However, one of the bigger changes will go to address one of the most common problems with using mobile browsers: tab clutter. These will be saved for up to 14 days, Mozilla says, so you can easily return to your online research without having to dig through your search history. And your recent searches will be found on the homepage, where they’re grouped by topic. Your recently saved bookmarks are now also available on the homepage, including those that have synced over from Firefox on the desktop, if you have this set up. These will be presented in a list when you click on the “Show all” link, next to the most recent headline appearing directly on the homepage. The “Jump back in” section, for instance, will help users quickly find the article they had been reading but didn’t get a chance to finish and close out of, which is a common source of tab clutter. The changes could make Firefox more competitive with default options on mobile devices, like Apple’s Safari or Google’s Chrome, for example, whose “new tab” pages today point users to their bookmarks, a reading list and other items - like Safair’s new “Shared with You” collection of things you’ve been sent via other Apple apps, or Chrome’s easy access buttons for recent tabs or search history.īut in Firefox’s case, it will make it easier to get back to items - like articles you were reading or recent searches - as they’re not just a button, but a list you can scroll through directly on the homepage.
The changes are a part of the Firefox Beta, which introduced a new homepage that will now serve as a re-entry point to the mobile web, says the browser’s maker, Mozilla.
Alternative mobile browser Firefox today shipped its latest release for iOS and Android with an update aimed at helping users address common issues - like the visual clutter of having too many open tabs or needing to pick up where you left off the last time the app was closed, among other things.