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[APPS] Firefox for Android-is it good?

Anyone else using Firefox fr android? I installed the latest version,and to b honest I'm not tht impressed.I still feel that the stock browser is better.
Does anyone feel Firefox is faster?
The interface and the way u can go back, and switch between tabs is cool.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

It has a way to go but remember it's still in alpha. A good Firefox could be a game changer as far as mobile browsing.
Sent from my Liberty using Tapatalk

The app's size is too big, even can't install. I hate this.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

richardpap said:
The app's size is too big, even can't install. I hate this.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
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A newer beta version is out which takes only 17mb instead of previous 43mb.. Try installing that..

Opera Mobile for Android will be out in a few days, that for sure will be better option

Really?can't wait to try the opera.it might b good.wonder whthr Google will ever think of a mobile chrome. The current stock browser isn't chrome right?
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

Firefox Mobile its taking only 5.56 MB of internal space after sending most of it to SD. Hey, that's better than Google Earth at least The only reason why I'll continue to hold on to the default browser is because it is the only one so far that handles text reflow properly. By proper, I mean that it resizes the text to a legible size and then squeezes it all into a single column the width of the display.
Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk

I used the new version last night and I didn't like it. The default UAstring was set to desktop so I had to install a user agent (phony). With phony installed i was able to select the agent and the experience was much better...but not better than HD Dolphin Browser.
Another option to explore would be 'MIUI Browser' it's awesome and it was just translated to English.
BTW 'phony' is a add-on. Inside of Firefox ->Settings-> Browse all add-ons-> type "phony" -> Download Now.
Agents under phony:
- Default
- Iphone
- Android
- Desktop Firefox
- Microsoft IE
I'm using an EVO
MIUM ROM 10.29
SNAP 7.6 kernel
Hope this helps.

Mi feelings no faster no flash 4 plugins
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

yeah. the only thing i like about this browser is sync...
that's it.
And i'm not switcing to chrome.

Just tried beta 2 on a Galaxy Tab. I like the UI, and the page rendering is fine, but the thing takes about 4s to start up, and has no support for Flash plugin.
Not ready yet.

Firefox allows you to sync bookmark with your pc, it's a great features.
Too bad, the browser is that slow

I tried it out but I don't like the delay it takes for the text to become clear when zooming in.
It also takes more than 5 seconds to load up.
I also don't like the tabs being on the side, compared to the Default browser that has pinch to switch between tabs.
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App

It still doesnt have flash, I dont use Firefox so IDC about sync, still pretty slow, file size still huge compared to other browsers, still feels slow to my standard browser(xScope) and it loads pages with a computer userID which makes the fonts look horrendous, It also has its own highlighting system which is weird. I'm always scrolling into the side bars. Still its in alpha and the fact that it has plugins makes it amazing by itself, and for anyone who tried the first release of fennec when compared to the latest release of Firefox mobile knows the huge improvements they have made, hopefully the development will move to the right direction.

Well, looks bad as I expected. Firefrox was never good in innovation, they are only good in imitating other browsers. As the desktop version most features are "stolen" from other browsers like opera. So I will wait for opera mobile, but still the desire stock browser is good enough for almost everything.

try installed it yesterday and i feel it kindda slow..
also make my x10i laggy..
Dolphin Browser HD much better than Firefox.

I assume it doesn't work with a CDMA Hero... It was not shown on the supported list of the experimental ARMv6 nightly builds (about 2 links away from the Firefox Mobile download page)
Sent from my CDMA Hero running Cyanogen Mod using XDA APP

1-start up time is slow because firefox mobile doesn't use the built in webkit engine it uses its own so it has to load its libraries up every time it starts because of the way google makes third party libraries load or some such. It will most likely never start up as fast as webkit based browsers on android.
2. It IS faster than any webkit browser on android which includes dolphin hd etc. This has been proven in benchmarks.
3. Its because of the extra libraries it needs that its size is as large as it is there is no way around the fact that it will be bigger than all the other browsers. They don't use their own rendering engine.
4.It does not include flash support yet which i agree sucks but supposedly they are working with adobe on this.
Opera Mobile i believe does also use its own rendering engine which will make it firefox mobiles main competition.

It isn't as clean or fault-free as the stock browser (at least for my Epic). It is in early stages, and it has to be downloaded straight from Mozilla's website, as the market is flooded with outrageously misleading applications adorned the Firefox logo. I use it once in a while, but when I select the option to use Firefox as a browser after, say, clicking a link in an email, it fails to load completely and sticks on a blank, dark screen.
I am going to keep it, though. It's a nice alternative, although not much different.
- G

[Q] Why Google's UI looks different in default browser and in Opera or Firefox?

I noticed that Google has two different mobile versions of his pages. One for his default Android browser and one for the others. And the one for the others is much simpler. It's most noticeable when you try to display iGoogle. In the default browser you get fancy user interface with many features and widgets whereas in Opera Mobile 11, you get really simple HTML page with practically no settings. I set Opera to use the user agent of the default browser and suddenly I got the better mobile version too. And naturally with all functionality.
So I ask.. why Google does that? He thinks, that other browsers can't handle advanced features of his pages? Or is he simply trying to put off people from using alternative browsers? Or is there an official way turn on this better version? Because changing the user agent seems to break some other pages and even the Google search, although it looks much better and more modern, is for some reason displayed extremely wide.
I couldn't find anything about this weird behavior but maybe I just used the wrong keywords

Bump. I have wondered this too, and it forces me to use dolphin (which is essentially the default browser spiced up a bit). I like the google homepage with the default android browser because it uses my location. Withe firefox, its as if Im on a computer and is less helpful. Anyone have a solution/workaround?

Well, as I wrote before, I changed the user agent of Opera to the user agent of stock browser/Dolphin so basically Opera pretended to be stock browser and I really got the nice modern Google Homepage, including my location. However the layout was a little bit messed up, the viewport was strangely wide, so it was kind of useless. But I guess it's a problem of Opera. You could try it too in Firefox, but I don't know whether it is possible to change your user agent in mobile Firefox, maybe there is an addon for it?
Easiest way to get the stock browser user agent is to open stock browser, use Google to search "what is my user agent", go to first link and select and copy the text it displays. You can just past it then wherever you want to.
Btw. I tried Dolphin HD and I almost switched because I really liked the UI (Opera is a little bit old school I would say) but when it came to rendering real full webpages, Opera was way way faster than Dolphin. At least on my Nexus S.

I really like the Opera mobile also with the Google search from the stock android browser using the user agent. I really wish there wasn't so wide like others here have posted. Hopefully someone or Opera will come up with a fix.

The instructions found in the below post has seemed to fix all of the rendering issues I had with Opera Mobile.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1009719

I really wish that opera would fix the problem of Google search being to wide. I really like the opera browser but it is annoying when searching to have to scroll to the right in order the click the search button sometimes.

unique agent per site?

Well I am using two different browsers right now, the stock honeycomb browser and opera mobile. Opera does seem a bit quicker, but i havent figured out how to disable the mobile mode when doing any search, so thats a bit annoying and i prefer tabs to the method they use for multiple open pages.
Anyway, i was wondering how i can setup a specific site to use mobile or desktop or tablet mode. I only see a master option. Is it possible to do this?
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda premium

would love this feature too

The newest version of the stock browser in Prime! v1.9 has an option for "Website settings", allowing advanced settings for individual websites. However, there is no way to manually add new websites to the list, nor is there a way to view or change the settings for websites that do populate the list, and so far I've only seen Google-specific services like Gmail getting their own individual entries.

Sleipnir browser may be what you are looking for
MACscr said:
Well I am using two different browsers right now, the stock honeycomb browser and opera mobile. Opera does seem a bit quicker, but i havent figured out how to disable the mobile mode when doing any search, so thats a bit annoying and i prefer tabs to the method they use for multiple open pages.
Anyway, i was wondering how i can setup a specific site to use mobile or desktop or tablet mode. I only see a master option. Is it possible to do this?
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda premium
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It appears that the Sleipnir browser has this capability to set user strings per the actual website. I just downloaded it today to give it a try. I have been trying to find a way to create custom user strings (spoofing??) to truly force the desktop environment, I have been selecting the included "desktop" settings on both the stock browser and Dolphin for Pad browsers and it works ok for some sites, but others it doesn't work worth a crap. I have also been STFA to find the actual text/scripts for adding into the stock and Dolphin browsers under their "custom user agent string" settings. Trying to find the user agent strings that I can copy or type in and implement, has not been very fruitful so far (If anyone knows where I can find the information it would be appreciated)
Since I just downloaded the Sleipnir browser today I can't offer any feedback but it may be worth a try.
LINK:
https://market.android.com/details?id=jp.co.fenrir.android.sleipnir&hl=en

[Q] iGoogle Mobile already discontinued - replacement?

I used iGoogle for my homepage for all my mobile browsers. (www.google.com/m/ig) It had the same feeds you have setup on your regular browser which is associated with your igoogle login on a PC. Unlike the regular iGoogle, the mobile version would show the google search bar at the top and had a single line for each of your igoogle feeds. When you would click on one of the names it would expand to show the last 10 topics of the feed, each a link to go the website if desired. Click again and it would contract the feed back to a single line.
I must have been the only one in the world who used this as a mobile homepage since I can't find any complaints about it no longer working but to me it was the ideal mobile browser homepage and I cannot find a substitute. Anyone have an idea how to get it back or replicate this functionality?

You aren't alone. I used it all the time on my mobile. It is gone now. I'll let you know if I find a replacement other than my.yahoo.com, which is OK, but not nearly as good as iGoogle was.

Why replace when you can still use it? Since apparently no one else in the world knows of this trick, and I need to archive it somewhere before I forget it again and stupidly wipe my device without taking note of it, point your lovely mobile device browsers to http www google com ig?source=mofe&hl=en (add appropriate /'s and .'s where needed, stupid ridiculoous posting requirements) and watch your igoogle return to life at least until the official decommisioning, anyway. You can even use that URL on a desktop machine to force igoogle back to the old style, too.

Tks. I should have tried this forum first.
:good:
Artemis-kun said:
Why replace when you can still use it? Since apparently no one else in the world knows of this trick, and I need to archive it somewhere before I forget it again and stupidly wipe my device without taking note of it, point your lovely mobile device browsers to http www google com ig?source=mofe&hl=en (add appropriate /'s and .'s where needed, stupid ridiculoous posting requirements) and watch your igoogle return to life at least until the official decommisioning, anyway. You can even use that URL on a desktop machine to force igoogle back to the old style, too.
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:good:

Always Force Desktop Website Version

Is there a way to go past the website's UA checks and always load their desktop versions instead of mobile? Asking because I already set in the preferences of all my phone browsers to always load the full desktop version and still, many websites somehow know I'm using a mobile device and force the mobile version.
Anyone found solution for Dolphin or Boat browsers? I've read about "about:debug" and "about:useragent" showing extra UA menu elements which in my case does nothing (android 6). I was also unable to find an user agent switching app that could always force Desktop parameters to the websites.
Even if there's no immefiate solution, I would like to know the principle websites choose which version to load irrespective to browser settings. Is it network/data/service provider settings, or specific browser/resolution signature? Thanks a lot for any ideas.

Menergy said:
Is there a way to go past the website's UA checks and always load their desktop versions instead of mobile? Asking because I already set in the preferences of all my phone browsers to always load the full desktop version and still, many websites somehow know I'm using a mobile device and force the mobile version.
Anyone found solution for Dolphin or Boat browsers? I've read about "about:debug" and "about:useragent" showing extra UA menu elements which in my case does nothing (android 6). I was also unable to find an user agent switching app that could always force Desktop parameters to the websites.
Even if there's no immefiate solution, I would like to know the principle websites choose which version to load irrespective to browser settings. Is it network/data/service provider settings, or specific browser/resolution signature? Thanks a lot for any ideas.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the problem is website's UA check, often you can choose an AdWay or something similar, on my phone i'm surprised to see as "auto check" some pop up, check and box.
But for what never stop working, that's need update every day...
There isn't much you can do in this case.
Sometimes in some browsers you've an option with whitelist or other but I do believe they can be related to the mobile display or desktop of a particular site.
Maybe there is an add-on xposed or plugin that I don't know

My problem is that some websites force the mobile version no matter what, as well as lack on services that I need in there, and you couldn't circumvent that in any way.
Yesterday I had to verify an email address and tried with all the browsers I have on my phone (like 5 different). They were all set to display the desktop version and all were forced into the mobile. But on the mobile you couldn't verify the link, probably on purpose (security if on mobile device), and I would not have access to laptop/desktop browser by the evening. The same is with many other features/missing services on forced mobile websites so I want to find a way to have full functionality when on the go.
Does AdWay have options for influencing data the browser notifies to the websites? Anything similar to Mozilla-code based Random Agent Spoofer browser add-on where you can basically force the browser to inject any incorrect data and prevent other data leaking while browsing? Any special cookie mechanisms inherent to mobile browsers only?
Alternatively, can I access browser settings with something like about:config/debug or else? Dolphin, Boat, others? I am sure the browser notifies the correct desktop user agent, there's something else, probably very simple, that tells websites the connection is from a portable device...

Menergy said:
My problem is that some websites force the mobile version no matter what, as well as lack on services that I need in there, and you couldn't circumvent that in any way.
Yesterday I had to verify an email address and tried with all the browsers I have on my phone (like 5 different). They were all set to display the desktop version and all were forced into the mobile. But on the mobile you couldn't verify the link, probably on purpose (security if on mobile device), and I would not have access to laptop/desktop browser by the evening. The same is with many other features/missing services on forced mobile websites so I want to find a way to have full functionality when on the go.
Does AdWay have options for influencing data the browser notifies to the websites? Anything similar to Mozilla-code based Random Agent Spoofer browser add-on where you can basically force the browser to inject any incorrect data and prevent other data leaking while browsing? Any special cookie mechanisms inherent to mobile browsers only?
Alternatively, can I access browser settings with something like about:config/debug or else? Dolphin, Boat, others? I am sure the browser notifies the correct desktop user agent, there's something else, probably very simple, that tells websites the connection is from a portable device...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use "user agent switcher" for chrome and it always works. It requires root though.
Can you provide an example of a website that refuses to show the desktop version?
And additionally, your build.prop contains your device's information. The browser might be transmitting that information to the website.

Thank you, the build.prop info was very helpful. I am not rooted yet as I've got my new phone just less than a month ago so still exploring, but can't really find the file, even among the hidden files on the internal memory. I will explore more and see how it goes.
I am in the UK so for example one of the websites that always loads the limited mobile instead of desktop version is the one of my service provider, EE, ee. co. uk (apologies for the intervals, I'm otherwise not allowed to post it). This mobile version is too basic and 60% of what you could do on a desktop version is cut. I've been on Three Mobile and sometimes I could get their full website working, sometimes not. Other websites are let's say bbc. co. uk and other media/news/bank websites that know, no matter browser settings, you are accessing them from a portable device.
Unfortunately I do not trust Google and any of their products so avoid voluntarily and (un)intentionally handing any personal data over to them. I would have used Mozilla for Android if it was close to the functionality Boat and Dolphin browsers provide. I even contacted the Dolphin team having previously assisted them but have got no feedback whatsoever. There must be a way for editing these unusual browser settings, but as pointed out above, I suspect it has something to do will submitting device ID info from within system folders. Thus probably only browser developers could tell us how the problem could be circumvented (and hopefully at least for now, with no root).
Or the developers of addons such as the Random Agent Spoofer or the user agent switchers.

Menergy said:
Thank you, the build.prop info was very helpful. I am not rooted yet as I've got my new phone just less than a month ago so still exploring, but can't really find the file, even among the hidden files on the internal memory. I will explore more and see how it goes.
I am in the UK so for example one of the websites that always loads the limited mobile instead of desktop version is the one of my service provider, EE, ee. co. uk (apologies for the intervals, I'm otherwise not allowed to post it). This mobile version is too basic and 60% of what you could do on a desktop version is cut. I've been on Three Mobile and sometimes I could get their full website working, sometimes not. Other websites are let's say bbc. co. uk and other media/news/bank websites that know, no matter browser settings, you are accessing them from a portable device.
Unfortunately I do not trust Google and any of their products so avoid voluntarily and (un)intentionally handing any personal data over to them. I would have used Mozilla for Android if it was close to the functionality Boat and Dolphin browsers provide. I even contacted the Dolphin team having previously assisted them but have got no feedback whatsoever. There must be a way for editing these unusual browser settings, but as pointed out above, I suspect it has something to do will submitting device ID info from within system folders. Thus probably only browser developers could tell us how the problem could be circumvented (and hopefully at least for now, with no root).
Or the developers of addons such as the Random Agent Spoofer or the user agent switchers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The build.prop is a text file which should be located in system/ folder. And you usually can't view the contents of that folder without root, so that's why you haven't been able to find it.
I visited ee.co.uk using chrome, and I was able to switch between the mobile and desktop version of the site without any issues, even without using the UA changing app. All I did was select "request desktop site" from the side menu.
I tried using CM's stock browser though, and just like you experienced, the same website refused to load in desktop mode. I even went as far as changing the UA in its settings menu and even that didn't work.
So all that you wrote in the last two paragraphs have been confirmed.
Right now, it's either chrome or root until the devs fix/properly implement their UA changing feature.

I was testing other browsers the whole morning here and finally reluctantly tried Firefox. Somehow its Android version never impressed me or was too buggy for me when tested before. Probably because just before going for it I tried Pale Moon and have seen that I can readily edit just about everything via about:config. The Pale Moon's UI settings menu was however completely missing (probably a bug), along with no other controls, so I had to skip it.
So I am glad to report that using Firefox's "Request desktop website" option I finally was able to load desktop versions of websites that were forcing me to always have their mobile one instead. This means that Firefix for now becomes my main browser. As suggested by you, I tried first with Chrome but with no success (using its internal user agent options). There were a few Chrome user agent switchers in the market but although some of them did not explicitly require root, upon starting them they did so I had to uninstall them.
My question yet remains, what exactly tells websites not to load full version, even if browser's user agent reports the correct values. I will leave this to me as I go deeper into this. Glad to have got what I wanted
Thanks a lot for all your help.

Just to add for all having my problem and using Firefox for Android.
By default Firefox will always load the mobile website version and every time you will need to tick "Request desktop site" if you dislike it. As I do, there is an addon called "Desktop by Default" that will always keep the tick on for you. You may instead try creating a new string called "general.useragent.override" adding a desktop OS signature but it won't work (tested by me) for exactly the same websites I had issues with above, so do use the addon instead. It will however work for all other websites that don't have issues with Desktop mode on other browsers.
There is another string that I disabled also called general.useragent.site_specific_overrides.
Tweaking with the Chrome for Android settings seems to require root so Firefox in my case is a God bless. I hope this is helpful to all others with my issue...