Mozilla’s Firefox web browser is available for a wide range of platforms including Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. But sometimes you might want something a little simpler.

Firefox Focus is a streamlined web browser for mobile devices that’s designed for speed and privacy. It blocks ads that track your data by default (although there’s a switch to turn off ad blocking), and has a simplified user interface.

First launched for iPhone and iPad last year, Mozilla has now released a version of Firefox Focus for Android.

Like the iOS version, Firefox Focus for Android is a pretty barebones browser: there’s no support for tabs or bookmarks. And since the privacy is a key feature, there’s also no option to view your browsing history: it will be erased every time you close a page or close the browser.

There are a few options: you can set your default search provider, choose whether to block just ad trackers, or also analytic trackers and social trackers, and there’s a “Stealth” mode toggle that allows you to take screenshots and view recently visited sites in your Recent Apps list. You can also opt to block web fonts and “other content trackers,” which may prevent some websites or online videos from functioning properly.

A few Android-specific features include a new tracker counter that shows you how many items have been blocked, and an option to disable tracker blocking on any site that fails to render properly with blocking enabled.

There’s also a notification that reminds you when the browser is running the background, allowing you to erase your history with a tap. This is similar to the way Chrome for Android works when you have an incognito tab open in the background… except Firefox Focus is a standalone browser and not just a feature of a larger web browser.

If you want a full-featured browser, Chrome or Firefox might still be better options. But if all you want is a browser that focuses on simplicity, privacy, and ad blocking, Firefox Focus is now available as a free option for both iOS and Android.

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2 replies on “Firefox Focus is a simple, private browser for mobile devices (Android and iOS)”

  1. Posting this with FFF… 17 trackers blocked from the homepage to this article….
    FireFox Focus looks nice but limited to be used daily…

  2. I’d sure like to see this for Chrome OS. Google Chrome on my Chromebook isn’t very private.

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