Mozilla New Home Page and Other Features for Firefox Mobile

Mozilla updated its Firefox browser for Android and iOS, bringing a new home page, recent searches grouped by topic, and other features.

Based on user feedback we designed the new Firefox homepage and organized it in a way that helps you jump right back into what you care more about, saving you time and headspace, and removing the visual clutter that can often leave us feeling overwhelmed.

Firefox 91 Update Lets You Fully Erase Your Browser History

Mozilla’s latest update to Firefox, version 91, offers enhanced cookie clearing when a user deletes their browser history.

When you decide to tell Firefox to forget about a website, Firefox will automatically throw away all cookies, supercookies and other data stored in that website’s “cookie jar”. This “Enhanced Cookie Clearing” makes it easy to delete all traces of a website in your browser without the possibility of sneaky third-party cookies sticking around.

Firefox 90 Update Introduces SmartBlock 2.0 for Tracking Protection

Mozilla released Firefox 90 recently and it comes with an improved version of its tracking protection called SmartBlock 2.0.

The newest version of Mozilla’s built-in SmartBlock privacy feature makes it easier for users to keep their tracking protection settings cranked up, without breaking individual websites. The updated version seems to especially target Facebook login, which is increasingly used around the web as a third-party authentication and login tool.

Image credit: ArsTechnica

Mozilla Brings Firefox Redesign to iPhone and iPad

When Mozilla redesigned Firefox for desktop in the version 84 release, it did the same overhaul for the mobile versions.

We’ve rebuilt parts of Firefox in native components, making it feel more iPhone and iPad-like than ever before. You’ll notice design elements that look and work identically to those found in many other apps, so our browser feels instantly familiar. We’ve also taken a major step up in accessibility. Firefox now supports more text sizes and integrates better with screen readers.

Firefox 89 Gets Design Overhaul and ‘Total Cookie Protection’ Feature

Mozilla has released Firefox version 89 on Tuesday, bringing a new design for desktop users and a privacy feature called Total Cookie Protection added to private browsing.

We’ve enhanced the privacy of the Firefox Browser’s Private Browsing mode with Total Cookie Protection, which confines cookies to the site where they were created, preventing companies from using cookies to track your browsing across sites. This feature was originally launched in Firefox’s ETP Strict mode.

More information on Total Cookie Protection can be found on Mozilla’s blog.

Firefox 86 Introduces ‘Total Cookie Protection’ Privacy Feature

Firefox 86, introduced recently by Mozilla, adds a new privacy feature called Total Cookie Protection.

Total Cookie Protection works by maintaining a separate “cookie jar” for each website you visit. Any time a website, or third-party content embedded in a website, deposits a cookie in your browser, that cookie is confined to the cookie jar assigned to that website, such that it is not allowed to be shared with any other website.

Firefox 76 Improves Built-In Password Manager

Mozilla released Firefox 76 today, bringing improvements to the browser’s Lockwise password manager. It also gives Mac users picture-in-picture functionality.

Firefox Lockwise will require a device’s account password before allowing a saved password to be copied, and it will let users know if a website breach has occurred that compromises a login and password.

It also provides an alert for vulnerable passwords, which are passwords used for more than one site. The password generating feature that creates random passwords has also been rolled out to more sites.

That’s great to know. I had no idea Firefox had a built-in PM.

Firefox Enables Encrypted DNS by Default

Starting today, Firefox will begin rolling out support for encrypted DNS over HTTPS for U.S.-based users.

We’re enabling DoH by default only in the US. If you’re outside of the US and would like to enable DoH, you’re welcome to do so by going to Settings, then General, then scroll down to Networking Settings and click the Settings button on the right. Here you can enable DNS over HTTPS by clicking, and a checkbox will appear.

You can choose between Cloudflare and NextDNS. As I mentioned in my roundup of DNS services, I’ve been using NextDNS for the past couple weeks and I love it.

Firefox 70 Brings Enhanced Tracking Protection Today

Mozilla released Firefox 70 today and one of the new features is Enhanced Tracking Protection turned on by default on all platforms.

More privacy protections from Enhanced Tracking Protection:

Social tracking protection, which blocks cross-site tracking cookies from sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, is now a standard feature of Enhanced Tracking Protection.

The Privacy Protections report shows an overview, with details, of the trackers Firefox has blocked. It provides consolidated reports from Monitor and Lockwise.

Mozilla VPN Launches Under Test Pilot Program

Firefox Private Network is a Mozilla VPN launching under its old Test Pilot program. It’s available as a beta today for U.S. users with a Firefox account.

In a nutshell, the Firefox Private Network extension will provide a “secure, encrypted path to the web” to protect the user’s Wi-Fi connection and data contained within the Firefox browser. One of the scenarios Mozilla thinks Firefox Private Network will be useful for is when connecting to the internet through public Wi-Fi hotspots, as it will shield personal information and conceal what websites a user is visiting.

Next Firefox 70 Update Will Reduce macOS Power Usage

Mozilla announced that the next Firefox 70 update will reduce power consumption on macOS by up to three times.

But according to Mozilla engineer Henrik Skupin, Firefox devs have finally made a breakthrough, and believe they fixed Firefox’s power consumption on macOS. Skupin said that a current fix for the battery drain issue has been deployed on Firefox Nightly, where it managed to reduce power usage by three times. The fix is expected to land in the stable version of Firefox in late October 2019, with the release of Firefox 70.

UK ISPA Hates Mozilla's DNS Over HTTPS Privacy Tool

If you use your internet service provider’s default DNS, they can see everything you do on the web. It comes as no surprise that ISPs don’t like privacy tools like Mozilla’s DNS over HTTPS (DoH) technology in Firefox. The UK Internet Services Providers’ Association (ISPA) declared Mozilla a 2019 Villain, alongside President Trump.

ISPA Internet Villain

Mozilla – for their proposed approach to introduce DNS-over-HTTPS in such a way as to bypass UK filtering obligations and parental controls, undermining internet safety standards in the UK