Mozilla Firefox was originally created to be a faster and more secure alternative to popular browsers of the late 90s, such as Internet Explorer. Today, Firefox is still revered for its performance and privacy. When it comes to security the benefit is obvious and with Firefox very little data is collected about you. Plus, even if a hacker breaks into your browser, Firefox has built-in protection to keep you safe.
Mozilla is continually adding new features to Firefox (Image credit: Mozilla)
Features
Firefox shines when it comes to security features, but when it comes to regular features, there isn't much that breaks the line. While I wouldn't choose Mozilla based on these, they're certainly nice (and necessary) to have in a browser, and there are a couple of extras you probably won't find anywhere else. With Firefox, you can search the address bar, get smart search suggestions, and get bookmarks, history, or open tabs in your search results. There's also automatic URL suggestion, and you can change the search bar settings for more control over your browsing experience. Other features include blocking audio and video from autoplaying and displaying picture-in-picture popup videos separately from your browser window to stream something while multitasking. There's also a built-in screenshot tool, dark mode and custom themes, extensions, form autofill, pinned tabs, reader mode, and spell check. Finally, Firefox is available in over 90 languages, is compatible with Google products (like Docs and Gmail), and will sync across all your devices.
Mozilla's commitment to privacy is unmatched in the industry (Image credit: Mozilla)
Privacy
According to its website, the browser "collects so little data about you that we don't even need your email address to download." It's true ... something like that. Once you've downloaded Firefox, you'll be asked for your email to complete your account setup, although you don't need to use Mozilla's browser. Hopefully, these other security features will surprise you even after they've left a place in your inbox:
- Incognito Mode: Automatically clears your online information (cookies, history, passwords) from your computer when you close the browser.
- Tracking Protection - Blocks ads and websites that try to reach you from hidden trackers to collect your browsing information.
- Ad Blockers: Not only will the trackers not know what you are doing online, but the ads will not slow down the loading of the web page either.
- Crypto miner lockout - If a crypto miner has accessed your browser, you may notice that your battery is draining much faster than before or that your computer is getting hot. Firefox is helping to stop this before it takes its toll.
- DNS over HTTPS (DoH) - Prevents Internet Service Providers from selling your data.
- Master Password - This is how you access your password manager. You will set different master passwords for different devices.
Firefox also offers automatic updates, website breach alerts, a built-in password manager, encrypted data, fingerprint blocking, individual protection reports, and third-party cookie blocking.
User Experience
Firefox is very minimalist, with a cool white background and easy-to-read black text that is larger than normal for much of the default font. When you open a new tab, you'll see your shortcuts and a list of the best Pocket items. By clicking the Settings gear at the top right of the page, you can also customize this page. You can add more shortcut lines, enable or disable the display of sponsored content and Recommended Pocket Stories, and enable or disable your recent activity and snippets (which are Mozilla/Firefox news and tips). The rest of the browser settings are also easy to navigate. There's enough that you can play with the browser's behavior and appearance, but not so much that you feel like you're missing something because you don't want to read them all. Google is the default search engine, which is fine, but you can switch to Amazon, Bing, eBay, or Wikipedia (and others you may have installed, like DuckDuckGo).
Search results are also provided in a clean and minimal way (Image credit: Google) There's nothing particularly special about the way search results are displayed, but as we said before, choose Mozilla for a simple and secure experience, not a feature-rich experience. Some may find it perfectly zen.
You can use Firefox on your desktop and mobile devices (Image credit: Mozilla)
Firefox is compatible with Mac, Linux, and Windows machines, and there are also mobile browsers for Android and iOS. You can sync Firefox (your bookmarks, history, and tabs) across all your devices, as long as you have a Firefox account. More details on the system requirements are available here.
Mozilla has a comparison tool on their site that allows you to compare Firefox to other popular software (Image credit: Mozilla)
Competition
It's hard to find some Firefox features in a single browser, such as text-to-speech, reading mode, and the ability to block cryptominers. Let's go over the main comparisons between Firefox and other major browsers. Compared to Safari, Firefox's standout features are its in-browser screenshot tool and primary password requirement. Compared to Google Chrome, Firefox blocks third-party tracking cookies and social trackers. (Chrome also doesn't have a master password option.) And according to Mozilla, Firefox uses less RAM than Chrome. Compared to Microsoft Edge, Firefox's main competitive feature is blocking autoplay.
Final verdict
While some people have a love-hate relationship with Firefox (or even a hate-hate relationship), we can't help but find it endearing. It's the simplest browser out there while still being attractive - the bold black font that's slightly larger than standard makes it modern and minimal, not boring or plain. You feel like you have a lot of protection on your side when you use it as it goes too far (thankfully) with privacy and security features. And it does exactly what a browser should do: it finds what you're looking for and reacts quickly when you interact with it.