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0 pointssmt886y ago0 comments

I just use Firefox with uBlock Origin on all my devices. Better blocking than Brave and no concerns about future monetization.

0 comments

piyush_soni6y ago

I'm currently using Firefox on all devices as my primary browser, but there is a single feature that I've gotten used to in Chrom* browsers on mobile - 'pull down to refresh' - that looks indispensable to me, and I'm planning to move to Brave on mobile just because of that (already replaced Chrome with Brave on Desktop as my secondary browser). Yes, there are add-ons to do that on mobile too, but they are all inconsistent and half-baked. Chrom*'s built-in pull to refresh is very smooth.

TuringTest6y ago

There's also Reload in Address Bar, which I prefer.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/reload-in-add...

Or you can use the "double tap the dots menu" trick.

piyush_soni6y ago

Thanks. The 'Double tapping dots menu' trick is neat indeed, sometimes we don't figure these things on our own :).

Zancarius6y ago

I primarily use Firefox on my desktop, but I use Brave on mobile. It seems somewhat easier on the battery than Chrome, which would make sense being as it's blocking content that can be CPU intensive.

You might like it, though. I've used Brave's mobile sync and it works for bookmarks across devices quite well. It's surprisingly simple to set up, too. I don't fret much about forgetting whether I opened a tab on my phone or desktop if I remember to bookmark it.

That said, I still use KDE connect to send links to my primary Firefox instance and vice-versa, but the bookmark sync is in some ways more convenient. I'd imagine they'll eventually synchronize more things, like tabs.

IloveHN846y ago

That's because bad developers focused on WebKit-only experience, forgetting about other browsers.

The same happens when some sites require Chrome to work, blocking all the rest. In 2019 it's unacceptable

vimslayer6y ago

Am I misunderstanding your comment or are you implying that the missing "pull to refresh" feature is somehow the website developers' fault?

Because it's 100% just a missing feature in Firefox mobile, there's nothing website developers should add to "make it work" on it.

shscs9116y ago

Try Kiwi Browser for Android. Its a Chromium-based browser with built-in ad-block. If you want, you can even install uBlock Origin or any other extensions as it natively supports extensions.

NikolaeVarius6y ago

I use this, though disclaimer, its not "really" open source.

lordgrenville6y ago

I'm not a mobile dev so maybe this is a naive question, but wouldn't this be pretty easy for FF to add?

adam_ellsworth6y ago

Also, for developers, you can't inspect web-socket frames natively in FF yet, you have to use an extension.

justsee6y ago

That was my setup, and much prefer integrated blocking and the additional polish and features. The yubikey integration coming is particularly interesting: https://brave.com/ios-yubikey-support/.

Future monetization: that was actually an incentive for me. Having been in the belly of the beast on ad-tech I'm cheering the new ad model Brave proposes for the industry.

If you're not aware how messed up the industry currently is, keep an eye on Ad Fraud Historian on Twitter: https://twitter.com/acfou.

On the crypto front, proposing ideas like staking / slashing on their extension store for extension authors is also very interesting: https://twitter.com/BrendanEich/status/1143630584310202369

The new browser wars are certainly spurring innovation again: good for everyone regardless of personal browser preferences.

lenkite6y ago

Firefox needs to respect the OS certificate store instead of using its own. Without it client-cert authenticated sites cannot be accessed. IT admins usually have policies on Windows and MacOS that prevent export of client cert+priv key.

intsunny6y ago

I disagree.

OS certificate stores often come with the political baggage of the OS manufacturer. When a Chinese Gov't CA was found to have engaged in fraudulent behavior [0] Google and Firefox were quick to revoke/remove the CA cert from their products. Apple and Microsoft did not do the same, likely because they do not want to upset the Chinese Gov't. (IIRC Iphone users cannot even manually revoke CA's on their own phones.)

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Internet_Network_Informa...

lenkite6y ago

Then FireFox has made the deliberate choice of excluding millions of users. There are millions of users who use identity management solutions where user-certs and priv-keys are put into the OS store of their devices.

Using the OS secure-store should be a preference option. The folks who don't want to use the "political baggage" of the OS manufacturer - as you put it - can continue to use their pristine gardens.

1 more reply

spockz6y ago

I’m actually happy that Firefox uses its own store. This means that I can use it for browsing through the corporate proxy without having the corporate CAs installed in my OS. This way I’m always aware which data is inspectable by the company.

It would be nice however if Firefox had an option to use the OS store, including devices like yubikey.

Kyrio6y ago

Doing that gives me a weird, inexplicable feeling. I know Firefox blocks stuff, especially if you set tracker blocking to "Strict". It doesn't block all ads so I still want to use uBO... but do I disable Firefox's blocking to avoid doing the same thing twice? Or are there things Firefox handles better than uBO? It's really too much thinking so for now I'm using Edge Chromium with uBO, and that's not a solution :D

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

piyush_soni6y ago

TuringTest6y ago

There's also Reload in Address Bar, which I prefer.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/reload-in-add...

Or you can use the "double tap the dots menu" trick.

piyush_soni6y ago

Thanks. The 'Double tapping dots menu' trick is neat indeed, sometimes we don't figure these things on our own :).

Zancarius6y ago

I primarily use Firefox on my desktop, but I use Brave on mobile. It seems somewhat easier on the battery than Chrome, which would make sense being as it's blocking content that can be CPU intensive.

IloveHN846y ago

That's because bad developers focused on WebKit-only experience, forgetting about other browsers.

The same happens when some sites require Chrome to work, blocking all the rest. In 2019 it's unacceptable

vimslayer6y ago

Am I misunderstanding your comment or are you implying that the missing "pull to refresh" feature is somehow the website developers' fault?

Because it's 100% just a missing feature in Firefox mobile, there's nothing website developers should add to "make it work" on it.

shscs9116y ago

Try Kiwi Browser for Android. Its a Chromium-based browser with built-in ad-block. If you want, you can even install uBlock Origin or any other extensions as it natively supports extensions.

NikolaeVarius6y ago

I use this, though disclaimer, its not "really" open source.

lordgrenville6y ago

I'm not a mobile dev so maybe this is a naive question, but wouldn't this be pretty easy for FF to add?

adam_ellsworth6y ago

Also, for developers, you can't inspect web-socket frames natively in FF yet, you have to use an extension.

justsee6y ago

That was my setup, and much prefer integrated blocking and the additional polish and features. The yubikey integration coming is particularly interesting: https://brave.com/ios-yubikey-support/.

Future monetization: that was actually an incentive for me. Having been in the belly of the beast on ad-tech I'm cheering the new ad model Brave proposes for the industry.

If you're not aware how messed up the industry currently is, keep an eye on Ad Fraud Historian on Twitter: https://twitter.com/acfou.

On the crypto front, proposing ideas like staking / slashing on their extension store for extension authors is also very interesting: https://twitter.com/BrendanEich/status/1143630584310202369

The new browser wars are certainly spurring innovation again: good for everyone regardless of personal browser preferences.

lenkite6y ago

intsunny6y ago

I disagree.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Internet_Network_Informa...

lenkite6y ago

Using the OS secure-store should be a preference option. The folks who don't want to use the "political baggage" of the OS manufacturer - as you put it - can continue to use their pristine gardens.

1 more reply

spockz6y ago

It would be nice however if Firefox had an option to use the OS store, including devices like yubikey.

Kyrio6y ago

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse