14 DAY TRIAL // Firefox for Android has changed. Last week, Mozilla released the beta version of the new flavor of its browser, which comes with a native UI to deliver important performance improvements.
Mozilla notes that the new native UI is lighter, faster, and sleeker, and that it should provide users with a much better experience than before.
These changes are part of Mozilla’s effort to streamline the visual identity of Firefox on various platforms, both desktop and mobile. In the end, Firefox should deliver a consistent experience regardless of the device used.
The recently released Native UI for Firefox for Android, however, is only one aspect of the changes that Mozilla plans for the browser.
“For instance, there’s a lot of interesting changes coming up as part of our work on the native tablet UI that will eventually trickle down to the phone UI as well,” Mozilla’s Lucas Rocha explains in a blog post.
The new beta release of Firefox comes with smoother panning and zooming, available courtesy of the major changes brought under the hood to graphics and rendering. The new version of the app uses tiled rendering and an off-main-thread layer compositor for this.
Firefox for Android also comes with re-implemented Places database as a private Content Provider to offer instant access to history and bookmarks, and to enable Firefox Sync to access these even when Firefox is not running.
“We’ve already started working on new features for the following releases including the native UI for Firefox on Android tablets and a reader mode,” Lucas Rocha continues.
“As you can see, the upcoming Firefox for Android is a whole new beast. We are working hard to make it the best mobile browser out there. You can help us now testing the Beta as part of our Mobile Test Drivers Program!”
The Native Firefox for Android was released with support for a wide range of Android devices, including those running under the older Android 2.2 platform, or those powered by the new Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS.
The new Firefox for Android beta is available for download from Softpedia as well, via this link.
