Google’s Android operating system may come with a web browser (or two) pre-loaded, depending on the device and software version. But that hasn’t stopped developers from offering third-party browsers such as Dolphin, Opera, and Firefox.
In fact, Mozilla says it’s Firefox web browser for Android has been downloaded over 100 million times.
A few years ago the browser was kind of clunky and slow. But I’ve actually been using Firefox as the default browser on my phone for the past year or two because, unlike Google Chrome for Android, Firefox supports third-party add-ons such as the LastPass password manager. The browser itself is speedy, easy-to-use, and offers a strong set of features including desktop mode, private browsing, save as PDF, and more. But support for a wide range of existing add-ons might the browser’s killer feature.
Here’s a roundup of tech news stories from around the web.
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- Firefox for android surpasses 100 million downloads
Mozilla may be pushing its own mobile operating system called Firefox OS. But the company’s browser for Android may be the bigger success story so far. [Mozilla] - Amazon Prime Stations now streaming to Android devices
Amazon’s streaming radio service is already available through the company’s website, on Fire tablets, and iOS apps. Now it’s also available for Android devices as well.[Amazon] - Will.i.am ‘s PULS smartwatch experiment phase one winds down, next-gen hardware on the way?
It’s an expensive device that’s probably more of a fashion accessory than a piece of useful technology. But at least it doesn’t look like every other smartwatch. Maybe the next one will be more compelling. [Boing Boing] - Goo.im is shutting down
Once a popular site for downloading custom ROMs, gApps packages and other Android software, the Goo.im team is shutting down in a few months. [reddit] - The Surface 3 can charge itself… kind of
There’s a standard USB port and a USB type C port for charging (among other things), so what happens if you run a cable from one to the other? The laptop will charge itself… by draining its own battery. Ultimately you’ll probably get less battery life than normal by doing this, not more. [imgur] - Report: Google working on bring Android Wear support to iPhones
Want to use an Android Wear smartwatch? Right now you’ll get the best results if you also have an Android phone. But soon you may be able to install an iPhone app to send notifications, Google Now cards and other info to a Moto 360, LG G Watch, or Asus ZenWatch, among others. [The Verge] - Star Wars digital movie collection launches April 10th
Ahead of the first new Star Wars movies in years this December, the first 6 movies will finally be available for digital download from iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, and other online video stores. [Disney] - Intel demos a Skylake-powered tablet design with dual screens (E Ink and color)
This isn’t the first time Intel has shown off a computer with a color screen on one side and an E Ink screen on the other. But while it’s not clear how practical the setup is or how much demand there is for such a product… it still looks really cool. [Mobile Geeks]
Been using Firefox on desktops and laptops for ages. Just started using Firefox on my smartphone a few months ago. I also have Dolphin installed but rarely use it.
Latest Firefox (37.0.1) crashes sometimes, but it is pretty good otherwise. Fairly quick. The one thing FF for Android needs badly is more manageable bookmarks. Now all your bookmarks just pile up in one big heap that you cannot organize.
If you want Flash on a Android device you HAVE to use something other than Chrome. It’s no surprise that most people would chose Firefox.
Out of curiosity where still uses flash? I haven’t knowingly used it since youtube, iplayer etc dropped it which has to be a few years now.
Youtube never dropped Flash… they’re just developing their own alternative system based on HTML5 and for the last few years it was in Beta but is finally reaching final stages…
Netflix still uses Flash for desktop users, Amazon Instant Video is Flash based… Most of the web really…
You just may not notice because they can also switch to HTML5 or another alternative video streaming technology and if they do it right then you won’t even notice the switch… Flash based media servers can even switch to stream different types of video streams to end users…
Chrome uses it’s own version of Flash, not fully compatible but usually works… Android browsers like Flashfox have built in Flash support…
There’s also apps developed with Flash… Even Android still has apps developed with Adobe AIr, which means Flash is involved… While Flash is a lot more than just a media streamer tool… Everything from app development, to web animations, to games, etc are applications Flash can be used for…
Problem for HTML5 was it’s still early stages, much of the talk about HTML5 taking over took place when HTML5 wasn’t even finalized… Also, much of the discussions ignored that despite Flash’s list of issues it still had years of development that allowed it to be applied to far more complex applications than HTML5 could yet and there was still things HTML5 couldn’t do yet that prevent Flash from just being dropped…
Only very recently has issues like dealing with DRM protection been addressed for HTML5 and yet we’re still waiting for Netflix to convert…
While we may still have to wait for the next version of HTML or future revision before we can finally put Flash behind up but for now Flash still dominates the Internet and the alternatives mainly just mean you don’t necessarily run into it everyday, after all no one browses the entire web, but you also may not even realize you had…
Twitch still uses Flash exclusively, though they have been promising HTML5 for a while already. And, I believe many of those illegal streaming sites still use it — not that I would know anything about that, of course…
Still using Chrome, it does drain battery alot. Is their away to sync chrome tabs with Firefox? I know Firefox has their own sync but prefer chrome on desktop.
What’s difference between Firefox and flashfox?
Check out Xmarks for syncing bookmarks and tabs between different browsers and device platforms…
While Flashfox browser basically gives you the Flash support out of the box… While a normal Firefox installation means you’d need the Flash Plug-in installed separately…
Firefox is definitely faster than Chrome on Android.
Dolphin is still better
I wonder how well Firefox for Android would work on a Chromebook via ARC.