Home/Roadmap
 |
Firefox Home 2011 Roadmap | |
| Owner: Thomas Arend | Updated: 2011-04-12 | |
| We at Mozilla believe that the web should be accessible and easy to use anywhere you go. Today’s mobile devices make it particularly hard to browse complex web pages that were not optimized for the mobile web. And nobody likes to type much on virtual keys or on small mobile keyboards anyway. Browsing on mobile devices should be easy, fast, fun, and secure - across all platforms. That is why we launched the Firefox Home app for iPhone in 2010. Firefox Home uses Firefox Sync to give you on-the-go access to bookmarks, open tabs, and browsing history from Firefox on your laptop and desktop computers and from your other connected mobile devices so you can type less and browse more. The Awesome Bar is the innovative way for accessing your online life with just one touch. And you can even share your favorite links easily with your friends. Of course, all of your personal data is securely encrypted and only accessible for you through your connected devices. You can download Firefox Home from the iTunes App Store today. This roadmap describes how Firefox Home will evolve from a native iPhone application into a cross-platform Web Application for a seamless Firefox web experience. | ||
Overview
Firefox Home 2011 - documents our status early 2011
Product Priorities for 2011 - is a set of proposed features that we would like to introduce to Firefox Home within the next 12-18 months
Not a Priority in 2011 - find out what is not a goal for Firefox Home in 2011
Doing the right thing - Read this part if you like to know how we are getting guidance on product development, how we measure success, and how you can share your feedback and get involved.
Product Roadmap 2011 - is a proposed market delivery schedule based on the example project work laid out in previous sections
Looking (way) beyond 2011: Mobile Vision - what will the mobile web look like in the next few years, which trends do we see, how will user interactions shift
Feedback and Questions can be sent to tarend@mozilla.com - see section for more channels
More Info - Useful links for further reading
Firefox Home 2011
Product Priorities for 2011
Here is a list of proposed features that we would like to introduce to Firefox Home within the next 12-18 months:
- Better ease-of-use - we have many ideas on how to make Firefox Home better: favicons instead of text links, interactive thumbnails, improved frecency algorithmus for a better awesome bar experience, better sharing and bookmarking, widgets with real-time information
- Improved performance and lower memory footprint - we want to make Firefox Home even faster and smarter while using less memory on your mobile device
- Harmonization with Firefox for Android (and Nokia) - while Firefox Home is not a mobile browser, all available and new features will be adjusted to look, feel, and behave exactly the same way across platforms and devices
- Integration with new Mozilla Services - Firefox Home will integrate with upcoming Mozilla services like F1 for easy sharing, Mozilla ID for secure and easy single-sign-on on the web, and with advanced Firefox Sync features.
- Web Apps - Firefox Home will be integrated with Web Apps and Web App Stores
- Web Service - Transition Firefox Home from a native iPhone app into a web app service that can be used online and on your device anywhere you go across desktop and mobile devices including currently unsupported mobile platforms
Not a Priority in 2011
Apple's Terms of Service currently ban any web engines that are not based on web kit and also scripting languages like JavaScript. Hence, we are not able to offer a full-fledged web browser at this point. Sorry! We developed Firefox Home as a utility that brings core features like the Awesome Screen and Firefox Sync to Apple devices for easy connection with your desktop and Android mobile devices that all run Firefox.
We believe in giving users the choice and in innovating with open web standards. Our desktop and mobile (on Android and Nokia) Firefox browsers are based on the same technology platform. They both use a new multi-process architecture called “Electrolysis” for highest speed, compatibility and for extensibility with a variety of browser add-ons, also the Gecko rendering engine and a super-fast JavaScript engine, using Mozilla’s “JaegerMonkey” just-in-time compiler.
Doing the right thing
How are we getting guidance on product development? How do we measure user satisfaction and success? And how can you share your feedback and get involved?
Easy: we ask *you*: At Mozilla we have a great tradition of listening to nobody but our loyal users and the awesome community of developers which have helped our users in the past to take back the web. We have many channels for input and communication from and between users, developers, community members and people here at Mozilla. You can check out http://support.mozilla.com or request help from within Firefox Home. Mozilla Input is another important channel that shows us trends in user feedback and satisfaction easily.
And, outside of all these channels, you can always check out http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/mobile/getinvolved/ to get involved, to contribute your ideas and questions, to connect with our team and with the Firefox Home community. Feel free to contact me directly at tarend@mozilla.com.
Product Roadmap 2011
Looking (way) beyond 2011
Here are some thoughts on what the mobile web might look like in the next few years, which trends we see, and how user interactions will shift over time. This list is by no means complete. But it shows some of my thinking that may be the background to how we drive Firefox for mobile in the next two years: See http://bit.ly/mobilevision