Firefox 9 for Android Aurora Almost Here, Brings Tablet Support Along

Mozilla has already started the work on Firefox 9 for Android, and the first nightly bits are now available for download for those who would like to get an early taste of the next mobile browser release.

The next step in the development of Firefox 9 for Android is to bring it to the Aurora channel, something that should happen in a matter of weeks.

Currently, Mozilla has Firefox 8 in Aurora, and the company is getting ready to move it to the Beta channel, and to bring the stable release of Firefox 7 to devices.

Those who would like to test or preview Firefox 8 can already do so by downloading the mobile browser from Softpedia via this link, and they can also have a look at Firefox 9 by downloading a nightly build from Mozilla's servers here.

Of course, the browser is quite rough around the edges at this stage, but the development team is moving fast with it, and fixes and improvements will be there soon.

The most notable improvement the new browser release will bring along will be enhanced support for tablet PCs, courtesy of a new UI that Mozilla is currently working on.

“Well, the Mobile Team here has been pounding away at bringing this new UI to life, and for those of you that are growing impatient, you can start playing with a rough build on our Nightly channel right now,” Mozilla UI Designer Ian Barlow notes in a recent blog post.

Of course, Firefox 9 with the said tablet enhancements will not be here for the next couple of months, but it looks promising in its early development stages.

As soon as the new features for the browser are approved, the new browser iteration will move to Aurora, where additional improvements will be added. The new app flavor will have to get through the Beta channel as well, and only then it gets released in the Android Market.

“So this means that a general release for Firefox on tablets is still a few months away, but if you want to watch it grow and improve right before your eyes, you can download a build here and follow along,” Ian Barlow continues.

The latest Firefox release for mobile devices, namely Firefox 6, along with the beta flavor of Firefox 7 and Firefox 8 Aurora can be downloaded from Softpedia from here.