Mozilla's New Firefox Android App Only Supports These Extensions For Now
by Brendan HesseMozilla is about to remove the Nightly beta of its new Firefox Android browser from the Google Play Store, leaving only Firefox Preview for users to try. It’s worth swapping over from the Nightly build to this browser right now, or giving it a peek for the first time, but there’s one small catch: Only one extension is currently supported, and many of your favourites might not make the jump to this new version of Firefox.
According to Mozilla’s recent announcements, only 97 extensions in Mozilla’s “recommended extensions” program will be supported by the new Firefox for Android when it eventually hits a stable release. Right now, you’re limited to one in Firefox Preview: uBlock origin. And there’s no promise from Mozilla that extensions not included in its recommended pack will be added back to Firefox mobile in the future, though the company says it’s open to trying.
What does this mean? If you’ve been using extensions in the current version of Firefox for Android, you’re going to want to cross-reference them against Mozilla’s list to see if they’re coming along in the new version of the app that’ll arrive this spring. Otherwise, you’ll need to find a replacement for these add-ons.
To get you started, here are a few of our favourites from Mozilla’s list. Start trying them out now so you’re familiar with them once the new Firefox version drops for Android:
- Dark Reader - Automatically switches on dark mode, even on some websites that don’t have a native dark mode.
- Decentraleyes - Prevents your data from being collected by Google and other companies.
- Ghostery - Blocks ads and trackers.
- HTTPS Everywhere - Adds HTTPS encryption to sites that may not normally have it for more secure browsing.
- NoScript Security Suite - Alerts you to potentially malicious web scripts running on a page and lets you control whether they run.
- Privacy Badger - Blocks invisible trackers.
- uBlock Origin - Block ads and other on-screen elements without slowing down device performance or website loading speeds.
- Video Background Play Fix - Fixes issues that prevent video or audio playback while Firefox is running in the background.