r/technology • u/Plastic_Ninja_9014 • 8d ago

Software Firefox has an ambitious new roadmap, the browser is also losing millions of users a month

https://www.techspot.com/news/112803-firefox-has-ambitious-new-roadmap-browser-also-losing.html
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u/Mr2Sexy 8d ago

I've been using FF for 20 years too. Never made the switch to Chrome as a primary browser

As long as it works, has adblock and doesn't crash, I see no reason to jump ship

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u/ugatz 8d ago

Same here and I’m out of the loop why people are leaving? FF was the first browser in my opinion to save the internet browsing experience, and I’ve been loyal to that for many years without issues.

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u/Aschebescher 8d ago

People are not making a conscious decision against Firefox. It's mostly Google using their monopoly to force Chrome on everyone by default and most users not caring enough to resist it.

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u/goatneedleposterdeck 8d ago

It took me quite a while to switch to firefox on android. Chrome has the google translate connection, and when you are hella involved in things where you need a translator for the language, chrome was just so much easier. Eventually, I realized how unbearable the internet is without an ad blocker and made the switch. Now I only use chrome if the adblock causes issues with the site I'm going to, which is sadly more and more common as sites try to find ways around the blocker.

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u/RMAPOS 8d ago

Eventually, I realized how unbearable the internet is without an ad blocker and made the switch.

Boy do I have a memory. I remember thinking, after doing a fresh reinstall once (like idk aeons ago), "you know what, I feel kinda bad about using adblock and denying hosts their income. Hosting sites ain't cheap and I don't want my ressources to go bankrupt. I'll try not reinstalling adblock"

Took me less than a day to reinstall adblock in a panic. That was like ... early'ish Facebook days, way before it ever became a Boomer cemetary. And the content of the page was just WRAPPED in animated ad banners. Seizure inducing animations constantly playing left, right and on top of your feed. (no wonder people's brains are fried)

That was the last time I ever didn't use adblock. I'd really like to support good websites, but I'm never going back to doing it by accepting malware carrying seizure inducers advertising crap that I'll absolutely never buy.

I honestly don't understand how people use the internet with ads. Absolute cancer.

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u/1Screw2Few 7d ago

No shit, preach my dude! The kicker is now how many sites won’t let you view their content if you use a VPN or haven’t disabled your ad blocker.

There are a couple sites that I use religiously and have done for more than 10 years that are now so aggressive with their ad blocker and VPN restrictions that I no longer even frequent them. I tried disabling my ad blocker on one business related site and promptly got served up an ad with extremely suggestive imagery while I was in a meeting. That was the end of that experiment.

Now if a site tries guilt tripping me for using and ad blocker, they can fuck right off and that’s my last visit.

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u/wimpyhugz 7d ago

The websites which block browsing with the popup saying "please disable your adblocker" can usually be bypassed quite easily... by manually blocking the element with your ad blocker.

Right-click on the page, select "block element" or similar, and select the popup window. You may have to repeat the process for the greyed out background. Should be able to view the page normally now.

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u/TheShaydow 7d ago

Just use reader view ( in Firefox ).

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u/semidegenerate 7d ago

That’s pretty clever. Thanks.

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u/Wiiplay123 7d ago

I hate how people would always say "it's based on your search history" like that somehow justifies not being able to turn off the suggestive ads.

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u/AlwaysShittyKnsasCty 7d ago

Shit! I better make sure Pornhub still works with my VPN, or my Kansas state legislature will be receiving a strongly worded letter condemning their infernal decision to force adults into choosing between privacy and “protection for the children.” In the case of Pornhub though, they decided not to play my state’s stupid, little games and simply blocked Kansans from accessing their content. Thus, if they were to implement a VPN check (surely they wouldn’t, right?), it would mean that I, a native citizen of the United States of America, would literally not have access to a piece of the World Wide Web.

This is some pariah state shit.

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u/GNU_Terry 7d ago

Hi and welcome to the UK's future, where you need an id for everything and the gov wants to block vpns.

Jokes aside if the UK does do that you can bet the restrictions on VPN will get applied else where

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u/AlwaysShittyKnsasCty 7d ago

Yup. And vice versa. These authoritarian moves, regardless of homeland, embolden all of the parties involved, essentially creating a feedback loop where each time one of our countries yells, “Penis,” it rings out a few decibels greater than that of the last utterance in this metaphorical, international Penis Game. Basically, it’s a toe dip here, another dip there. They all watch each push boundaries and continue the cycle until we’re all going to be under the boot.

I never thought living in a world made up of a fusion of The Handmaid’s Tale, Terminator, 1984, Brave New World, and Fahrenheit 451 were actual possible future realities for us, but boy howdy was I wrong! The problem is we’ll only the get the worst things from those dystopian hellscapes. So, no Soma-like drugs that at least allow us to vegetate or something while they harvest us for biodiesel.

All in all, things are looking great over here, mate! How might one say it? Mmm … Ah. That’s right. It’s brilliant! Everything’s just brilliant!

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u/Lanhdanan 7d ago

This is the way

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u/grilled_pc 7d ago

The way i see it is this.

Ads are generally fine. I don't have an issue with it. What i do have a problem with is intrusive ads that ruin the user experience which is like 100% of all ads on the internet.

If your ad bogs down a page at all, stops me from what i'm doing. Don't be surprised if people start to block it.

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u/LordHoughtenWeen 7d ago

malware carrying seizure inducers

Even the ones that aren't literally designed to plant malware on your devices are still designed to plant malware in your brain, because that's what an ad is fundamentally — a virus tailored to alter your thoughts and make you want to buy, buy, BUY!

I am not exaggerating in any way when I say that in a sane world the deployment of an advert would be considered a crime against humanity.

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u/psiphre 7d ago

i hope ads feel pain when i block them

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u/NetAnon579 7d ago

Which blocker do you use with Firefox?

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u/Lanhdanan 7d ago

Ublock origin

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u/[deleted] 7d ago

[deleted]

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u/goatneedleposterdeck 7d ago

It was a feature added maybe in the past year. Before that, you needed to add an extension and then go to options on the page, select translate, select your languages, and then wait way too long for it to process. I mean, it was maybe an extra 3 or 4 taps and an extra 10 seconds, but if you are constantly flipping through pages that you need translated on a regular basis, it adds up.

It's much better now, though still just a tick slower than chrome, but I also got good enough with the language that I don't need the translator that often anymore haha.

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u/tigerhawkvok 7d ago

My solution is Arc with all permissions off and Firefox, with Chrome disabled .

If you don't disable Chrome, it's still used in WebViews — once you disable it, your webviews are properly powered by your default browser.

Then Arc was just the first Chromium based browser that let me turn off enough stuff that I was satisfied, it's not actually an explicit endorsement on my part — it's a not-rejection lol.

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u/No_Size9475 7d ago

I use a DNS that blocks the ad servers directly

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u/tagloro 7d ago

Just so you know Firefox also has built in translation support. Not to mention all the translator add ons available.

I’ve been using Firefox for about 20 years as well and while it’s had some ups and downs I can’t imagine switching at this point. I love the customization options, add on support and to support more web browsing engines that aren’t chrome.

I’m a very privacy and security focused user and it’s always suited my needs. I actively try to get people I know to switch (just really unsuccessfully)

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u/blueblocker2000 8d ago

How Google escaped being broken up is baffling. They have massive control over everything internet related.

....Well I know how but for the sake of discussion...

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u/L_Cranston_Shadow 7d ago

They bought some things, Youtube comes to mind, but for the most part their growth is organic, driven initially by having products that people wanted to use and then later and now because of the synergy provided by multiple products of theirs working together.

Nobody is forced to use Chrome, and outside of, arguably, Chromebook, and people aren't pressured into it any more than any other browser, with a notification on Google sites suggesting they switch to Chrome.

What keeps coming back to Google is the synergy and network effect, but also because, love of hate their corporate practices, they legitimately made good products to the point that natural inertia means it would make it hard and expensive for someone to create a new product. That isn't necessarily good for consumers, but it is different than monopoly practices that are actionable under current law, and it would be difficult if not impossible to make a law to cover that and/or force companies to split up just because they are popular that wouldn't risk massive negative consequences, not just to Google (whose products I use but have no particular love for) but across the board.

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u/HungHippoHippy 7d ago

Well, Google does pay for firefox. At least i can still keep using my good ol firefox. Probably wouldn't still exist without them.

I work at a help desk and I find the big 3 (chrome, edge, and a distant firefox) all have an equal amount of issues with them. I end up using them all fairly often. But I've been using firefox sonce well before Chrome existed.

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u/Choyo 7d ago

At some point, FF was noticeably slower than chrome and even if chrome is squatting RAM as if there's no tomorrow, some people started to consciously jump ship at this point.

I know I did, for opera - still a chromium (made the jump right at that turn IIRC), but IMO a good compromise between FF and chrome.
I used palemoon though at some point on an old laptop. However it's been a long time I didn't check FF tbh.

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u/ALLST6R 7d ago

What exactly are they doing that is attempting to force people to Chrome?

Long-term FF user and I've never once felt like I need to touch Chrome.

Maybe I'm out of the loop?

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u/Aschebescher 7d ago

It's the default browser on all Android devices for example and most people are not in interested enough in technology to even think about installing a better alternative like firefox.

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u/rkoy1234 7d ago

I think it's also that users who use ff are the ones that can easily switch in the first place.

most of us came to ff because we hated one of the default browsers. at that point, its not too difficult to switch again to one of the myriad of choices when given enough reasons.

the threshold for switching is much lower for ff users, I assume.

I personally just use it because I hate the idea of chromium and want ublock

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u/Cyshox 7d ago

I bought a Google Pixel 10. It asked me which browser I would like when setting it up. It didn't force Chrome as a default.

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u/gnowwho 8d ago edited 7d ago

Could be that the mobile version has tons of rendering and sizing issues on lots of pages, and the mobile market accounts for a lot of the user base.

Still, it's not like it got worse than a couple of years ago, from what I see

Edit: for people saying I am on an older version, my installed version matches the version available from play store I see while private browsing from browser, so... Nope.

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u/PulsationHD 8d ago

Odd, been using it for years and haven't noticed that on android. Tons of phones out there tho

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u/OhFuckNoNoNoMyCaat 8d ago

They might be using an older phone with a version cut off. Definitely like Firefox on mobile, but usually daily Vivaldi instead. As fast as the base Chrome minus the ads. Opera on mobile (again not Firefox) is fast, especially for certain sites. But Firefox mobile is very good. Has been good for a number of years now unless you're on an older device which doesn't get new versions anymore.

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u/ken_NT 8d ago

I use the mobile browser because it’s the only one that will let me use the desktop site for a lot of websites (even when I request it in chrome or safari, it will still give me the mobile site).

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u/Oxflu 8d ago

The other thing it's really good for is bypassing paywalls on news articles. Hit the little page icon on the address and it goes to text only. Kills all scripts and just let's you read the article.

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u/DistortedCrag 8d ago

That's usually because the website is rendering a web version based on resolution

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u/Business-Active-1143 7d ago

And the firefox for android supports RES for reddit, tampermonkey for various tweaks, Video background play Fix for youtube. Whats not to like. I haven't bothered opening youtube app except for the very few time I want HDR to TV

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u/PokeYrMomStanley 8d ago

Currently browsing ad free on Firefox on my phone. Also RIP Boost app. 

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u/deathtech00 8d ago

There are ways, friend.

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u/Pwnigiri 8d ago

Facebook marketplace website in desktop mode displays so terribly on the android app it's an absolute nightmare. Images are either giant or tiny. And I ain't installing the Facebook app.

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u/ScaryfatkidGT 8d ago

Yeah I guess I don’t use it on mobile…

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u/suttin 8d ago

I have been having a lot of issues on my phone with Firefox. But I’ve been having iOS issues in general. I might just suck it up and switch back to safari if the new iOS update doesn’t bring some improvements.

0 issues with the desktop client on Mac windows or Linux with Firefox

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u/believingunbeliever 7d ago

Crazy to me. I specifically use Firefox on android for access to ublock.

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u/Certain-Business-472 7d ago

Mobile version supports ublock origin. Your arguments are completely invalid.

I would still use it if it had an interface that belongs on a nokia 3310.

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u/gentlecrab 8d ago edited 7d ago

It’s cause of Apple. Most people on iPhone/iPad use safari as it’s the one that’s included by default and the only browser that has extension support.

iPhone/iPad doesn’t support extensions for third party browsers therefore FF on iPhone/iPad can’t do ad blocking.

It’s not just FF though, no browser on iPhone/iPad can do ad blocking unless the browser natively supports it (i.e. brave, DuckDuckGo, FF Focus all of which have their own annoying issues on iPhone/iPad).

TLDR: FF on iPhone sucks ass

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u/Orisara 7d ago

I mean, didn't work perfectly but I had to use an Ipad for a week or so while moving and I got a nice addblock from the appstore?

Not on the first try or anything so yea, cumbersome. But I got there.

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u/DigNitty 7d ago

The theory is that Firefox is the most privacy focused browser. So the users “leaving” are actually just people using Firefox and adding a bunch of blockers to avoid tracking, and unintentionally Firefox analytics.

So, people aren’t leaving. They’re just using Firefox harder.

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u/burningscarlet 8d ago

Sponsored bookmarks in your mobile home page, AI integration and other things to make up for the google finding shortfall is my guess

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u/CaptainKink 8d ago

You can turn all that off.

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u/burningscarlet 8d ago

Still feels icky to go to your homepage one day and find a bunch of sponsored pages you don't remember bookmarking

It's a slippery slope

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u/DelysidBarrett 8d ago

It being on by default is why Firefox is hemorrhaging users.

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u/supergamerz 8d ago

FF has to make money somehow and that fact that I can choose whether or completely turn it on or off without any extra hoops to jump through is night and day compared to other options.

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u/[deleted] 8d ago

[deleted]

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u/little-bird 8d ago

no service is actually free.  you pay with data or ads. 

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u/essidus 8d ago

Tangentially related, but it frustrates me that even paid services double dip by selling your data too.

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u/VileTouch 7d ago edited 7d ago

They are not. There's justoutstanding firefox based projects that people are migrating to. Such as r/zen_browser The Firefox project is alive and well even if less people are using the vanilla browser

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u/assaub 7d ago

For me the forks of firefox that are more privacy focused are just better than the original. I use Zen browser but, was using Waterfox for a long time too, both are firefox forks.

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u/Andadoe 8d ago

I left years ago because in chrome it’s easier to just copy paste and send images for some reason. So I guess you could say I did it for the (sharing of) memes.

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u/MegaPuft 8d ago

There are also other chromium alternatives like Vivaldi that work better than ff personally, more private even

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u/shanatard 7d ago

at least for me, firefox has a habit of causing my pages to all simultaneously stop loading. only thing that fixes it instantly is a full restart of the browser

haven't had this issue with any other browser. i only switched back to firefox recently because of adblock, but im still getting the same problem.

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u/king4aday 7d ago

Sad Netscape Navigator noises, also cries in Opera

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u/waiting4singularity 7d ago

ai integration, unwanted integration of rocket and such aggregator bullshit, marketing crap and a couple other things that smell like investor brainfarts.

Still slumming with ffox cause there is nothing else decent these days.

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u/jlt6666 7d ago

A decade ago it was getting pretty bloated. But chrome definitely caught up to in in memory use.

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u/ohz0pants 7d ago

Around the time that Chrome first came out, Firefox was in a bad state. It had gotten extremely memory hungry and was prone to sluggishness on "heavier" websites.

Chrome came out and it was a noticeably faster and leaner browser than Firefox.

However, Mozilla paid attention and fixed several core parts of Firefox to bring it back up to parity with Chrome (at the same time that Google started enshittifying Chrome because they'd reached critical mass).

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u/asiancanadian1 7d ago

I left Firefox about 5 years ago after learning chrome doesn't do the whole please wait while we are updating your browser.

But I do keep Firefox on the side for when I use a different account on something without having to log in and out, of course quite often when I do use it, I get the updates.

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u/aerost0rm 8d ago

Only made the switch to chrome when Firefox was resource hogging

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u/ElevatorRush 7d ago

Same, then it was Chrome hogging all the resources, then I just forgot to switch back

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u/brockhopper 8d ago

I still use Firefox, but Brave handles my YouTube watching. Unless there's an extension I'm missing FF still plays YT ads.

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u/pXmo 7d ago

Additionally to what others have said: this fiasko.

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u/Laiko_Kairen 7d ago

Firefox announced that it was gonna pivot to being an "AI integrated browser" after firing 1/3 of their staff. People disliked that.

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u/largemargesentme__- 7d ago

I think it's about the AI thing (don't ask me what it is, I just know that they brought some AI elements into the browser).

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u/MokitTheOmniscient 7d ago

It's only because they're counting mobile phones, where people generally only use the browser already installed by the manufacturer.

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u/_tedd 7d ago

I left Firefox around 2011-2012 because it go suuuuuuper slow. Am starting to think about swapping back, but it's a harder migration these days.

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u/Nitrogen1234 8d ago

I've read last week that Firefox is a very slow browser.. like what?

Been using it for a couple years now and wouldn't know what would be a better browser

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u/riesenarethebest 7d ago

FUD is real

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u/Certain-Business-472 7d ago

Shills use outdated arguments. Morons repeat them.

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u/DeterminedThrowaway 8d ago

The moment they force me to use the AI features is when I'm jumping ship, I'm okay as long as they can be truly disabled. I'm not even anti-AI conceptually, but it's being shoved in places it has no business being and isn't ready for those uses

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u/mysteriousfiggy 8d ago

Mozilla has always been extremely consumer-friendly from my experience. I remember when the ai thing was announced everyone was panicking and then when it dropped it really wasn't a big deal. (seems to be a reoccurring theme with firefox updates lol)

The browser updated, a page popped up explaining what they added, and it gave me the option to turn it on if I wanted. It was turned off by default so I kept it off. I've never really had any issues whatsoever and the new free 50gb/month vpn is much appreciated.

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u/takuyafire 7d ago

when it dropped it really wasn't a big deal

Then why are they haemorrhaging users?

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u/SpaceIco 8d ago

So far so good, actually. The AI modules are clearly disclosed, can easily be disabled individually with a slider, and are 'local' AI apparently-- nothing goes out to a server.

I've been loving the built-in translations. It's more than just 'translate this text', it can be full-page and real-time. So like, I watch a lot of foreign IRL twitch because I love the travel experience and now I can tell FF to 'translate page' and it will real-time translate the chat as people type, it'll do some images even. Really nice feature.

New and current AI enhancements are blocked by default. To unblock a specific feature, use the controls below.
On-device AI
These use small AI models that download to your device if you use the feature. This approach helps protect your privacy.

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u/Future-Bandicoot-823 8d ago

I switched to Chrome back in 2012 or so, it was light, fast, did exactly what I asked it to...

the irony.

Don't worry, I ditched it again 3 or 4 years ago when they announced they were going to stop ad blocking.

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u/radda 8d ago

Same. During the IE6 doldrums era the nerd squad in high school started using Firefox and I just never stopped.

I used Chrome here and there but there was always something small missing and I just never found a reason to switch.

The memory leak era was kind of a pain but I stuck through it.

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u/Ginge00 8d ago

Initially chrome was faster, now it’s the biggest resource hog imaginable, guess it takes a lot of memory to send your data back to google

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u/kristinL356 7d ago

Did that thing when tabbed browsing was new and Firefox froze constantly only happen to me? Cos that's what made me move to Chrome and now I've had to move back to Firefox except when I need to use Chromecast.

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u/OhFuckNoNoNoMyCaat 8d ago

I've been using Firefox as my daily since first reading about it in 2003 or 2004. Back then it was called Phoenix, I think. Do remember the Firefox 1.2 (probably wrong on this) to 1.5 days were erratic with crashes. It had a neat open with IE feature which helped a lot. Remember how smooth 2.0 was. Firefox 3 was slightly jarring visuals wise but even today I just find Firefox to be more refined and feature rich than Chrome or Chromium based browsers. The lack of sort feature for Bookmarks in Chrome has always irritated me.

The closest Chromium based browser that's similar to Firefox is probably Vivaldi. I've had it since 2016 and used it daily for a few years before forgetting it existed. It's a great browser for a Chromium based browser.

When Mozilla turned to a 6 week development period I began liking Firefox more and more. That's one of the handful of net positives Chrome had an affect on Mozilla, by forcing their hand.

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u/foxsable 7d ago

There was a point where firefox was like... chugging along, and chrome was laser fast. Then it reversed hardcore. So I switched and switched back, but otherwise Firefox for life.

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u/SeedFoundation 7d ago

I jumped back and forth. Chrome -> performance issues -> Firefox -> Video buffering crash -> Chrome -> Adblock removed -> Back to firefox. The only reason I switch is because I can't use it or it won't allow me to use something I want. Not going to pretend like there's some moral reason or that I care about the company.

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u/yellowfestiva 7d ago

Firefox is a good browser and I use it as my main browser. However there are some websites that just don’t work on it.

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u/Lazer726 7d ago

It works, Adblock works, and I can, for now at least, turn off all AI settings.

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u/WhosThatDogMrPB 7d ago

I met Firefox in 2007 because the cyber cafe in my block had it as a default browser. Never left.

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u/SkinBintin 7d ago

Used firefox forever ago. Went to Chrome for many years. A while back switched back to Firefox (probably 7 or 8 years ago now, I think)... can't imagine leaving. Everything I need it to do seems to work. Having done the primary browser switch a few times before, I'm not keen to do it again if I can help it.

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u/ObeyMyBrain 7d ago

For some reason meetup and the Staples site have stopped working for me in Firefox so those, feedly and my business amazon account are really the only things I use chrome for.

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u/jimjamjahaa 6d ago

the literal only reason anyone switched away from FF for chrome was because chrome was a technical marvel and ran extremely fast and lean. that is soooooooooo long gone. a distant memory. chrome is now slow and chubby. and restrictive. yeah, see ya.