Attention Firefox for Android users: You're going to want to head on over to the Android Market, as version 10 of Mozilla's browser is there waiting for you right now.
There is a couple of new features to report, the implementation of anti-aliasing for WebGL and support for accelerated layers via OpenGL ES. You also get a smattering of bug fixes, and improved Firefox sync setup. What is still noticeably lacking is support for Adobe Flash and other plugins. Nevertheless, Firefox for Android is still a pretty strong browsing option so hit the links after the break to download yourself a copy. Changelogs can be found by hitting the source link.
Source: Mozilla Blog
Reader comments
Firefox 10 lands in the Android Market, still doesn't support flash
thanks firefox for yet another useless browser.
Firefox 12 (nightlies) does support flash.
http://nightly.mozilla.org/
Agree with both lines. They should just pull the ones that are using the old UI. I'm using the Nightly, and it's my default, as it does what I need. Nice and smooth. Flash enabled. I can't wait until it goes stable.
OMG, give it up FF. You're the new Netscape and AOL browser. Focus on another project or something...
The "tablet optimized interface" is back. That broke on the last version when I got ICS on my Xoom. So that's cool...
Still needs flash though...
10 versions later... and it still sucks.
Version ten and still no Flash? Epic fail!
Why would they focus on integrating flash when Adobe has already said (3 months ago!) that they're discontinuing Flash on Android???
http://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2011/11/flash-focus.html
Now if they're going to wrap it within the browser like Chrome on Windows, etc, that'd be something to push for... Until then, I see no failure on Mozilla's part. They just need to hurry up and use the native Android frameworks for the GUI and they'll be set.
Exactly. Flash has been written off as future (web) technology moving forward, and as such, I don't think Mozilla needs to be in a rush to support it on mobile. Flash has peaked. Its done. It's usage will continue to decline from here on out.
Right now, Mozilla is more focused on pushing Firefox development to improve both desktop and mobile performance and memory usage, to modernize the UI, and to provide a solid HTML5/WebGL base for which they can then push their own upcoming mobile OS (Google Boot2Gecko) and mobile/web app ecosystem.
I'm currently a Chrome supporter, but right now Firefox's improvements since v4 have been amazing.
Flash has been written off in your mind, but it is still one of the MOST used web utilities around, and will be for at least 5 years.
Set plugins to On-Demand-Only in the android browser to get an idea how pervasive it is. 4 Flash elements on this very AC page alone showing up as big Downward Pointing Arrows with plugins set to on-demand.
Ah yes, I forgot about the flash ads. I thought the average geek was about blocking ads?
But you are correct. Flash has been written off in my mind as a web developer. I no longer use for anything that's intended to show up on a website, and I don't know any other web developer recently who still advocates its use in the context of web sites and web applications. Games however are good use of the technology, but I would question the choice of anyone wanting to develop a mobile game using Flash.
So we've managed to eliminate IE6 after a long struggle, and next up is going to be Flash I guess. Its is going to take longer to weed out of the modern web than IE6 was, thanks to so-called "geeks" who will undoubtedly refuse to let it go.
For basic web work, Flash isn't needed, but just because your scope of thing doesn't see a need fo it, or other plug-ins for that matter, that doesn't mean it's a reality.
I'd rather be a geek that has a constant flow of work -- which includes Flash, than a sheep that writes off an immensely viable platform, just because of the hype created by a dead bullshitter.
Can the average Android fanatic ever avoid breaking everything down into being pro/anti Jobs? FFS, no one mentioned Jobs, idiot, and the idea of walking away from Flash as a primary web development tool (ie, the typical large full screen "portfolio websites", menus, etc) started way before Jobs himself caught on.
Calm down. Steve Jobs is dead. No need to be so defensive anymore.
Eventually what you say might come to past, but as it's sill the present, Flash isn't going anywhere.
WebGL would be COOL, if Microsoft(The DirectX guys) supported it and if if actually worked on mobile devices -- which for the most part it does not.
And as long as the limited and stagnent vomit that is JavaScript is still the engine behind HTML, don't expect any real changes anytime soon. This is why the best of HTML 5 offers, always says it requires the desktop version of Chrome; and when it has sound mixed in with critical timing, it's always relying on FLash to handle that tak -- which pretty much defeats the entire purpose of what HTML 5 supposedly represents.
I'm waiting for HTML 6, it's the future.
Dont expect DX in WebGL, other then transferring functions :p
Knowing MS they will back stab everyone and enforce there APIs
Oh and you ever seen CSS3?
Look, bottom line is Firefox on the mobile side of things sucks. When it can eclipse Dolphin HD or even the stock browser, we'll talk.
Also, why argue in favor of less options? Every other decent browser supports Flash, (which works very well BTW on ICS). I couldn't care any less about what anyone thinks about its future. Fact is, it's here NOW and still useful. Also it's going to be in the market for a while from what I understand. I use it on demand in ICS and can't imagine not having it considering the amount of videos I watch. What does Firefox bring to the table? All I see is less options. Sorry but hell NO! Dolphin even supports hardware acceleration now and is butter smooth.
Because the current version of Flash plays all existing content and more importantly all videos that aren't being intentionally blocked from mobile devices.
is there a point at this point?
even without flash, i really want to like this browser (my browser of choice on PC).. but every time i make a push to use it more, it starts force closing on me. and you can't import bookmarks from another browser!? seriously?
WOW, still 15MB in size! What gives? Until FF gets the size down to 3-6MB like Dolphin HD, or Boat I'll pass.
That is never going to happen.
Dolphin HD is just a thin wrapper around the stock browser engine, so of course it "looks small and efficient".
You are still using the stock webkit core when you use Dolphin, so Apples and Oranges. Add 33meg for the stock browser background process and Dolphin doesn't look so small does it?
(Come on, people, this has been widespread public knowledge for a couple years now, please stop throwing up Dolphin or any other webkit skin as a comparison. Please!!!)
Opera and FF each have their own core. Opera takes 22 meg installed. Stock Browser hides most of its memory use in a 33meg background process. I haven't installed FF to see what its actually taking at run time, But the market says 15meg for the download, so I bet the runtime charge is twice that. It always is. .APKs are simply zip files.
Oh, and Opera Mobile got an update today as well, but no love yet from AC.
Exactly.
Yeah, biggest downfall for Firefox for Mobile is that they need to carry the large Gecko backend with it, which balloons the application size and which is why it takes several seconds for it to load into memory on first run. Which, in the short term means that FF on Android is probably doomed to the performance we see now, until they develop a sort of "Mozilla Player" that will always run in the background as a android process at boot, and be able to run their proposed "Open Web Apps", and presumably, allow FF Mobile better performance.
"(Come on, people, this has been widespread public knowledge for a couple years now, please stop throwing up Dolphin or any other webkit skin as a comparison. Please!!!)"
What? Dolphin HD is the browser to beat and yet no one has eclipsed it. So it's based on the webkit, who cares. Are you trying to diss that hard working dev who actually answers emails and fixes bugs overnight? What good is new code if in the end the product is slower, bloated, takes a century to materialize and to add insult to injury, still lacks features present in almost every other browser? Sometimes building on the wheel is better than trying to reinvent it.
Flash is so overrated. Didn't install it on my Gnex and haven't missed it a bit.
Meh. Opera supports Flash...
It still bulky and slow as molasses. The only good thing is that it has proper JavaScript support, it works with Google Docs ... but it's slow as molasses so it's still quite useless.
That is not the ONLY thing. Firefox also supports Adblock, which NO OTHER ANDROID BROWSER DOES....
It's incompatible with too many sites/services I browse on my mobile. Why? NO FRAKING FLASH! C'Mon Mozilla... Flash is installed on the device, just support it already!
Mozilla is really going down hill with Firefox. Still can't believe the mobile version doesn't support Flash Player (Flash is still widely used and isn't going away any time soon). Their desktop version rapid releases are pissing off quite a few people as each new version tends to break existing plug-ins or change functions. Not to mention their bookmark system (desktop version) is still archaic. You also still can't clear cache, history, or cookies from a command line (to use in a batch file). I could go on...
Firefox = the open web. You can use the Android browser but then you can be sure that Google is tracking it, and you get all the ads the sites can show you. First thing that got installed as a plugin on Firefox on my Evo 3D was Ad Block Plus. You'd be surprised how slow the web gets on Chrome with ads, when compared to Firefox without them.
If all the iphoney's can get by without Flash you probably can too.
And Google's new privacy policy is like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad.
I sure like FireFox on my PC but just noted that many of my add ons died after they said that is a major improvement for upgrading to 10!
I would really like to use Firefox on my Android but not until they do support Flash. I will stick with Skyfire at least until I can see if Firefox will be any good but won't even try it until they support Flash.
I'm glad the finally allowed the user the ability to change their user agent. Now users can view desktop versions of websites on there tablet if they are using Firefox Mobile.