Firefox for mobile

Firefox for mobile 14.0 on Android
Developer(s)	Mozilla Corporation Mozilla Foundation
Stable release	21.0 (May 14, 2013; 4 days ago (2013-05-14)[1]) [±]
Preview release	21.0 (April 5, 2013; 43 days ago (2013-04-05)[2]) [±]
Written in	C++, XUL, Java
Operating system	Android 2.2 and above[3]
Type	Mobile browser
License	MPL
Website	www.mozilla.com/mobile/

Firefox for mobile (codenamed Fennec) is the build of the Mozilla Firefox web browser for devices such as smartphones and tablet computers.

Firefox for mobile uses the same Gecko layout engine as Mozilla Firefox. For example, version 1.0 used the same engine as Firefox 3.6, and the following release, 4.0, shared core code with Firefox 4.0. Its features include HTML5 support, Firefox Sync, add-ons support and tabbed browsing.^[4]

History [edit]

Plugin support was initially disabled by default, removing compatibility with popular web content types such as Adobe Flash.^[5] In September 2011, Flash support has implemented in pre-release builds for pre-Honeycomb versions of Android.^[6] Flash support for Android 2.x and 4.x has been enabled for most smartphones in version 14.0, while support for Android 3.x may come in a later release.^[7]

The browser's version numbering was bumped from version 2.0 to version 4.0 to more closely match desktop releases of Firefox since the rendering engines used in both browsers are the same.^[8]

Release dates:

• Version 1: January 28, 2010. For Maemo.^[9]
• Version 4: March 29, 2011. For Android and Maemo.^[10]
• Version 5: June 21, 2011. For Android.^[11]
• Version 6: August 16, 2011.^[12]
• Version 6.0.1: August 30, 2011.^[13]
• Version 6.0.2: September 6, 2011.^[14]
• Version 7.0: September 27, 2011.^{[citation needed]}
• Version 7.0.1: October 2, 2011.^{[citation needed]}
• Version 8.0: November 8, 2011.^{[citation needed]}
• Version 9.0: December 21, 2011.^{[citation needed]}
• Version 10.0: January 31, 2012.^[15]
• Version 10.0.1: February 10, 2012.^[16]
• Version 10.0.2: February 17, 2012.^[17]
• Version 10.0.3: March 13, 2012.^[18]
• Version 10.0.4: April 24, 2012.^[19]
• Version 10.0.5: June 5, 2012.^[20]
• Version 14.0: June 26, 2012.^[21]
• Version 15.0: August 28, 2012.^[22]
• Version 15.0.1: September 10, 2012.^[23]
• Version 16.0: October 9, 2012.^[24]
• Version 16.0.1: October 11, 2012.^[25]
• Version 17: November 19, 2012.^[26]
• Version 18: January 8, 2013.^[27]
• Version 18.0.2: February 7, 2013.^[28]
• Version 19.0: February 19, 2013.^[29]
• Version 19.0.2: March 7, 2013.^[30]
• Version 20.0: April 2, 2013.^[31]
• Version 20.0.1: April 11, 2013.^[32]
• Version 21.0: May 14, 2013^[33]

Name [edit]

The codename used for Firefox for mobile is Fennec. It comes from the Fennec Fox, a small desert fox (just as the Fennec browser is a small version of Firefox browser). Firefox for Maemo Beta 5, released in 2009, was the first release to have official Firefox branding, with Firefox name and logo.^[34]

Platforms [edit]

As of Version 20, Firefox for mobile is only available for Android 2.2 and above devices with an ARMv6 or ARMv7 CPU.^[35] The x86 architecture is not yet supported.^[36]

Official support for the Nokia N900 Maemo device ceased with version 7.^[37]

An alpha of version 1.1 (1.1 Alpha 1) for Windows Mobile, released on February 19, 2010, is the last build for this operating system.^[38][39] Following the Windows Phone 7 announcement and Microsoft's decision not to release a native development kit, development for Windows Mobile was put on hold.^[40] If Microsoft releases a native development kit in the future for its Windows Phone OS, then Mozilla will consider again developing Fennec for the platform.^[3]

Tristan Nitot, president of Mozilla Europe, has said that it's unlikely that an iPhone or a BlackBerry version will be released, citing Apple's non-compete application approval policies and BlackBerry's limited operating system as the reasons.^[41]

There are no plans to develop Firefox for the Symbian platform.^[3]

Mozilla has no plans to develop Firefox for WebOS.^[3] An unofficial port to WebOS was made, but is no longer maintained.^[42]

An unofficial port is also available for the OpenPandora Handheld.^[43]

While desktop versions are not supported, versions for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux are available; these versions are intended as a way to give people who do not have a supported operating system the ability to localize, experiment and build add-ons.^[44]

Reception [edit]

The main complaints about the browser pre-version 14 was slow browsing speed, lack of plugin support and performance issues.^[45][46] To address these concerns, Mozilla redesigned the browser in version 14.0, adding Flash support, improving start up speed, as well as other enhancements.^[47] This update dramatically improved Firefox for Mobile. As of May 2013^[update] the average user rating of Firefox for mobile on the Google Play Store is 4.3^[1]

See also [edit]

Free software portal

• Mobile browser
• Minimo, a previous project to create a mobile Mozilla browser.
• MicroB, a Mozilla-based mobile browser for Nokia Maemo.
• Opera Mobile
• Opera Mini

References [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Category:Mozilla Fennec

• Official website
• Mobile mozilla wiki page
• Fennec mozilla wiki page