Preview use GeckoView engine, built on the basis of Firefox Quantum technologies and a set of Android Mozilla component libraries, which are already used to build the Firefox Focus and Firefox Lite browsers.
GeckoView is a variant of the Gecko engine, designed as a separate library that can be updated independently, and Android Components includes libraries with typical components that provide tabs, autocomplete input, search suggestions, and other browser features.
Of the main characteristics featured in Firefox Preview:
- High performance
- Default protection against motion tracking and various spurious activities.
- A universal menu through which you can access settings, library, favorite pages, history, downloads, recently closed tabs, select site display mode, search for text on the page, switch to private mode, open a new tab and navigation between pages.
- A multifunctional address bar that has a universal button for quick operations, such as sending a link to another device and adding a site to the list of favorite pages.
- Instead of using tabs, the collections concept allows you to save, group, and share your favorite sites. After closing the browser, the remaining open tabs are automatically grouped into a collection, which can then be viewed and restored.
- There is the function of sending a tab or collection to another device.
Main new features of Firefox Preview 3.0
In the new version advanced means of protection against movement tracking added, which, by analogy with the desktop version of Firefox, blocks ads with code for movement tracking, web analytics counters, social media widgets, hidden user identification methods and code for cryptocurrency mining.
Default, strict mode is active, with which, according to the developers, the inclusion of the lock leads to an acceleration of the page load by an average of 20%. In the browser when the icon with the image of the shield is touched, a window with information about blocked items opens with the ability to view the list of blocks for the current site in detail.
In addition to, by default, the option is on to open external links (following a third-party application link) in private mode.
Another novelty that stands out in this new version is thatand added an option to automatically clear history open pages when exiting the browser.
Also added the ability to select the types of information to sync between devices. From the information for synchronization, so far only bookmarks and history of opening pages are offered.
On the other hand, it stands out that an interface has been implemented to view and manage downloads. The download status is displayed through the widget in the notification area, through which you can also go through, continue or cancel the download. After the download is complete, a dialog box appears through which you can open the downloaded file.
Of the other changes:
- Instead of the Quick Action panel, a new implementation of the browser menu is proposed.
- Added the ability to add new engines to access search engines.
- An option is provided to move the navigation bar to the bottom or top of the screen.
- Added a setting to set the global zoom level applicable to all sites.
- Added settings for video and sound auto and background play behavior.
In the near future, the release will be published in the Google Play catalog (Android 5 or later is required for operation) the code it's available on GitHub.
The first stable release is expected in the first half of 2020. After stabilizing the project and implementing all the planned functionality, the browser will replace the Android version of Firefox, the release of which has been suspended as of Firefox 69.