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Firefox Beta brings new 'Home' design to Android, desktop version gains Firefox OS app manager
Early adopters know that Firefox likes to put new features through the paces via beta versions of its browser. Accordingly, Firefox today announced some fresh goodies for both mobile and desktop. On the Android side of things, the app has been redesigned with a panel-based layout called "Home," which lets users have easy access to stuff such as browsing history, bookmarks, favorite sites and Reading List. There are also search improvements in tow, including being able to select Bing or Yahoo as the default engine -- the only caveat is that this particular tidbit is limited to folks in the US, Canada and France, at least for the time being. Meanwhile, Firefox Beta added "Click to Play Plugins" on Linux, Mac and Windows, meaning that "most" plugins (Flash is an exception) will no longer be activated on their own. Firefox says providing the option to choose the ones you would like to enable was key, as outdated plugins are a big source of security vulnerabilities. Rounding things up on the desktop is the Firefox OS app manager, a novel tool for developers to test and tinker with those HMTL5 apps straight from the Firefox browser. All that sound good? Then follow the source links below, where you'll find a way to download each variant of the experimental application.
Mozilla pulls Firefox Home from the iOS App Store, posts source code to GitHub
iOS users keen on Mozilla's Firefox Home will have to find another browser syncing solution: the application has been retired. The app worked in conjunction with Firefox Sync, and was designed to give users access to their desktop history, open tabs and bookmarks on the go. Mozilla says the project "provided valuable insight and experience with the platform," but ultimately decided its resources were better focused elsewhere. All isn't lost, however -- the company is making the source available on GitHub, encouraging users to tinker with the iOS Sync client Firefox Home was built on. Feel free to swim in the code yourself at the source link below.
PreFox is the webOS browser Mozilla won't make (but they will make Firefox Home for Symbian)
Despite its fairly magnificent set of developer tools, webOS still gets the short end of the third-party app stick more often than not for the simple reason that there aren't many devices in the field, relatively speaking -- and considering how late Mozilla is in the mobile browser game, they've got bigger fish to fry. Of course, the code underpinning Firefox is open source, so it comes as little surprise that it's been repackaged into a Pre-friendly form with the aptly-named PreFox. The app's developer warns that this is more of a proof of concept than anything else, but we're sure it could get whipped into shape with enough time and effort. Separately, judging from a request for developers, Mozilla proper has started planning for a Symbian build of Firefox Home, its companion app to Firefox that makes transferring bookmarks and open tabs a breeze between your desktop and your phone. Seems like another case of attacking the low-hanging fruit -- Symbian's just about everywhere, and we're sure Mozilla would like to make its presence known.
Firefox Home for iPhone bows in the App Store
Alright, we know that playing with the Firefox 4 beta has been a full-time job for you Mozilla fanboys and girls out there, but let's try something fresh on for size, shall we? Firefox Home has finally been whisked into the App Store on news that Apple gave it the green light, meaning you can now sync your bookmarks and open tabs between your desktop and your phone. Some of us can go a few minutes without browsing the web in the off chance we're away from our PCs... aw, who are we kidding? No we can't -- and neither can you, so you may as well grab it if you're using Firefox and an iPhone.
Mozilla submits Firefox Home to the App Store
Those who've wanted Firefox on the iPhone will soon get their wish. Kind of. Mozilla has announced that Firefox Home has been submitted to Apple for review. Don't let the name "Firefox" fool you, because Home isn't really a web browser. It works in concert with the Firefox sync add-on for the desktop. Once you've got that installed and created an account, you'll launch the iPhone app and re-enter your credentials. The app will remember what tabs you had open most recently and present their contents to you. You'll also have access to your bookmarks, recent browsing history and web search. The service syncs 2,000 of your most recently visited items every 24 hours, and new data is synced every time you launch the app. Good luck to the Firefox Home team. We hope to test your solution soon. [Via CNET]
Mozilla submits Firefox Home to Apple App Store, considers approval a formality (video)
Emboldened by the (great) success enjoyed by Opera's Mini in making it onto Apple's hallowed iPhone platform, Mozilla has today submitted its own browser implement to the App Store censors. We already knew Firefox Home -- a weird sort of incomplete browser that syncs your desktop bookmarks, history, and tabs with the iPhone -- was in the works, but now we're finding the team behind it is so confident of its approval that it's already promising a guide on how to set it up once it's approved. We suspect the fact it'll allow you to shift browsing sessions over to Safari will be looked upon favorably, but there's no escaping the fact that Firefox Home will still browse the web for you should you wish it. This is going to be a highly entertaining approval process indeed. Your move, Cupertino.
Firefox Home 'coming soon' to iPhone, will sync with desktop browser
Continuous client functionality, you say? Sounds like Mozilla might be just what the doctor ordered. The company has announced that its upcoming Firefox Home app is coming soon to the iPhone. The program will sync up with your desktop client so that you can go mobile with all your browsing history, bookmarks and "the set of tabs from [your] most recent browser session" going along for the ride. Not only that, but there's an "Awesome Bar" -- Mozilla's words, not ours -- that'll let you search through everything and predict options based on the available data. While not a "full" Firefox browser, according to the blog post (with the addendum, "either technically or due to policy"), the pages still load from within the app itself. No solidified release date yet -- it's still being polished for app store submission, but Opera's luck give us hope for a smooth approval. In the meantime, you can get a quick preview in the video after the break.
