Can Firefox be your Android browser?

Mozilla Firefox may be a beloved desktop, but on Android, its market share looks nothing more than a finishing flaw. This could be one of the many reasons why Mozilla decided to rewrite its mobile browser with a new version engine, an upgraded interface, better performance and more privacy features. Now that Mozilla has had more than half a year to refine the product, I decided to give this new Firefox a thorough test on my Android phone to see how it compares to the standard most people like, Google Chrome.

Interface and user experience

With Firefox, you can choose between a bottom and a top-based interface. Depending on what you are using, you will find the address bar, the tab switch and the menu button at the bottom or top of your screen. As in Chrome, you can switch between tab pages by swiping left and right across the address bar or using the dedicated button instead.

I’m not a huge fan of Firefox tab UI. No matter what position of the toolbar you choose, the page switch button opens in a menu that scrolls from the bottom of the screen and displays all your tabs as a list, with a small preview of their contents on the left side. Unlike a previous design with tabs on the new tab, it feels tackled and like a last minute decision. Regardless, open tabs can be swiped left or right. If you prefer a grid version, you can turn it on in the settings.

The new page provides a quick overview of your most visited sites, your collections (a place where you can group and save tabs), and switch quickly to open incognito mode. The address bar has a handy built-in QR code reader, and you can instantly select your preferred search engine – no feature available in Chrome. You can also vote your queries. When you visit a website, you will see a shield icon next to the address. Tap to turn Firefox’s shell protection on or off. There is also a link to settings that allow you to adjust your protection level granularly.

In the three-point overflow menu, you’ll find quick access to your downloads, history, bookmarks, synced tabs, and add-ons, which we’ll expand on later. The app settings (also accessible from the overflow menu) give you access to the usual entries for deleting data, site permissions, data collections, notifications, introning, password storage, etc. You can customize Firefox here, and even switch the interface to another language.

In general, the Firefox interface is easy to navigate, so you’ll probably have no problems accessing it from Chrome.

Chrome’s last redesign took place centuries ago, and it’s still just dependent on a top bar that gets harder and harder as our phones get longer. Google experimented with a few other solutions like Chrome Duet, but the tests were eventually scrapped.

I do not like how Firefox integrates with other programs if you use it as your default browser. Like Chrome, it can be displayed personal tabs, but if you choose to have the address at the bottom, you will also find the custom action bar at the bottom. I would like to have independent options. Then there is a very small complaint: the animations for opening and closing custom tabs are missing or are not as fluid as in Chrome.

Additional features

Firefox has some extra features up its sleeve, such as a reading mode. When the browser detects that you are reading an article, it offers you a stripped-down, imageless and distraction-free version of it in the address bar.

Collections is a form of bookmark replacement that I do not use too much (just like I do not use bookmarks). You can add tabs to it from the tab switch. It’s probably good to save something you want to read later and is not intended as a permanent storage solution like bookmarks, but it does feel like the concept is not complete. This is probably because the original idea was watered down – collections would be created automatically based on your latest browsing sessions.

Sync allows you to download your browsing session on another Firefox device, just like Chrome. This feature allows bookmarks, history and passwords to be shared on your Firefox installations on phones and desktops. With Firefox Lockwise, you can even automatically enter your passwords into Android applications outside of Firefox.

A Search widget gives you quick access to the address bar directly from your home screen, just like Chrome.

Firefox also has a dark mode which respects your system-wide preference.

Unlike Chrome, Firefox supports extensions. Unlike the previous version of the Mozilla browser, there are currently only a handful officially available, but the company is working to bring back the full range of add-ons in a future update. You can already try any extension in the unstable Nightly version of Firefox, but if you want to stay in the stable version, you are limited to this option for now:

Enter password automatically of third-party password managers feels funny to me because the pop-up often does not appear, but this is also a problem I have with Chrome. If you are a Bitwarden user, you can resolve issues by installing the browser extension and using it to fill automatically.

I miss a lot of pull to refresh, a gesture available in almost any other Android app you can think of, but Mozilla is working on it. Firefox has also not yet added a tablet interface to the redesigned app, so using the browser on a tablet or on a Chromebook (as an Android app) is a terrible experience.

Performance

The new Firefox is based on Mozilla’s rewritten Gecko version engine, and it’s much faster than the old app, especially if you enable the strictest tracker blocking level. Nevertheless, it’s still not as fast and consistent as Chrome. This is because Google’s product is the most used browser and everyone optimizes their sites for it. Google itself is particularly to blame for this – the company is setting up its websites specifically for its own browser and version engine, and in addition distributing an older user interface for searching Firefox. You can use at least the Chrome-like search user interface with the Google Search Fixer expansion, but it can not solve performance problems due to poor optimization.

Browsing used to be a weak spot, but it has improved a lot in recent versions. Compared to Chrome, the inertia used to feel bad on Android, with unexpected jumps to small movements. But it’s mostly a thing of the past. Browsing is still not 100% compatible with Chrome, but it’s predictable and flexible and no major barrier to entry.

Privacy

Mozilla says that ‘Firefox products are designed to protect your privacy’ and its browser stays true to the motto. Firefox blocks online detectives and intrusive ads by default, and you can even enable a strict mode that completely blocks most third-party cookies and detecters. In Chrome, Google only allows you to block optional third-party cookies and some resource-intensive ads, a feature that you still need to manually enable.

The latest version of Firefox (85) has introduced further measures that help against so-called super-cookies that you can find on websites, even if you disable third-party cookies. With the browser you can also delete browsing data if you stop it, which you can activate in the settings. You can choose which data to delete each time you press “stop” in the overflow menu.

Unfortunately, Mozilla collects standard usage data. You must turn it off manually in the settings under “Data Collection.” There is ‘Usage and technical data’ and ‘marketing data’. You can use the F-Droid alternative Fennec on the same code, but without all the detection.

If you want to disconnect from Google a bit, Firefox for Android is a viable alternative. The experience is still not as consistent as Chrome, but it’s close enough – and you get some features not available in Google’s mobile browser, such as extensions, a read mode, and advanced privacy protection. So you need to ask yourself what you value in a browser. The easy choice is to use the pre-installed app without configuring anything else, and if you are not too interested in blocking trackers or extra privacy, there is probably no reason for you to switch. But if you’re interested in what Firefox enables in terms of both features and privacy, it’s worth a try for the latest browser version of Mozilla, despite the occasional performance.

You can download Firefox from the Play Store, F-Droid (the Fennec version with custom bits and telemetry removed) or APK Mirror.