Strong disagree. Firefox gives you more options to configure things, and I am using the Containers Extensions (sandboxed tabs based on domains).

I'm not using the containers extension, since it only goes about 20% of the way and then they lost focus and stopped developing it. I think most people don't use it. It could have been a differentiator.

I use them every day to separate my SSO sessions and keep cookie hungry websites in check. I could not imagine not having them anymore.

I use it every single day. It helps open the same website in "Cognito" instead of opening it in Cognito mode. Plus, as a developer, it makes it easy to run tests using multiple accounts.

how are you doing that btw? apparently I'm incapable. I tried different container extensions, some of which crash zen completely. I just want some domains to be automatically opened in a specific container.

I am using the official one. Works fine.

The UX is horrible but works once you got your head around it. I also use temporary account container extension so ever new tab is a throw away (and i use ms copilot for AI search in those throwaway as they don't require a login to use their AI)

> Have you taken a look at Android Firefox user interface ? It’s horrendous, the url box for instance is already small but now there is 3 buttons (share, reading mode, translate) on top of it. I got to put the phone on landscape mode to see the url.

At least on my phone, an Poco X3, Firefox for Android url box it's BIGGER that Chrome for Android. Chrome shows 4 buttons on my phone.

> the only advantage

Have you seen how much data Chrome collects for Google? Especially on Android. That's another massive advantage of Firefox.

Firefox could improve here too. They have telemetry on by default.

I get it, it's very useful to understand what and how features are used. But it's a fine line to walk for a browser playing market share catch-up.

Firefox ships with google analytics built in. And you can't use extensions like uBlock Origin to block them.

Firefox recently changed their privacy policy. This is no longer the advantage it used to be.

Does people care ?

Most people happily give away their privacy to these companies for very little or no benefit, on the other hand being able to block ads is a big thing. Everyone is annoyed when a pop up on how to enlarge your penis show up.

> Have you taken a look at Android Firefox user interface

So I opened the same page on both, my comments page on HN.

Firefox Android UI:

Home button, SSL padlock, URL, reader mode, tabs, hamburger menu. URL displays extends from 20% of the screen to 70% of the screen. I see news.ycombinator.com/thre(a) [the a is partially faded].

Chrome Android UI:

Home button, settings icon (shows cert details), URL, new tab button, tab list, hamburger menu. Icons have like 50% more padding that firefox icons, so URL extends from 20% to 60% of the screen. I see "news.ycombinator.com/t"

The only difference in icon count is firefox gives reader mode a dedicated button while Chrome gives new tab a dedicated button. Given how often I use reader mode (as a paywall bypass, or poorly formatted sites) that's... fine?

There is a stylistic difference where the coloured area for the address bar encompasses the reader mode icon so it looks like it's deducting space for the URL but it appears that Firefox actually has more URL space. By like... 3 characters, so it's not a huge difference.

---

Firefox history views:

- Firefox View: Full page view of your account including history, synced tabs, etc.

- Sidebar history: Useful to see with less disruption to browser

- Overflow menu recent items

- Legacy "Manage history" popup

Chrome history views:

- chrome://history as a full page modal (with sync and other stuff, so closest to Firefox view)

- recent history in the overflow menu

- "grouped history" which is a sidebar history with way too much padding.

So the only extra view of history that Firefox has is the legacy one, which is buried in the UI for power users who don't want to let it go (or more likely the bookmark manager that it lives with).

> Let’s be honest, the only advantage Firefox has over other browser and especially chrome is its extension support. And it’s not even Mozilla merit, it’s Google who removed MV2 support.

What are you talking about? Firefox pioneered the whole concept of browser extensions. Can you try to explain to me your train of thought?

> Same for Android, the only advantage it has is its extension support because Google is stubbornly not adding extension support to Android chromium even though such support was already done by an indie developer (kiwi browser) and open sourced.

What point do you think you're making? Firefox works perfectly well on Android, as well as Firefox Focus might I add.

Your comment reads like you're trying to grasp at straws.

They have legacy extensions. Mozilla is very hostile to new extensions. When Gorhil - creator of the most popular Firefox extension uBlock Origin (honestly the main reason Firefox still has users) wanted to add his manifest 3 extension uBlock Origin Lite to firefox Mozilla told him to get bent. Same with "Enhancer to Youtube" (number 11 extension by user count) it is stuck on old version because of Mozilla

No.

Google Is An Advertising Company. Honestly, this is more significant.

You are the product, for Google Chrome.

Google's MV3 replacement for MV2 means you are their product and will be served Ads regardless of your preferences.

I honestly believe Firefox is better off just ripping off Chrome's minimalist design. This overengineered bloat is just putting me off.

People have been raging about Mozilla copying Chrome's minimalist design for many, many years.

Firefox's WebExtensions implementation still has service workers disabled and no File System API. MV3 requires service workers, so Firefox extension ecosystem is on a countdown.

That update that added the unremovable share button to the address bar on Android really pissed me off. I was hoping an update would come that would allow the stupid home button to be toggled on/off, but instead they add yet another unremovable button. Like wtf, I can't even see the URL now on any sites.