What you need to know
- Mozilla has announced the release of the 100th version of Firefox.
- The latest release is accompanied by a slew of new visual enhancements and functionalities for the browser's mobile and desktop versions.
- Firefox on Android now supports HTTPS-only connections for all websites you visit, assuming this type of connection is available.
Mozilla is getting a bit more aggressive with its privacy and security efforts. Firefox on Android now includes an HTTPS-only mode that will automatically establish an encrypted connection when you visit any website that supports HTTPS.
The new security-focused feature is part of Firefox's 100th version, which is now available on the best Android phones. Mozilla says that the new feature will upgrade your browsing session on Android to a secure connection over HTTPS whenever possible. However, for websites that still use HTTP, Firefox will continue to use the insecure connection by default.
It's a step forward in Mozilla's efforts to automatically switch users to HTTPS mode when they visit any website. It all started with the release of Firefox 91 last year, which favors secure web connections by default when you're in a private browsing window, the equivalent of Chrome's Incognito mode.
Firefox is also decluttering your history with a new option to organize your browsing history on Android and iOS.
"One of the ways we’ve done this is by grouping history items by the original item, for example if you’re looking for shoes and you’ve looked at several models, you can find them grouped in one folder under your search term," Mozilla said in a blog post. "Another way we’ve organized your history is removing duplicate sites thus reducing the visual clutter."
Firefox has also gained a makeover on Android. The mobile browser now has browser wallpapers to let you personalize the appearance of your browser. Browser wallpapers will be available on iOS later this week.
On desktops, Firefox is adding subtitles and captions to picture-in-picture mode. This comes in handy, particularly for users with hearing impairments. The feature will initially work with Youtube, Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, and other websites that support WebVTT format.
The browser will also now obey your device’s language preference and ask whether you would like to switch to your preferred language. The browser currently supports more than 100 languages.
Mozilla is also expanding the credit card autofill feature to the UK, France, and Germany. The feature is already available in North America.
