Mozilla has launched Firefox 67 for Windows, Linux, Mac and Android. Firefox 69 includes suspending unused tabs, deprioritizing least used features, fast startup, blocking of fingerprinting and cryptomining, Improvement in Private Browsing, voice input while searching on Android, and many more new features.
Firefox 69 for desktop computers is available for download, and all users who are using already using Firefox are able to upgrade to it automatically. The Android version is also available on Google Play Store. According to Mozilla, Over 300 million active users use Firefox as their browser, it makes it a major platform for web developers to consider.
Firefox Performance
The latest version of Firefox is better at performing tasks at the optimal time, resulting in faster “painting” and loading of the page. Now Firefox deprioritizes least commonly used features and can delays set Timeout to priority script. According to Mozilla, now sites like Instagram, Amazon, and Google searches can execute between 40% and 80% faster then previous versions. Now, Firefox can scans for alternative style sheets after page load and doesn’t load the auto-fill module if there is no form to fill.
Next, latest version of Firefox can detects if computer’s memory is running low (means under 400MB), then it will suspend unused tabs. If you do click on a suspended tab, it will reload where you left off.
Finally, Firefox promises faster startup for those users who have customized their browser with add-ons. Whether it’s a favorite theme or any other add-on, the browser now startup quickly by skipping unnecessary work during subsequent start-ups.
Privacy in Firefox
In August 2018, Mozilla announced that Firefox would have feature to block trackers. As part of the this ongoing effort, Mozilla also wanted to tackle the issue of cryptomining, which uses your PC/CPU to generate cryptocurrency for someone other, and fingerprinting, which creates a digital fingerprint that tracks you on the web. Mozilla started testing features to block fingerprinting and cryptomining, and now they’re ready to block trackers.
Firefox lets you block content to protect yourself from fingerprinting and cryptomining. You can block content by clicking on the small “i” icon in the address bar and clicking on the setting gear on the right side under Content Blocking head or by going to Preferences, Privacy & Security, and then Content Blocking. To disable “Cryptominers and/or Fingerprinters” Select Custom and check “Cryptominers and/or “Fingerprinters”.
Next is Private Browsing. In private browsing, Firefox doesn’t track history and deletes cookies as soon as you close the browser window. Now, Private browsing has two new features: Storing Passwords and support for add-ons. Earlier these features are not available with Firefox. Now, you don’t have to type in passwords each time you re-visit a site. This feature is already available in Normal browsing.
Now you can enable or disable add-ons/extensions in Private Browsing. When you install an extension, Firefox will ask you if you want to allow the extension to run in Private Browsing (by default it is Don’t Allow). For already installed extensions, go to the Add-Ons dashboard to enable or disable them in Private Browsing.
Firefox for Windows, Mac, and Linux
Now Firefox for desktop toolbar can be accessed using keyboard. To access the toolbar, press the Tab key or arrow keys to access the buttons on the right end of the toolbar. That includes the main Firefox menu, the toolbar button overflow panel and extension buttons.
Mozilla is also providing a WebRender update to Windows 10 users with Nvidia graphics cards. WebRender used by Mozilla is a next-generation GPU-based 2D rendering engine. And used to make browsing feel smoother and faster by moving core graphics rendering processes to the GPU.
Firefox added support for the royalty-free video codec called AV1, developed by the Alliance for Open Media. It uses the newer, higher-performance AV1 decoder dav1d.
Here’s the some other features for Firefox:
- Now, Tabs can be pinned from the Page Actions menu in the address bar
- Easier access to saved logins from the main menu and login autocomplete.
- Now, File menu have “Import Data from Another Browser” feature.
- Now, you can Run different Firefox installs side by side at time.
- Now, Firefox will protect you against running older versions of the browser which can lead to stability issues and data corruption.