Waterfox is afree and open-sourceweb browser andfork ofFirefox. It claims to be ethical and user-centric, emphasizing performance and privacy.[2] There are official Waterfox releases forWindows,macOS,Linux andAndroid.[3][4] It was initially created to provide official 64-bit support, back when Firefox was only available for 32-bit systems.[5]
Waterfox shares core features and technologies like theGecko browser engine[6] and support for FirefoxAdd-ons[7] with Firefox. It is also compatible withGoogle Chrome andOpera extensions.[2] It disables telemetry andPocket by default, which are present in Firefox builds. However, it collects technical information about the user's device to update properly.[5]
Waterfox Classic is a version of the browser based on an older version of theGecko engine that supports legacyXUL andXPCOM add-on capabilities that Firefox removed in version 57.[8][9] It is still partially maintained with fixes and patches from Waterfox and Firefox ESR releases. However, its development has been separated due to several changes from Waterfox that are otherwise unapplicable.[10]
Waterfox Classic has multipleunpatched security advisories. The developer states that "changes between versions so numerous betweenESRs making merging difficult if not impossible".[11][10]
Waterfox was first released by Alex Kontos[12][5] on 27 March 2011 for64-bit Windows. The macOS build was introduced on 14 May 2015 with the release of version 38.0,[13] the Linux build was introduced on 20 December 2016 with the release of version 50.0,[14] and an Android build was first introduced on 10 October 2017 in version 55.2.2.[15]
From 22 July 2015 to 12 November 2015, Waterfox had its own search-engine called "Storm" that would raise funds for charity and Waterfox. Storm was developed with over £2 million of investor funding and powered byYahoo! Search.[16][17][18]
In December 2019,System1, an advertising company which portrays itself as privacy-focused,[19] acquired Waterfox.[20][21] In July 2023, Alex Kontos announced that Waterfox had been turned into an independent project again.[22]
An Android release of the browser was made available via theGoogle Play Store in November 2023.[23]
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