Release of Firefox Lite 2.0, a compact browser for Android

Published issue web browser Firefox Lite 2.0, which is positioned as a lightweight option Firefox Focus, adapted to work on systems with limited resources and on low-speed communication channels. Project develops by the Mozilla development team based in Taiwan and is aimed primarily at deliveries to India, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, China and developing countries.

The key difference between Firefox Lite and Firefox Focus is the use of Android's built-in WebView engine instead of Gecko, which reduces the size of the APK package from 38 to 4.9 MB, and also makes it possible to use the browser on low-power smartphones based on the platform Android Go. Like Firefox Focus, Firefox Lite has a built-in inappropriate content blocker that cuts out ads, social media widgets, and external JavaScript to track movement. The use of a blocker can significantly reduce the size of downloaded data and reduce page loading time by an average of 20%.

Firefox Lite supports features such as bookmarking favorite sites, browsing history, tabs for working with multiple pages at the same time, a download manager, quick search for text on pages, private browsing mode (Cookies, history and data in the cache are not saved). Among the advanced features:

• Turbo mode to speed up downloads by cutting out ads and third-party content (enabled by default);
• Image blocking mode (show only text);
• Clear cache button to increase free memory;
• The ability to create a screenshot of the entire page, not just the visible part;
• Support for changing the color scheme of the interface.

The new version has a completely redesigned browser design. On the start page, the number of pinned links to sites has been increased from 8 to 15 (icons are divided into two screens switched by a swipe gesture). Links can be added and removed at the discretion of the user. In the central part of the start page, two sections are separately highlighted, upon transition to which a selection of news and games is displayed.

A “shopping” button appeared at the bottom of the start page, next to the search bar, when clicked, a specialized interface is displayed for searching for goods and comparing prices in different online stores, without visiting their sites. Supports product search on Google, Amazon, eBay and Aliexpress. It is possible to receive discount coupons directly through the browser, but this option is currently limited to users from India and Indonesia.

Source: opennet.ru