Update on extension support in the new Firefox for Android | Hacker News Reader

Update on extension support in the new Firefox for Android

blog.mozilla.org

27 pointsrobin_reala13 comments

My BS senses are tingling slightly. Enabling most popular extensions seems like a calculated move to silence the majority. Is it Mozilla's role to hand-pick, test and optimize third-party extensions? They still don't clarify if 'unblessed' extensions will ever be allowed.

The internet is more and more consumed via mobile devices. User extensions are the only practical way for user to control the experience. For example, Video Speed Controller is amazing way to reign control over various video controls all using same shortcuts. Old Reddit Redirect makes reddit useable again. Such extensions won't be most popular but are essential to my browsing experience.

I'm not sure why Mozilla wouldn't allow any extension to run on mobile Firefox, and just let third-party developers port/adapt extensions as needed?

Anyone notice that it's impossible to browse to a private DNS name in the new Firefox for Android?

It's because of DoH, but there seems to be no way to disable it on Android. The entire 'Network Settings' tab seems to be missing from the settings page.

Even worse, it then submits the entire URL to the default search engine, even if you manually input it starting with scheme:// and everything.

I worked around the first part by blocking 1.1.1.1 at my router, but there are still some major annoyances. First, one has to enter the scheme:// portion to even attempt DNS lookup (as opposed to search engine). In previous versions, adding a trailing slash to the hostname was sufficient. And again, even with the full URL it will send the whole thing to the search engine if the hostname lookup fails.

While debugging this I un-disabled the Chrome app for the first time in 3 years and it doesn't seem to have any of these braindead issues. Maybe it's time I consider if I'd rather just deal with the ads.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-dns-over-https

about:config works on the mobile variants, too. Granted, it is not the best UX, but it works for now.

It still seems strange to me that browsers overrule the OS' and thus the user's global preferences.

About:config is currently disabled on Firefox (Fenix) Stable for some unclear reasons. I'm currently on beta because of it, but frankly I'd prefer to stay on stable..

Unfortunately about:config no longer works in the most recent version of mobile Firefox. It is unclear what the rationale was for hiding it, although apparently in the next release it will be accessible again.

about:config is gone from the Android version.

edit: However, your link was still indirectly quite helpful. A couple of hops away, I found https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/canary-domain-use-appli... which explains a better way to handle this at the network level, than blocking 1.1.1.1.

I just went to about:config on Firefox Nightly for Android, so no, you're incorrect and it's still there.

No, you're incorrect. It might be in Nightly but it's not in the normal stable version.

> Anyone notice that it's impossible to browse to a private DNS name in the new Firefox for Android?

This is odd. Even with DoH enabled, shouldn't Firefox fall back to the OS resolver if a domain doesn't resolve via DoH?

Or was this an actual split-horizon situation, where the private domain did resolve on the internet, but to a different IP?

( see https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/dns-over-https-doh-faqs... )

Nope, this was a totally private name with a fake TLD that could not possibly resolve on the Internet.

If that article is supposed to apply to the Android version of Firefox, then the version I tried did not perform as advertised.

Anyone aware of an easy way to tell if a specific extension is available or not? I really don't want to upgrade just to find out I'm missing one I rely upon.

If it's not on the list below, it's not available.

    uBlock Origin
    Dark Reader
    HTTPS Everywhere
    Privacy Badger
    NoScript Security Suite
    Decentraleyes
    Search by Image
    YouTube High Definition
    Privacy Possum

gone missing:

Umatrix

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