Public Preview Of Mozilla Firefox Browser For iOS Released

The public preview of the Mozilla Firefox browser for iPhones and iPads was released recently to users based in New Zealand. The release of the preview was aimed at obtaining feedback from users before it is released to other countries ahead of the full public international launch set before the end of the year.

While the desktop version of the browser is already offered for Macs and PCs, the mobile version is only available for Android-powered devices. The company had not considered offering an iOS version of its browser since the mobile OS of Apple limited the use of third-party browsers. However, the launch of the iOS 8 offering a better environment for third-party browsers changed the mind of the company.

The mobile OS of Apple is also a huge market that the company has yet to tap. Lukas Blakk, Mozilla Release Manager, tweeted last December that it was necessary for the company to go to their users, which makes it essential to bring the Mozilla Firefox browser to the iOS.

Mozilla Firefox For iOS Public Preview - image credit: twitter.com

However, the browser of Mozilla may not find it easy to catch up to the Safari of Apple and Google Chrome, which have become popular in the mobile market as indicated on statistics released by NetMarketShare. The demand for the browser of Mozilla has also gone down with the increasing popularity of Chrome among PC users. The importance of the mobile market is highlighted by the increasing number of users using their mobile devices for the Web-browsing needs.

The company revealed three main features for the Mozilla Firefox browser. The new browser comes with an Intelligent Search feature that allows users to select a default search provider. The feature also offers recommended search results. The Firefox Account feature provides users the opportunity to sync their Firefox passwords, browser history and tabs from the desktop into their mobile device. The Visual Tabs page provides thumbnails for open tabs.

Other features are expected to be offered basing on feedback from users as the company prepares for the international release of its mobile browser for iOS. The Settings screen of the public preview will also feature an option that allows users to send feedback directly to the company.

The company revealed that it aims to provide an excellent browsing experience for users of the Mozilla Firefox browser for iOS devices. The first public preview was designed to collect feedback from a single country before it is released to other countries before it is fully released into the market. The company will use feedback from the preview to create new features and bring the browser to the App Store before the end of the year.

People can test the Mozilla Firefox browser for iOS by signing up for a notification when the preview will be released to their respective countries.

We need to be where our users are so we're going to get Firefox on iOS #mozlandia

— Lukas Blakk (@lsblakk) December 2, 2014

Posted by peter on Tuesday September 08 2015, 1:59 AM EDT. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Technology. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0