Mobile/Get Involved

This page is the place to learn how to start contributing to Firefox for Android, also known as Fennec.

Firefox for Android is developed by the Mozilla community. We're currently focused on making Firefox rock on Android phones and tablets. We hope this page will help you become an active member of our community! If you're looking for other ways to contribute to Mozilla, have a look at Mozilla's global page for new contributors.

If you still feel that you don't know where to start after reading this page, feel free to ping us on IRC, we can probably give you some ideas. We're always looking for ways to improve this page to make it easier to start contributing to Firefox for Android. Suggestions and general feedback are more than welcome.

Hacking

Setting up a development environment for Firefox for Android is relatively easy. Just follow our build instructions and you'll be ready to start hacking after a couple of hours—mostly waiting for everything to compile. Unfortunately, Firefox for Android is more complicated than a basic Android app, so we recommend that you're comfortable using a command line before getting started.

Before starting to work on a bug, you should make sure you have your development environment set up. When you're ready to start hacking, it's a good idea to add a comment to the bug report letting the mentor know that you want to work on it. Ideally, the bug report should already have relevant source code links to help you get started. If you're unsure whether to take a certain bug or not, you can always contact us for clarification. If the bug you're working on involves UI changes, request feedback from the UX team (see contact list below) before landing.

Resources

Here's a list of resources that you may find useful for hacking on Fennec. Feel free to add more if you find things are missing!

• Coding style
• MXR
• Mercurial FAQ
• mach
• Bugzilla 101
• Commit access policy
• Mozillians Directory
• Try Server

Videos

• Mozilla Engineering Culture
• JSConf EU 2012 - Firefox for Android overview

Mentor Bugs

If you are looking for a bug with guidance, we maintain a set of bugs that are marked with an assigned mentor (see "Whiteboard" field). The mentor will help you get the necessary information to understand the issue, point out relevant parts of the code to look at, etc. You can browse these bugs on Bugs Ahoy!, but here's a list of unassigned mentor bugs to get you started:

Full Query

ID	Summary	Whiteboard
1655069	CSP/XFO error pages should offer an option to visit the page directly on Android	[geckoview]
1795387	Update download docs
1796497	[Bug] <select> popup overscroll glow doesn't match shape
1810594	"Adjust" product name should be a placeholder in string
1811612	Missing border radius of touch feedack (affects several elements on home screen)
1812176	Touch target - The lock icon from URL search bar needs to be resized	good first issue
1812181	Firefox for Android crashes submitting form
1812398	The `AboutFragment` misreports the app-services version when using the autoPublish workflow
1812943	Remove all use of now-removed Glean events API
1813616	Set accessibility focus on selected tab in TabsAdapter
1814140	"Cancel" and "Save" buttons are cut off the screen in landscape when adding a new card
1848835	Fenix debug build crashing at launch on specific devices	[qa-triaged]
1858790	Bookmark IO done during HomeActivity::onPause
1926063	`TranslationsDialogBottomSheetPreview` is not provided a background colour
1933726	Possible leak on Samples Browser's IntentReceiverActivity caused by MainScope not beeing canceled in onDestroy	[lang=kotlin]
1939602	Add dividers between `GleanDebugButton`s
1945254	Rename ReviewQualityCheckFooterPreview to MicrosurveyFooterPreview
1959119	Flatten inheritance hierarchy for BaseBrowserFragment / BrowserFragment /ExternalAppBrowserFragment	[fxdroid][group6]
1959800	Rename onPictureInPictureModeChanged to onPictureInPictureModeEnabled
1969533	Fix KDoc for `WebCompatReporterRetrievalService`
1969534	Fix KDoc for `WebCompatReporterTelemetryMiddleware`

21 Total; 21 Open (100%); 0 Resolved (0%); 0 Verified (0%);

Whiteboard tags

There are some whiteboard tags we use to characterize introductory bugs. Click the links below to see the list of those bugs!

• [good first bug]
• [good next bug]

Testing

If you want to help us find issues on the latest Fennec releases, join the Mobile QA team and participate in the breadth of areas that are offered. We're always looking for assorted Android Device coverage and a breadth of website compatibility testing.

Start by filing Firefox for Android Issues or converse directly with us on IRC about the bugs you find. Or watch the Events calendar for upcoming Mobile Testdays on focused topics! Testdays are an interactive opportunity to participate in real time with other community testers on testing and debugging.

Finally, subscribe to our bi-monthly newsletter on the latest and greatest in Fennec features!

Useful links:

• Bug Writing Guidelines
• Report a Firefox for Android Bug
• QA Events Calendar

Support

Join our amazing volunteer support community dedicated to helping people get the most out of Firefox Mobile!

1. Create an account on SUMO - Creating an account gives you access to answering questions and editing articles about Firefox Mobile, where we give you credit for your contributions.
2. Answer support questions - Share your knowledge of Firefox Mobile by pointing people to the right help articles and providing troubleshooting steps for their individual questions. View and reply to the unanswered mobile support questions.
3. Improve the Knowledge Base - If you like to write or teach, improving the articles in the Knowledge Base is great way to help thousands of people each week. Currently we are looking for contributors to document the new Camera UI feature in Firefox Mobile and the new Tablet UI.

Communication

IRC

To keep in touch with the Mobile team on a daily basis, you should hang out on the #mobile channel at irc://irc.mozilla.org/mobile. We're always there, in different timezones. You can read the general Mozilla IRC wiki page for more details about joining IRC.

#mobile tries to be new contributor friendly. We love it when new folks want to get involved. It's totally reasonable to just sign-on, introduce yourself, and listen to the chatter. And always ask your questions! But be patient: folks are busy and you might need repeat your question, or come online at different times of day, to get feedback.

If you want to talk to people from specific areas or have any questions, here are a few people you can ping:

• Android front-end: bnicholson, liuche, margaret, mcomella, mfinkle, mhaigh, nalexander, rnewman, wesj
• iOS: st3fan, stephan, bnicholson, wesj, jhugman
• Android platform: blassey, Cwiiis, esawin, gcp, jchen, kats, rbarker, snorp
• QA: AaronMT, kbrosnan
• Design: alam, tecgirl, darrin
• Marketing: arcadio
• Support: rolandtanglao, tdowner
• Market data and insights: irina
• Project management: jchaulk
• Product management: kar, dria

Mailing list

Subscribe to the mobile-firefox-dev mailing list to follow and participate in development discussions.

Other

For the latest developments, updates, pro-tips and happenings in the world of Firefox on Android, you should follow @FennecNightly on Twitter. You can also read our development blogs on planet mobile.

You should also be able to find us in the mobile Mozillians group.

Glossary

• [good first bug] - a whiteboard comment that means this bug is a great one to start with. These bugs are ready for you to work on as soon as you have a development environment configured. Good first bugs should be small and include detailed instructions explaining what needs to be done.

• [good second bug] - a whiteboard comment that means this is a great bug to follow your first bug with. These bugs are ready for you to work once you've submitted a patch and gotten review on your first bug. They should be small and include some instructions about what needs to be done.

• [bad first bug] - a whiteboard comment that means this bug looks very simple but is harder than it looks! Consult the bugs mentor or ask in #mobile about tackling it if you think you're ready.