Firefox for iOS is a

free and open-source Free and open-source software (FOSS) is a term used to refer to groups of software consisting of both free software and open-source software where anyone is freely licensed to use, copy, study, and change the software in any way, and the source ...

web browser A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used on ...

from

Mozilla Mozilla (stylized as moz://a) is a free software community founded in 1998 by members of Netscape. The Mozilla community uses, develops, spreads and supports Mozilla products, thereby promoting exclusively free software and open standards, wi ...

, for the

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

iPhone,

iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...

and

iPod Touch The iPod Touch (stylized as iPod touch) is a discontinued line of iOS-based mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. with a touchscreen-controlled user interface. As with other iPod models, the iPod Touch can be used as a music pl ...

mobile devices. It is the first

Firefox Mozilla Firefox, or simply Firefox, is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. It uses the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements current and ...

-branded browser not to use the

Gecko Geckos are small, mostly carnivorous lizards that have a wide distribution, found on every continent except Antarctica. Belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, geckos are found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from . Geckos ar ...

layout engine as is used in Firefox for

desktop A desktop traditionally refers to: * The surface of a desk (often to distinguish office appliances that fit on a desk, such as photocopiers and printers, from larger equipment covering its own area on the floor) Desktop may refer to various compu ...

and

mobile Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ( ...

. Apple's policies require all iOS apps that browse the web to use the built-in

WebKit WebKit is a browser engine developed by Apple and primarily used in its Safari web browser, as well as on the iOS and iPadOS version of any web browser. WebKit is also used by the BlackBerry Browser, PlayStation consoles beginning from the PS ...

rendering framework and WebKit JavaScript, so using Gecko is not possible. Firefox for iOS supports

Firefox Sync Firefox Sync, originally branded Mozilla Weave, is a browser synchronization feature for Firefox web browsers. It allows users to partially synchronize bookmarks, browsing history, preferences, passwords, filled forms, add-ons, and the last 25 o ...

and is able to sync Firefox's browsing history, bookmarks, and recent tabs.

History

In December 2014, Mozilla announced it was designing a version of Firefox for iOS. In September 2015, it released a limited preview of the app available only in the New Zealand iOS App Store. In November 2016,

Firefox Focus Firefox Focus is a free and open-source privacy-focused mobile browser based on Firefox from Mozilla, available for Android and iOS smartphones and tablets. Firefox Focus was initially a tracker-blocking application for mobile iOS devices, rel ...

, a stripped-down version of the full browser with a specific focus on private browsing, was published in the Apple App Store.

Version history

* Version 9.0, released in September 2017, introduced tracking protection on iOS 11 (and later). * Version 10.0, released in November 2017, introduced a redesigned user interface, corresponding to the new "Photon" UI introduced with Firefox 57 later that month. * Version 11.0, released in April 2018, set tracking protection to be enabled by default. * Version 12.0, released in May 2018, introduced file downloads, unified share extension, and easier syncing. * Version 13.0, released in May 2018, introduced

dark mode A light-on-dark color scheme —also called black mode, dark mode, dark theme, night mode, or lights-out (mode)— is a color scheme that uses light-colored text, icons, and graphical user interface elements on a dark background. It is often d ...

, tab search. * Version 14.0, released in November 2018, introduced support for

Siri Siri ( ) is a virtual assistant that is part of Apple Inc.'s iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, tvOS, and audioOS operating systems. It uses voice queries, gesture based control, focus-tracking and a natural-language user interface to answer questio ...

shortcuts and allowing the user to pick the items to be deleted from the history. * Version 15.0, released in February 2019, introduced an improved menu, new tab settings, and allowing the user to drag tabs to reorder them. * Version 16.0, released in April 2019, introduced access to bookmarks, history, reading list, saved passwords and downloads, and includes a redesigned search bar. * Version 17.0. released in May 2019, introduced bookmark sync via Firefox Account. * Version 18.0, released in July 2019, Bookmark improvement. * Version 19.0, released in September 2019, Tracking Protection (Enhanced Tracking Protection) redesign. * Version 20.0, released in October 2019, added “Clear all History” option to the history tab. * Version 21.0, released in December 2019, dark theme now includes a dark keyboard and dark splash screen. * Version 22.0, released in January 2020, Tracking Fingerprinting list for Enhanced Tracking Protection. * Version 23.0, released in February 2020, bug fixes and technical improvements. * Version 24.0, released in March 2020, updated Enchanted Tracking Protection information screen. * Version 25.0, released in May 2020, updated welcome screen and Firefox Account improvement. * Version 26.0, released in May 2020, sync support using QR code. * Version 27.0, released in June 2020, continue transition to new internal analytics platform. * Version 28.0, released in July 2020, new bottom search button of tab screen, new one-click option to start search. * Version 29.0, released in October 2020, added iOS 14 default browser feature. * Version 30.0, released in December 2020, general fixes. * Version 31.0, released in February 2021, general fixes. * Version 32.0, released in February 2021, pinned sites improvement. * Version 33.0, released in March 2021, added iOS 14 widget feature. * Version 34.0, released in May 2021, redesigned UI.

Firefox Home

Firefox Home was a companion app for the iPhone and iPod Touch based on the

technology. It allowed users of either device to access their Firefox browsing history, bookmarks, and recent tabs. It also included Firefox's "Awesomebar" location bar. Firefox Home was not a web browser, the application launched web pages in either an embedded viewer for that one page, or by opening the page in the Safari app. Mozilla pulled Firefox Home from the

App Store An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the co ...

in September 2012, stating it would focus its resources on other projects. The company subsequently released the

source code In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the wo ...

of Firefox Home's underlying synchronization software.

Features

Firefox for iOS supports many features common to other mobile browsers, including tabs, history, and bookmarks. It also implements some unique features, including the same tracking protection found in

, a new tab page mimicking that is found on other versions of Firefox, and support for syncing with a Firefox account between devices. Unlike Firefox on Android, Firefox for iOS does not support browser add-ons. Additionally, it uses Apple's

rendering engine, rather than Mozilla's

. Both of these limitations are in accordance with Apple's rules for submitting apps to the

References

External links

*
Firefox for iOS mozilla wiki page

Firefox for iOS
on the