Firefox for Android
Firefox for Android is part of the Fennec project to bring the Firefox web browser to mobile devices. For more information about Fennec, see the Firefox Mobile web site.
- Latest Version: Pre-Alpha (download)
- Optimized for: Google Nexus One, Motorola Droid (will eventually include more devices)
- OS Requirements: Google Android 2.0 or higher
- System Requirements: OpenGL ES2.0
Status
Firefox for Android is in very early development. The browser builds and runs on some devices, but it is not yet ready for daily use.
Stay tuned and follow us on Twitter and Facebook to hear about new releases and other announcements. Or read our developer blogs to follow our development progress.
We have not yet set a date for the first release of Firefox for Android, but we are tentatively planning for a release before the end of 2010, with alpha and beta releases earlier in the year. Mobile/Planning/2.0 lists some of the work we are doing for the upcoming release.
Download
There are no official releases of Firefox for Android yet, but you can try a nightly build.
You can also try out Fennec on other platforms, including on your Mac, Windows, or Linux PC.
Known Issues
We are working on fixing all of these bugs.
Installation:
- Adobe Flash and other plugins are not supported yet. The "YouTube Enabler" plugin will not work because it requires Flash.
- Fennec takes over 25 MB of internal storage space after install. Current goal is below 20 MB installed.
Performance:
- Initial start-up takes a long time (up to 20-30 seconds on some phones).
- Fennec is slow to respond at times, especially while images or pages are still loading. This will be fixed by Electrolysis.
- Fennec uses large amounts of memory, and may cause Android to stop other running activities on your phone. In extreme cases this can cause your phone to become unresponsive until it is rebooted.
User Interface:
- If you hide Fennec by pressing the Home button, it may display a black screen when you return to it. You can work around this by forcing Fennec to quit in the "Manage Applications" section of Android's Settings activity.
- The only way to zoom is by double-tapping. Future builds will support multi-touch "pinch" zoom gestures (bug 437957).
Keyboard:
- The software keyboard may not appear on the first click, particularly on HTC Sense roms.
- In landscape mode, the software keyboard does not update when deleting characters.
- The hardware keyboard does not match the behavior of other apps. You will need to hold down the SHIFT or ALT keys while typing numbers/symbols/capitals on a hardware keyboard.
System Requirements
Fennec requires Android 2.0 or later.
Installation requires about 35 MB of available internal storage. Fennec does not yet work when installed to an SD card (a feature of some unofficial Android ROMs).
We are using these devices for development:
- Verizon Droid (Motorola Milestone)
- Google Nexus One (HTC)
Other users have successfully installed Fennec on these devices:
- Verizon Droid Incredible (HTC Incredible)
- HTC Legend
- HTC Desire
Users have not been able to run Fennec on these devices:
- Verizon Droid Eris (HTC)
- HTC Dream (T-Mobile G1, Android Dev Phone 1)
- HTC Magic (T-Mobile myTouch 3G)
- HTC Hero (T-Mobile G2 Touch)
- HTC Tattoo
As Firefox for Android gets closer to release we will test it on more phones, and make sure it runs on as many as possible.
Support
Firefox on Android is not officially supported yet, but we'd like to hear your bug reports, comments, and questions at our Android pre-alpha forum.
Development
See Mobile/Fennec/Android for build instructions, developer documentation, and more project status.