| Firefox for Android | |||||
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 Firefox (Android) 145.0 displaying theMain Page of theEnglish Wikipedia | |||||
| Developers |
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| Initial release | March 29, 2011; 14 years ago (2011-03-29)[1] | ||||
| Stable release(s)[±] | |||||
| 147.0.4 (February 16, 2026; 1 day ago (2026-02-16)[2]) [±] | |||||
| Preview release(s)[±] | |||||
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| Written in | Kotlin,JavaScript and others; includingC++ andRust[6][7]because of its rendering engine | ||||
| Operating system | Android 8.0 "Oreo" and above | ||||
| Size | |||||
| Type | Mobile browser | ||||
| License | MPL 2.0, uses proprietary components, includingGoogle Play Services | ||||
| Website | www | ||||
| Repository | |||||
Firefox for Android is aweb browser developed byMozilla for Androidsmartphones andtablet computers. As with itsdesktop version, it uses theGeckolayout engine, and supports features such assynchronization withFirefox Sync, andadd-ons.
The initial version of Firefox for Android was codenamedFennec and brandedFirefox for mobile;[9] it initially supportedMaemo and Android before supportingMeeGo[10] andFirefox OS as well. Support for Maemo was later dropped. In 2020, a redesigned version of Firefox for Android (codenamedFenix, and also branded asFirefox Daylight) was released, which introduced a new internal architecture and user interface inspired byFirefox Focus, new privacy features, and switching to curatedWebExtensions for add-ons.
Firefox for mobile, codenamed "Fennec", was first released forMaemo in January 2010 with version 1.0[11] and forAndroid in March 2011 with version 4.0.[1] Support for Maemo was discontinued after version 7, released in September 2011.[12] The codename Fennec comes from thefennec fox, a small desert fox (just as the Fennec browser is a small version of the Firefox desktop browser). Firefox for Maemo Beta 5, released in 2009, was the first version to have the official Firefox branding, with the Firefox name and logo.[13]
Fennec uses theGecko engine; for example, version 1.0 used the same engine asFirefox 3.6, and the following release, 4.0, shared core code withFirefox 4.0. Its features includeHTML5 support,Firefox Sync,add-ons support andtabbed browsing.[14] The browser's version numbering was bumped from version 2.0 beta to version 4.0 to more closely match desktop releases of Firefox since the rendering engines used in both browsers are the same.[15]
Plugin support was initially disabled by default, removing compatibility with popular web content types such asAdobe Flash.[16] In September 2011, Flash support was implemented in pre-release builds for pre-Honeycomb versions of Android.[17] Flash support for Android 2.x and 4.x was enabled for most smartphones in version 14.0;[18] later it was removed in version 56.0.[19]
On June 27, 2019, Mozilla unveiledFirefox Preview (codename "Fenix"), a redesigned version of Firefox for Android based on GeckoView – an implementation of Gecko that is decoupled as a reusablelibrary, intended to be used as an alternative to the default Android WebView component (based onBlink engine). GeckoView was first used byFirefox Focus, whose design influenced aspects of Fenix.[20][21] It has a redesigned user interface with support fordark mode, a new "Collections" feature for saving sets of tabs, and includes Enhanced Tracking Protection (a configurable blocker forweb trackers andthird-party cookies) and a redesignedprivate browsing mode.[22][23]
The Firefox for Android Beta channel was migrated to the Fenixbranch in April 2020,[24] and it was officially released to the stable channel in August 2020 as version 79, branded asFirefox Daylight.[22][23] The last Fennec-based version was version 68, which was released in July 2019, and received bug and security fixes until July 2020.[25][26][27]
| Firefox Lite | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Firefox Lite running on Android | |
| Other names | Firefox Rocket |
| Developer | Mozilla Taiwan |
| Initial release | November 1, 2018; 7 years ago (2018-11-01)[28] |
| Final release | |
| Preview release | |
| Engine | WebView[31] (i.e.Blink) |
| Operating system | Android |
| Successor | Firefox for Android |
| Size | 6.51 MB |
| Type | Mobile browser |
| License | MPL 2.0, uses proprietary components, includingGoogle Play Services |
| Website | support |
| Repository | github |
Firefox Lite, formerlyFirefox Rocket, was a lightweightfree and open-sourceweb browser developed byMozilla Taiwan forAndroidsmartphones andtablets. Initially released only inIndonesia, it was available in variousemerging markets. With anAPK size of 6.51 MB, it featured Turbo Mode (enabled by default), which blocked third-party content of web pages such asads andtrackers, and a toggle to disable web images, to speed page loads and use less mobile data. In addition, it had a private browsing mode, tabs, night mode, and the ability to screenshot the entire page.[32][33][34] It used the built-in Android WebView as thebrowser engine. Due to release of the refreshed Firefox for Android andFirefox Focus, that contains Firefox Lite capabilities (except for the tiny size, that being the point of Firefox Lite) and replaced it, support for Firefox Lite ended on June 30, 2021.[35][36][37]
Firefox Rocket was initially released as an open beta limited to the Indonesian market on October 8, 2017.[38][39] Firefox Lite was available in Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Vietnam through the Google Play store as of March 13, 2019.[40] Support had expanded up to 42 countries by the final release.[41]
Firefox for Android allows installation of extensions. Firefox Daylight/"Fenix" uses the same WebExtensions architecture as the desktop version of Firefox, but not allAPIs are supported.[42]
The stable build of Firefox for Android has general WebExtension support as of version 120; Mozilla announced in November 2023 that all add-ons marked as Android-compatible by developers would be shown on addons.mozilla.org by December 14, 2023.[43] On December 14, 2023, Mozilla announced that more than 450 add-ons are available for download on Firefox for Android.[44]
Firefox Daylight requiresAndroid Oreo or later; earlier versions of Firefox also supported earlier versions of Android. Support for Android devices that ranx86 processors was added in December 2013,[45] and lasted until October 2025.
Previously, Firefox for mobile supported other platforms besides Android.
Official support for theNokia N900Maemo device ceased with version 7.[46]
Firefox mobile was available forMeeGo through the third-party OpenRepos repository.[47] For operating systems not supported by Fennec, likeSailfish OS (based onMer project), web browsers can use embedlite (IPCLiteAPI), a lightweight embedding API.[48]
An alpha build of version 1.1 (1.1 Alpha 1) forWindows Mobile, released on February 19, 2010, is the last build for this operating system.[49][50] Following theWindows Phone 7 announcement andMicrosoft's decision not to release a native development kit, as withAndroid and other systems, development for Windows Mobile was put on hold.[51] 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.[52]
Tristan Nitot, president ofMozilla Europe, has said that it is unlikely that aBlackBerry OS version will be released, citingBlackBerry's limited operating system as the reason.[53] Mozilla has no plans to develop Firefox for theSymbian platform,[52] orwebOS.[52] An unofficial port to WebOS was made, but is no longer maintained as of 2011.[54]
An unofficial port is available for thePandora handheld console.[55]
Firefox 52.0.2 was the last version to run on ARM devices withoutNEON support, such as those withTegra 2.[56][57]
Firefox 143.0.4 was the last version to run onAndroid Lollipop throughAndroid Nougat.[58]
| Operating system | Latest stable version | Support status | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Android (includingAndroid-x86 and Android for ARMv6) | 8.0 and later | Latest version:147.0.4 (x64)[59]  [60] | 2018– |
| Latest version:147.0.4 (ARM64)[59] [60] | 2017– | ||
| Latest version:147.0.4 (ARMv7)[59] [60] | |||
| 5.0–7.1 | Unsupported:143.0.4 (x64)[61] | 2018–2025 | |
| Unsupported:143.0.4 (ARM64) | 2017–2025 | ||
| Unsupported:143.0.4 (IA-32) | 2014–2025 | ||
| Unsupported:143.0.4 (ARMv7) | |||
| 4.1–4.4 | Unsupported:68.11.0 (x64)[62] | 2018–2020 | |
| Unsupported:68.11.0 (IA-32) | 2013–2020 | ||
| Unsupported:68.11.0 (ARMv7) | 2012–2020 | ||
| 4.0 | Unsupported:55.0.2 (IA-32)[63][64] | 2013–2017 | |
| Unsupported:55.0.2 (ARMv7) | 2011–2017 | ||
| 3.0–3.2 | Unsupported:45.0.2 (ARMv7)[63] | 2011–2016 | |
| 2.3 | Unsupported:47.0 (ARMv7)[63][65] | ||
| 2.2–4.4 | Unsupported:31.3.0esr (ARMv6) | 2012–2015 | |
| 2.2 | Unsupported:31.0 (ARMv7)[66] | 2011–2014 | |
| 2.1 | Unsupported:19.0.2 (ARMv6) | 2012–2013 | |
| Unsupported:19.0.2 (ARMv7) | 2011–2013 | ||
| 2.0 | Unsupported:6.0.2 (ARMv7) | 2011 | |
| Firefox OS | 2.2 | Unsupported:35/36/37 | 2015 |
| 2.1 | Unsupported:33/34 | 2014–2015 | |
| 2.0 | Unsupported:31/32 | ||
| 1.4 | Unsupported:30 | 2014 | |
| 1.3 | Unsupported:28 | ||
| 1.2 | Unsupported:26 | 2013 | |
| 1.1 | Unsupported:18 | ||
| Maemo | Unsupported:7.0.1 | 2010–2011 | |
| Windows Mobile | 6.x | Unsupported:1.0a3 | N/A |
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(August 2025) |
The main criticisms[68] of the browser pre-version 14 were slow browsing speed, lack of plugin support and performance issues.[69][70] To address these concerns, Mozilla redesigned the browser in version 14.0, addingFlash support, improving start-up speed, as well as other enhancements.[71] This update dramatically improved Firefox for Android. As of September 2014[update], the average user rating of Firefox for Android on theGoogle Play Store is 4.4.[72]
Compared to the stock Android browser and Chrome on Android, Firefox has a small market share; for the month of November 2015, Firefox for Android usage share of all mobile/tablet browsers was just 0.81%.[73] Despite that, Firefox for Android enjoys a high Play Store rating, has over 100 million downloads,[74][75] and continues to be developed. The latest version supports Android 4.0 and higher (as Android 2.3 support was dropped in version 48).[76]
In its 2015 Android browser comparison, Spanish software news and reviews siteSoftonic.com awarded Firefox version 37.0.1 theBest of 2015 nod, with reviewer Fabrizio Benedetti citing a good design, efficient memory consumption, the browser's open source nature, and independence.[75]
In August 2020, Mozilla released a major update of Firefox for Android, version 79, which had been in development for more than 1 year with the codename "Firefox Daylight". It was described by Mozilla as being "dramatically redesigned to be faster, easy to use, customizable and private".[77] However, it received intense criticism from users, who complained that it was more difficult to use, and slower, and various features were suddenly missing. Some online Tech Writers even recommended people to disable the update if possible.[78][79][80][81][82][83]
A number of devices run older versions of Android.[84] Some would not be upgraded to newer versions because of insufficient technical knowledge by users, or their lack of access to mobile data; some devices cannot be upgraded because of low system resources, or the manufacturer and telecoms operator have failed to provide an update.[citation needed]
As of early 2015, Google has stopped issuing its own patches for Android 4.3 and earlier to the WebView browser component and theWebKit rendering engine therein, which are used by the native/stock and often defaultAOSP browser in a large number of Android devices – thereby shifting the patching responsibility to device manufacturers.[85] In time, the native browser or browser components become outdated, increasingly insecure, and unable to properly render modern websites.[86]
As a workaround, a Google engineer suggested using the separately-installable and updateable Google Chrome or Firefox browsers.[85] In case of Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0.x), Google stopped supporting that branch of Android with updates to its Chrome browser after Chrome 43, and moved up to Android 4.1 as the oldest release supported by Google Chrome.[76][86]
The open-source nature of Firefox has made it possible to maintain its development for operating system versions that are past their product support life cycle, and has resulted in Firefox having stronger security and better support for modern web standards.[citation needed] This in effect extends the useful lifetime of devices stuck on older major versions of Android.[citation needed]
On 20 May 2015, Eyeo GmbH, the maintainers ofAdblock Plus, released Adblock Browser 1.0 beta, which is based on Firefox for Android.[87] The browser uses a similar blocking/permitting model as Adblock Plus, allowing by default ads deemed "acceptable" by Eyeo. A major drawback compared to Firefox for Android is Adblock Browser's lack of support for Firefox Sync.
Initial reviews have been mixed: On one hand, users would be happy to have less ads and resource consumption on their devices; on the other hand, web services, publications, content creators and bloggers rely on advertisements for their revenue and income.[88]
Adblock Browser 1.0 was released on 7 September 2015. It's compatible with Android 2.3 or greater, and has about the same system requirements as Firefox for Android.[89]
Fennec F-Droid's goal is to remove all proprietary binaries from Firefox; some proprietary binaries, however, still remained in the app. The Fennec F-Droid app is hosted in the open-sourceF-Droid app repository since 1 February 2015 beginning with version 35.0.[90] Since September 2020, it is based on Firefox despite still being named "Fennec F-Droid".[91]
On 30 June 2015,The Guardian Project announced a stable alpha of Orfox, the new mobile counterpart of theTor Browser. Orfox is built fromFennec (Firefox for Android) code and the Tor Browser code repository, and is given security hardening patches by the Tor Browser development team. Some of the Orfox build work is based on the Fennec F-Droid project.[92]
The project removed in Orfox theWebRTC component andChromecast connectivity, and app permissions to access the camera, microphone, contacts (address book), location data (GPS et al.), and NFC.[92][93] Orfox is to supersede the Orweb browser project, which used the WebView engine.[92]
On 3 September 2019, both The Guardian Project andThe Tor Project announced that Orfox had seen its final release and that Orfox had effectively become Tor Browser for Android.[94][95]
IronFox is fork of theDivestOS Mull Browser,[96][97][98] and notMullvad Browser[99]
Firefox for Android (Fennec)'s front-end code was taken as a base for the new development in theLibreOffice project for Android (along with the pre-existing cross-platformLibreOffice document engine).[100][101] Further work made thatFennec code the core component of LibreOffice Viewer for Android,[102] which was released on 28 May 2015[103] for Android 4.0 or newer.[101]
Many Android phones also run outdated versions of the Android operating system, which leaves them more vulnerable to hacking. Even after Google releases patches for security holes, many phones don't get those updates, because of the decentralized way that Android phones are sold.
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