First Fennec for Android Build Available for Download

The first usable build of Fennec for Android, Mozilla's mobile solution for Google's operating system, is out. The release is only in a pre-alpha state at the moment and, even if there are a great deal of issues with it, the good news is that it works. Mozilla is hard at work with the release of a more advanced flavor of the browser, as it even promised that a beta version of the solution should arrive later during the ongoing year, and the new release is here to show that work moves ahead.

According to Vladimir Vukićević, who brought this build of Fennec for Android to light, users should not expect too much from it. “There also aren't yet any automated nightly developer builds or automated updates to this build; it's even more of a pre-nightly build (even earlier than pre-alpha). But, it's usable enough that we wanted to get some feedback on it as we continue to develop,” Vukićević stated in a recent blog post.

On the bright side, there is an experimental version of Weave that should work with this build of Fennec for Android. Those willing to give it a try should head to the Mozilla Labs weave page and click on “Experimental Version.” Those who might encounter issues with the application should be able to force it to quit by going to Android Settings, selecting Applications, selecting Manage Applications, then clicking on Fennec and hitting Force Stop.

As for the aforementioned warnings, we can count the fact that the development team says the browser has been tested only on the Motorola Droid and the Nexus One, that it will run only on Android 2.0 or above, or that it has some issues with memory usage, which could cause problems when large pages are involved. Since there are bugs, the app might cause the handset to stop responding, it will exit and relaunch on first start, and it installs on the internal memory, not on a microSD memory card.

Enthusiasts will find this build of Fennec for Android available for download from Softpedia too, via this link.