Tag: firefox

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Mobile Syrup

Microsoft’s internal concept Edge browser looks a lot like Firefox

Microsoft is reportedly working on a redesign of its Edge browser that would — surprisingly — make it look more like Firefox.

As detailed by leaker WalkingCat on Twitter (via Windows Central), Microsoft’s ‘Project Phoenix,’ or Edge Phoenix, is an internal reimaging of the browser. Microsoft has been working on it since last summer and has been building it in pieces, some of which can already be enabled through experiemental flags in preview versions of Edge.

The most notable change visible in a preview video shared by WalkingCat and in images posted by Windows Central is the tab bar. Unlike the current Edge tab bar, Edge Phoenix features tab indicators that are seperated from the rest of the UI, such as the search bar and webpage (just like the current Firefox design). That tab style is somehwat divisive among Firefox fans, but I like it a lot.

Beyond the button-style tabs, Edge Phoenix has a more Fluent-style design with several rounded elements. It looks much more at-home as a Windows 11 app then the current Edge browser, which just looks like Google Chrome with some Microsoft stylings.

Comparison of browser tabs, from top to bottom: Firefox, Edge, Edge Phoenix

Microsoft’s in-progress ‘split view’ tab feature is also heavily featured in the redesign, with WalkingCat describing it as the “spirit” of Edge Phoenix.

Windows Central also highlights a ‘Tab Activity Center’ with insights about browsing activity and usage stats, similar to the Screen Time or Digital Wellbeing features available on iPhone and Android.

While Edge Phoenix certainly looks nice, and some of the features are interesting, it remains unclear if we’ll ever see it ship. WalkingCat described it as an “imaginary” version of Edge, saying it was an internal concept used for development. Windows Central noted that we could see some of the features rolling out over time.

I’d love to see Microsoft roll out the Edge Phoenix design as it’s a significant departure from most other browsers out there and looks very at home on Windows 11.

Images credit: Windows Central

Source: WalkingCat Via: Windows Central

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Mobile Syrup

Google delays plans to change Chrome’s extensions standard

Google postponed plans to start turning off its old extensions standard in January and hasn’t set up a new timeline for the plan.

Google previously planned to test turning off its Manifest V2 (MV2) extension standard in some versions of Chrome starting January 2023. The search giant is currently trying to switch to the new Manifest V3 (MV3), which aims to improve the performance and security of Chrome extensions. However, critics have taken issue with MV3 over changes to features used by ad-blocking extensions.

According to a Google Groups post from Chrome Extensions developer advocate Simeon Vincent, Google postponed removing MV2 from pre-release versions of Chrome, like Chrome Canary, Dev, and Beta, in January to give developers more time to update their extensions and prepare for the changes:

“We’re committed to providing developers solutions to migration challenges with new functionality, bug fixes, and adequate time for adoption. For this reason, we’re postponing any January experiments to turn off Manifest V2 in pre-release channels of Chrome and changes to the featured badge in the Chrome Webstore, and we’ll be evaluating all downstream milestones as well. Expect to hear more about the updated phase-out plan and schedule by March of 2023. Our guiding principle will be to give developers sufficient time to update and test their extensions after the launch of these new capabilities before turning off Manifest V2.”

The original plan was to test the removal of MV2 in pre-release Chrome, expand the tests to stable Chrome releases in June 2023, and then stop running MV2 extensions entirely in January 2024. Now those future plans, like stopping using MV2 entirely, are “under review.”

Others have written extensively about MV3’s potential impact on ad-blockers, but the short version is that MV3 swaps the Web Request API — commonly used by ad-blockers — for the ‘Declarative Net Request’ API. It gives ad-blockers less power in an effort ot minimize security risks but critics argue the changes restrict actions extensions can take to protect user privacy.

Worse, Google’s changes don’t just apply to Chrome — Chromium will be impacted as well. That means the MV3 changes will likely trickle down into other Chromium-based browsers, such as Edge, Brave, Opera, and Vivaldi. Firefox, however, plans to support MV3 and as well as the Web Request API.

Source: Google Groups Via: The Verge, 9to5Google

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Mobile Syrup

New Mozilla bundle includes VPN, Firefox Relay with phone number masking

Source: https://blog.mozilla.org/press/2022/11/mozilla-the-best-gift-for-anyone-who-wants-to-feel-safer-when-they-go-online-mozilla-privacy-products/

Mozilla, the company behind the Firefox browser, rolled out a new bundled subscription for two of its privacy-oriented products. Now, customers can get Mozilla VPN and Firefox relay for one price.

If you’re not familiar with either product, here’s a quick summary. Mozilla VPN is, well, a VPN service based on WireGuard and Mullvad. The plan covers up to five devices, offers over 500 servers in over 30 countries, and there are no bandwidth restrictions. Importantly, Mozilla promises it doesn’t log network activity and that Mozilla VPN offers device-level encryption. It came to Canada in July 2020 and later expanded to support Mac and Linux.

Mozilla VPN on its own typically costs $4.99 USD per month, billed annually at $59.88 (about $80 CAD) for 12 months.

Firefox Relay, on the other hand, is a web app that lets users create email “masks,” which are alternate emails, so they don’t have to give out their actual email. Relay recently expanded to include phone number masking for those who pay for Relay Premium (which is also included in the new bundle).

Free Firefox Relay users got up to five email masks. There are two tiers of Relay Premium; the first gives access to unlimited email masks and additional features like the ability to block promotional emails or respond to forwarded emails. It costs $1.99 USD ($2.66 CAD) per month or $0.99 USD ($1.32) per month with yearly billing. It jumps up to $3.99 USD ($5.34 CAD) per month with yearly billing to get the phone number masking.

However, with Mozilla’s new bundle, you can get both Mozilla VPN and Relay Premium with phone number masking for $6.99 USD ($9.35 CAD) per month or $83.88 USD ($112.26 CAD) per year. You can sign up for the bundle from either the Mozilla VPN website or the Firefox Relay website.

Header image credit: Mozilla

Source: Mozilla

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Mobile Syrup

Firefox can now strip trackers out of website URLs

Mozilla’s Firefox browser got a new feature to help stop companies from tracking users.

As part of Firefox version 102, the browser can now automatically strip tracking parameters out of website URLs. The feature is called ‘Query Parameter Stripping.’ For those unfamiliar with the practice of URL parameters, it’s commonly used by social media and other companies to track what links people click on.

For example, Bleeping Computer outlines various URL trackers Firefox can now block, including those used by companies like Facebook, Marketo, Olytics, and more:

  • Facebook (fbclid=, mc_eid=)
  • Olytics (oly_enc_id=, oly_anon_id=)
  • Drip (__s=)
  • Vero (vero_id=)
  • HubSpot (_hsenc=)
  • Marketo (mkt_tok=)

Generally, these URL parameters include a string of letters and numbers after the equals sign (=). For example: “https://www.example.com/?fbclid=IwAR4HesRZLT-fxhhh3nZ7WKsOpaiFzsg4nH0K4WLRHw1h467GdRjaLilWbLs.”

Bleeping Computer also generated a test page with ‘example.com’ links featuring each of the above trackers so users can test if their browser is stripping those parameters from their URLs. You can check out that test site here (click one of the links on the page and then check the URL bar to see if there are any of the listed URL trackers in it).

How to enable Query Parameter Stripping

Unfortunately, Firefox’s Query Parameter Stripping isn’t turned on by default. To access the feature, users need to switch Firefox’s ‘Enhanced Tracking Protection’ feature to ‘Strict.’ Along with stripping URL trackers, Strict mode blocks social media trackers, cross-site cookies, tracking content, cryptominers, and fingerprinters. It also can break some websites, or make certain elements display incorrectly.

As someone who uses Firefox regularly, and often with ‘Strict’ Enhanced Tracking Protection, the biggest issue I’ve noticed is that it messes with embedded social media posts (like from Twitter or Instagram). Of course, there may be broader problems as well, so for some using Strict mode might be more hassle than it’s worth to get URL parameter stripping.

To enabled Strict mode, open Firefox’s settings > Privacy & Security > Enhanced Tracking Protection > Strict. Bleeping Computer also notes that this doesn’t impact Firefox’s private browsing mode (read: incognito mode), so if you want to enabled URL stripping in private mode too, you’ll need to toggle some settings in the ‘about:config’ menu. Bleeping Computer has detailed instructions for that here.

Alternate solutions for non-Firefox users

Although the addition of the feature is a move in the right direction, it’s worth noting that Firefox only strips a limited number of URL trackers. Bleeping Computer notes that Brave, a Chromium-based browser with a focus on privacy and crypto, blocks additional URL trackers. However, for those not interested in switching their browser, the ‘ClearURLs‘ extension can serve the same purpose.

ClearURLs can be added to most modern browsers and handles the task of removing URL tracking parameters. I’ve been using ClearURLs for a long time and will likely continue using it for the foreseeable future since it covers much more than the built-in stripper Firefox uses.

That said, ideally, Firefox’s built-in future eventually improves enough that ClearURLs is no longer necessary. Not that there’s anything wrong with ClearURLs — it’s just I’d prefer to minimize the number of extensions I use when possible.

You can learn more about ClearURLs here.

Query Parameter Stripping is one of many privacy features Mozilla has added to Firefox recently. Earlier this month, Mozilla rolled out ‘Total Cookie Protection,’ which gives each website its own cookie jar so that sites can’t snoop on your other online activities. You can read more about that here.

Source: Bleeping Computer

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Mobile Syrup

Mozilla rolling out Total Cookie Protection feature to all Firefox users

Mozilla announced that it will start rolling out its ‘Total Cookie Protection’ (TCP) feature by default to all desktop Firefox users worldwide.

In a blog post about the feature, Mozilla detailed how TCP will improve user privacy by confining cookies to the website that created them. Mozilla describes the feature as giving each website its own cookie jar, rather than letting websites share one giant cookie jar (check the illustration above).

This approach to cookies makes it more difficult for trackers to link user activity across websites:

“Any time a website, or third-party content embedded in a website, deposits a cookie in your browser, that cookie is confined to the cookie jar assigned to only that website. No other websites can reach into the cookie jars that don’t belong to them and find out what the other websites’ cookies know about you — giving you freedom from invasive ads and reducing the amount of information companies gather about you.”

Mozilla says that TCP helps prevent the worst privacy problems of third-party cookies while also allowing those cookies to fulfill some less invasive use cases, such as analytics.

However, Firefox isn’t the only browser taking on third-party cookies. Google previously announced plans to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome but has delayed the move until 2023. Apple’s Safari also offers ‘Intelligent Tracking Prevention’ that helps prevent cross-site tracking.

TCP was first made available in Firefox back in May as an opt-in feature while Mozilla tested it. Today’s announcement will shift the feature from opt-in to on-by-default, which is a big step forward.

Unfortunately, not all Firefox users will have TCP. Notably, mobile versions of the Firefox browser don’t have TCP — at least, for now. Mozilla’s chief security officer, Marshall Erwin, told The Verge that there’s a different timeline for bringing TCP to Firefox on Android. TCP is available on ‘Firefox Focus,’ a version of mobile Firefox that’s all about privacy. However, Erwin also noted that Firefox users on iOS won’t be able to use TCP, citing Apple’s restriction that forces iOS web browsers to use the WebKit browser engine (the same one used by Safari).

TCP will be available in the latest version of Firefox, although it seems unclear how users will be able to verify if the feature is enabled. Previously, users who were invited to test TCP could check whether it was enabled by heading to Settings > Privacy & Security > Enhanced Tracking Protection. Although I’m running the latest version of Firefox, I wasn’t able to find TCP in my settings, although perhaps I’ve jumped the gun on checking since Mozilla only just announced the rollout.

You can learn more about how TCP works here.

Header image credit: Mozilla

Source: Mozilla Via: The Verge

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Mozilla added its VPN to the excellent Multi-Account Containers add-on for Firefox

Mozilla is making its ‘Multi-Account Containers’ add-on for Firefox more powerful by allowing users to combine containers with a virtual private network (VPN).

Multi-Account Containers, for those unfamiliar with the add-on, allows Firefox users to “contain” different online accounts into separate spaces, all within a single browser window. Containers also isolate browsing history, cookies, tracking information, and more, making them great for privacy.

For example, if you have multiple accounts for an online service like email, Multi-Account Containers would let you log in to those accounts without having to deal with annoying account switching or other issues.

Multi-Account Containers have been available as a Firefox add-on since 2017, but there are several other extensions that leverage the capability as well. I’ve used Firefox containers for a while now, but I haven’t installed that specific extension. Instead, a combo of Mozilla’s ‘Facebook Container‘ add-on and the ‘Temporary Container‘ add-on has worked fine for me.

The former automatically opens Facebook pages in a separate container to help prevent the company from tracking you across the web, while the latter lets me create temporary containers with the click of a button that gets deleted when I’m done with them. Beyond that, I use a ‘Work’ container and a ‘Personal’ container to help keep my various work and personal accounts separate.

Image credit: Mozilla

Anyway, the new VPN capability only adds to the already excellent capabilities of Multi-Account Containers by allowing users to set specific VPN settings for each container. For example, you could set your ‘Banking’ container to always open using a VPN located in your home country while you use a different container tab using a VPN located in the U.S. to browse the American Netflix catalogue. It’s worth noting that if you don’t use Mozilla’s VPN service, you can click the ‘Advanced Proxy Settings’ button in Multi-Account Containers to set any proxy you want.

Alongside the Multi-Account Containers and VPN crossover, Mozilla announced that its VPN ‘multi-hop’ feature, which lets users route traffic through two different servers, is now available on Android and iOS.

You can learn more about using Multi-Account Containers with VPNs here.

Source: Mozilla Via: The Verge