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Chrome vs Firefox: Compare Android Browsers

For many users on PC, Mozilla Firefox is the browser of choice, while on the Android platform, app share is more like a rounding error. In fact, this is one of the possible reasons why the developers at Mozilla decided to completely rewrite their mobile browser with a new rendering engine, an updated interface, improved performance and many additional privacy features. And now that Mozilla has spent a year and a half refining its product, I decided to test the new mobile Firefox quite thoroughly on my Android smartphone to see how it fares against the competition from Google Chrome, which is preferred by most people.

Interface and user experience

In Firefox, you can choose between a top and bottom style for the toolbar layout – depending on which option you use, you will find the address bar, tab switches, and a menu button at the bottom or top of the smartphone screen. Just like Google Chrome, you can switch between tabs by swiping left or right on the address bar instead of using dedicated buttons.

It’s worth noting that I’m not a big fan of the tab-switching UI that the Firefox development team settled on. No matter which toolbar position you choose, the tab switch button will launch a special menu that slides from the bottom of the screen, displaying all of the user’s open tabs in a list with a small preview of the page’s content on the left. This solution looks like it was added to the application at the last minute. Luckily, you can swipe open tabs by swiping left or right, and if you prefer the grid view, you can turn it on in the app’s settings.

The New Tab page gives you quick access to your most visited sites, site collections (a separate tab where you can group and save tabs by category), and a quick incognito mode switch feature. There is also an option to quickly return to the previous page with a small preview of recent tabs, plus the ability to view recent searches and interesting articles from Pocket (Mozilla’s service for reading various content that the user finds on the Internet). Many modules on this page are included and removed at the discretion of the user.

In addition, the address bar of the browser has a fairly convenient QR code scanner, and you can select your preferred search engine on the fly – none of these functions are available in Google Chrome (however, Chrome has a Google Lens launcher in the address bar, which can read QR codes). You can also enter your search queries by voice. And also, when you visit a site and see the shield icon in the address bar, by clicking on it, you can enable or disable Firefox’s tracking protection (in the settings you can quite flexibly adjust the level of user protection).

In the additional menu, which is located behind the button with three dots, you will find quick access to downloads, history, bookmarks, synced bookmarks and advanced settings. Moreover, in the application settings, the user gets access to data deletion, permissions for various sites, data collection blocking, notifications, synchronization activation, password storage and many other functions. In this menu, the user can comfortably customize Firefox to their liking or even switch the application interface to another language.

It’s safe to say that the mobile Firefox interface is pretty easy to navigate, so you’re unlikely to run into any problems if you switch to it from Chrome.

That being said, Chrome’s last really notable UI redesign was many years ago (if we discard the recent Material You update, which didn’t change much other than color), and it still relies solely on the toolbar at the top, which is getting harder to access. and more difficult as the diagonal of the displays of modern smartphones grows. Of course, Google experimented with a few other solutions like the Chrome Duet, but they were all eventually scrapped.

Additional features

Firefox has a few additional features like Reader Mode – if the browser detects that you are reading an article, it will offer you a stripped-down version of the web page in the address bar without images and various elements that distract from the content.

Then there are collections – this is a kind of format for replacing a group of bookmarks, which I don’t use very often (just like I don’t use regular bookmarks). This is probably a pretty good feature in scenarios where you’re saving something to read later, but it’s also not a good fit for permanently storing links to something. At the moment, the concept of collections is still not fully specified – perhaps this is due to the fact that the original idea (collections should have been created automatically based on the last pages visited) was eventually heavily reworked.

In addition, mobile browser sync allows the user to transfer browsing data from one device to another, just like Chrome does. This feature provides the option to share bookmarks, browsing history and passwords across Firefox browsers on smartphones and desktop platforms. And this browser can also act as a password manager that can automatically fill in login information in other applications – this feature was once introduced in Firefox Lockwise, which has now ceased to exist.

Additionally, the browser has a special search widget that provides quick access to the address bar directly from the main screen, just like in Chrome. Additionally, Firefox has a dark mode that can work automatically, switching to a light/dark theme depending on the time of day.

And, most importantly, unlike Chrome, Firefox supports extensions. Of course, at the moment the list of officially available extensions is not very large (much less than in the outdated version of the Mozilla browser), but developers are actively working on its extension.

Full list of supported extensions:

  • Google Search Fixer
  • uBlock Origin
  • Ghostery
  • Dark Reader
  • AdGuard AdBlocker
  • HTTPS Everywhere
  • Privacy Badger
  • NoScript Security Suite
  • FoxyProxy Standard
  • Bitwarden
  • Search by Image
  • Decentraleyes
  • Tomato Clock
  • YouTube High Definition
  • Privacy Possum
  • LeechBlock NG
  • Web Archives
  • Video Background Play Fix

It is worth saying that autofilling passwords from third-party managers seems to me not a very convenient solution due to the fact that sometimes pop-up windows with data simply do not appear, but, however, I encounter a similar problem in Chrome. But if you are a Bitwarden user, you can solve all problems by installing a browser extension and using it to autofill data.

I also really miss the swipe gesture that refreshes the page – it is available in almost every other application on the Android operating system, but Mozilla is only working on adding this gesture to its browser so far. Also, Firefox still hasn’t updated the tablet interface in the new version of the app, so using this browser on a tablet or Chromebook is a terrible experience.

Performance

The new Firefox app is based on Mozilla’s completely redesigned Gecko rendering engine, which is actually much faster than the old app, especially when the strictest level of tracking blocking is enabled. But even so, it’s not as fast and stable as Chrome. This is directly related to the fact that Google Chrome and other browsers based on Chromium occupy the lion’s share of the browser market worldwide and, naturally, developers focus their resources primarily on optimizing their sites for these browsers. Google itself played an important role in this – the company specifically optimizes its own web resources for its own browsers and rendering engine, providing Firefox with only the old search user interface. Of course, you can get a Chrome-like search UI with the Google Search Fixer extension, but that doesn’t solve performance problems due to poor optimization.

Moreover, content scrolling was previously another weak point of Firefox (scrolling inertia seemed patchy with unexpected jumps), but in the updated application, it has become more pleasant and smooth. However, scrolling still doesn’t match Chrome’s, but it’s smoother, more predictable, and doesn’t make the user feel uncomfortable.

Confidentiality

Mozilla representatives have repeatedly stated that all versions of the Firefox browser are designed to protect the user’s confidential information, and in the updated mobile version, the developers have remained true to this motto. The default browser blocks various online trackers and pop-up ads, and you can also turn on the maximum protection mode, which will block most third-party trackers and cookies. Google Chrome also has resource-intensive ad blocking by default, but the user can disable third-party cookies only if desired.

Firefox also has a few extra tricks up its sleeve. For example, the application provides the ability to delete browsing history data when exiting the software – this option can be activated in the browser settings. There you can also flexibly configure which data should be deleted every time the user exits the application.

On the other hand, unfortunately, Mozilla collects some application usage data by default in order to improve its product. This function can be disabled in the settings in the “Data collection” section if you do not want the company to receive at least some information from you, but you will have to do this manually.

Conclusion

If you want to separate your online life from Google even a little bit, then Firefox for Android is a viable alternative to Chrome. Sure, the browser doesn’t run as smoothly as its more popular competitor, but it delivers decent performance. You’ll also get some nice features that aren’t available in Google’s mobile browser, like support for extensions, Reader View, and advanced data privacy protection.

But you have to ask yourself what you value most in a browser. If you’re comfortable using the pre-installed app without having to configure anything else, and aren’t too worried about blocking trackers and an extra layer of privacy protection, then there’s probably no reason to switch from Chrome to something else. But if you’re interested in what the browser has to offer in terms of features, privacy, and convenience, then it might still be worth checking out the latest version of Mozilla’s browser, despite Firefox’s occasional performance issues.

This is a translation of the Android Police article.

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