Firefox was created by Dave Hyatt and Blake Ross as an experimental branch of the Mozilla browser, first released as Firefox 1.0 on November 9, 2004. Starting with version 5.0, a rapid release cycle was put into effect, resulting in a new major version release every six weeks. This was gradually accelerated further in late 2019, so that new major releases occur on four-week cycles starting in 2020.[3]Firefox 91 is the latest version, which was released on August 10, 2021.
In April 2011, the development process was split into several "channels", each working on a build in a different stage of development. The most recent available build is called "Nightly Builds" and offers the latest, untested features and updates. The "Aurora" build is up to six weeks behind "Nightly" and offers functionality that has undergone basic testing. As of version 35, the "Aurora" channel has been renamed to the "Developer Edition" channel.[4][5] The "Beta" channel is up to six weeks behind the "Aurora" build, for up to about twelve weeks compared to the most recent "Nightly" build. The "Beta" channel provides improved stability over the "Nightly" builds and is the first development milestone that has the "Firefox" logo. "Release" is the current official version of Firefox. Gecko version numbering is the same as the Firefox build version number, starting with 5.0 on Firefox 5.
The stated aim of this faster-paced process is to get new features to users faster.[6] This accelerated release cycle was met with criticism by users, as it often broke add-on compatibility,[7] as well as those who believe Firefox was simply trying to increase its version number to compare with other browsers such as Google Chrome.[8]
Firefox 5 through 9
Firefox 5 was released on June 21, 2011,[9] three months after the major release of Firefox 4. Firefox 5 is the first release in Mozilla's new rapid release plan, matching Google Chrome's rapid release schedule and rapid version number increments.[10] Firefox 5 has significantly improved the speed of web-related tasks, such as loading pages with combo boxes or MathML. Mozilla also integrated the HTML5 videoWebM standard into the browser, allowing playback of WebM videos.[11]
Firefox 6 was released on August 16, 2011, introducing a permissions manager, new address bar highlighting (the domain name is black while the rest of the URL is gray[12]), streamlining the look of the site identity block, a quicker startup time, a ScratchPad JavaScript compiler, and many other new features. This update also brought the infamous feature that caused JavaScript entered in the address bar to not run.[13]
Firefox 7 was released on September 27, 2011,[14] and uses as much as 50% less RAM than Firefox 4 as a result of the MemShrink project to reduce Firefox memory usage.[15][16][17]
Firefox 7.0.1 was released a few days later, fixing a rare, but serious, issue with add-ons not being detected by the browser.[18] Some URLs are trimmed in the address bar, so the "http://" scheme no longer appears, but "https://" is still displayed. Trailing slashes on domains are also hidden, for example: https://www.example.org/ becomes https://www.example.org.[12][19]
Firefox 8 was released on November 8, 2011[20] and prompts users about any previously installed add-ons. Upon installation, a dialog box prompted users to enable or disable the add-ons. Add-ons installed by third-party programs were disabled by default, but user-installed add-ons were enabled by default. Mozilla judged that third-party-installed add-ons were problematic, taking away user control, lagging behind on compatibility and security updates, slowing down Firefox startup and page loading time, and cluttering the interface with unused toolbars.[21]
Firefox 9 was released on December 20, 2011, includes various new features such as Type Inference, which boosts JavaScript performance up to 30%, improved theme integration for Mac OS X Lion, added two-finger swipe navigation for Mac OS X Lion, added support for querying Do Not Track status via JavaScript, added support for font-stretch, improved support for text-overflow, improved standards support for HTML5, MathML, and CSS, and fixed several security problems. It also features a large list of bug fixes.[22]
Firefox 10 and Firefox ESR 10 were released on January 31, 2012.[37][38] Firefox 10 added a full screen API and improved WebGL performance, support for CSS 3D Transforms and for anti-aliasing in the WebGL standard for hardware-accelerated 3D graphics. These WebGL updates mean that more complex site and Web app animations can render smoothly in Firefox, and that developers can animate 2D objects into 3D without plug-ins.[39][40] It also introduced a new CSS Style Inspector, which allow users to check out a site's structure and edit the CSS without leaving the browser.[37] Firefox 10 assumed all add-ons made for at least Firefox 4 were compatible. The add-on developer is able to alert Mozilla that the add-on is incompatible, overriding compatibility with version 10 or later. This new rule also does not apply to themes.[41]
Firefox 10 ESR is the first Extended Support Release (ESR) as previously on January 10, 2012, where the Mozilla Foundation announced the availability of an ESR version of Firefox.[42] Firefox ESR is intended for groups who deploy and maintain the desktop environment in large organizations such as universities and other schools, county or city governments and businesses. During the extended cycle, no new features will be added to a Firefox ESR; only high-risk/high-impact security vulnerabilities or major stability issues will be corrected.[43]
Firefox 11 was released on March 13, 2012. Firefox 11 introduced many new features, including migration of bookmarks and history from Google Chrome,[44]SPDY integrated services, Page Inspector Tilt (3D View), Add-onSync, redesigned HTML5 video controls, and the Style Editor (CSS).[45] The update also fixed many bugs, and improved developer tools.[46]
Firefox 12 was released on April 24, 2012. Firefox 12 introduced few new features, but it made many changes and laid the ground work for future releases. Firefox 12 for Windows added the Mozilla Maintenance Service which can update Firefox to a newer version without a UAC prompt.[47] It also added line numbers in the "Page Source" and centered find in page results. There were 89 improvements to Web Console, Scratchpad, Style Editor, Page Inspector, Style Inspector, HTML view and Page Inspector 3D view (Tilt).[48] Many bugs were fixed, as well as many other minor under-the-hood changes.[49][50] Firefox 12 is the final release to support Windows 2000 and Windows XP RTM & SP1.[51][52]
Firefox 13 was released on June 5, 2012.[53] Starting with this version, Windows support was exclusively for Windows XP SP2/SP3, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. Firefox 13 adds and updates several features, such as an updated new tab[54] and home tab page.[55] The updated new tab page is a feature similar to the Speed Dial already present in Opera, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, and Internet Explorer. The new tab page will display nine of the user's most visited websites, along with a cached image. In addition to the updated new tab and home tab page, Mozilla has added a user profile cleaner/reset, reduced hang times, and implemented tabs on demand.[56] The user profile cleaner/reset provides a way for users to fix Firefox errors and glitches that may occur.[57] Mozilla's tabs on demand restores tabs that were open in the previous session, but will keep the tabs unloaded until the user requests to view the page.[58]
Firefox 14 was released on June 26, 2012 for mobile devices only, just outside the regular release schedule of the web browser.[59] In order to sync the version numbers of the desktop and mobile versions of Firefox, Mozilla decided to release version 14.0.1 for both mobile and desktop on July 17, 2012, instead of Firefox 14 version 14.0 for the desktop and version 14.0.1 for mobile devices.[59]
Firefox 14 introduces a new hang detector (similar to how Mozilla currently collects other data) that allows Mozilla to collect, analyze, and identify the cause of the browser freezing/hanging. Mozilla uses this information to improve the responsiveness of Firefox for future releases.[60] In addition to tackling freezing and not-responding errors that occur because of Firefox, Mozilla implemented opt-in activation for plugins such as Flash and Java. Mozilla wants to reduce potential problems that could arise through the unwanted use of third-party applications (malware, freezing, etc.).[61]
Firefox 15 was released on August 28, 2012 with a "Responsive Design View" developer tool,[62] adds support for the Opus audio format, and adds preliminary native PDF support (disabled by default).[63]
Firefox 15 introduced silent updates, an automatic update that will update Firefox to the latest version without notifying the user,[64] a feature that the web browsers Google Chrome and Internet Explorer 8 and above have already implemented,[65][66] although the user was able to disable that function.[67] The startup time in Firefox 15 was improved for Windows users.[68]
Firefox 16 was released on October 9, 2012, fixing outstanding bugs of the new features in Mac OS X Lion. There were improvements made to startup speed when a user wants to restore a previous session.[69] Support for viewing PDF files inline was added in placement of a plugin. Support for web apps was added. Opus audio format is now enabled by default.[70]
The roll-out of Firefox 16 revision 16.0.0 was stopped on October 10, 2012, after Mozilla detected a security flaw and recommended downgrading to 15.0.1 until the issue could be fixed.[71] The security flaw was fixed in version 16.0.1, which was released the following day, October 11, 2012.[72]
Full screen support for Mac OS X Lion implemented.
Plugins can now be configured to only load on click (about:config).
The Awesome Bar now auto-completes typed URLs, a new feature that will suggest a website that user frequently visits for a faster browsing.[89]
Improved site identity manager, to prevent spoofing of an SSL connection with favicons.
Pointer Lock API implemented.
New API to prevent your display from sleeping.
New text-transform and font-variant CSS improvements for Turkic languages and Greek.
Long URLs now extend the status bar almost to the whole width of the viewport.
Optional Gstreamer backend for HTML5 video to allow H.264 playback.[90] This allows playback of H.264 if the codec is installed as a GStreamer plugin. GStreamer support is not enabled in the official builds, but can be enabled at compile time.
Firefox 17 and Firefox ESR 17 were released on November 20, 2012.[95] It was not planned to bring as many user-facing features as previous releases, it brings improved display of location bar results,[96] improvements to the silent update mechanism for users with incompatible add-ons,[97] and refinements to the Click-To-Play system introduced in Firefox 14.[98] A new feature for developers, an HTML tree editor[99] is also included. Firefox 17 is the first version of the browser that uses SpiderMonkey 17.[100]
Starting with Firefox 17, Mac OS X support is exclusively for Snow Leopard, Lion, and Mountain Lion.
Firefox 18 was released on January 8, 2013.[101] A new feature for Firefox 18 is IonMonkey, Mozilla's next generation JavaScript engine,[102] it also uses some functions of WebRTC.[103]
Firefox 19 was released on February 19, 2013, featuring a built-in PDF viewer.[104]
Firefox 20 was released on April 2, 2013, introduced a panel-based download manager,[105][106] along with H.264 decoding on the <video> tag (on Windows only), and per-window private browsing (per-tab private browsing on Android). It also includes a new developer toolbox, that combines all developer tools into one panel.
Firefox 21 was released on May 14, 2013. The Social API now supports multiple providers, and an enhanced three-state UI for Do Not Track (DNT).[107]
Firefox 22 was released on June 25, 2013. WebRTC is now enabled by default.[108]
Partial CSS Flexbox support was added (flex-wrap support was scheduled for Firefox 28[109]). A new feature for Firefox 22 was OdinMonkey, Mozilla's next generation JavaScript engine.
Firefox 23 was released on August 6, 2013. It includes an updated Firefox logo, mixed content blocking enabled by default to defend against man-in-the-middle attacks, implementation of the <input type="range"> form control attribute in HTML5, dropping support for the <blink> HTML element as well as the text-decoration:blinkCSS element, the restriction to have to "switch to a different search provider across the entire browser", and a global browser console, a new network monitor among other things. JavaScript is automatically enabled by the update, without regard to the previous setting, and the ability to turn it off has been removed from the interface;[110] the "contentious" change was made because many websites depend on JavaScript and it was felt that users unaware that they had disabled JavaScript were attributing the resulting unpredictable layout to software bugs in Firefox.[111]
Firefox 29 with Australis interface, running on Windows 8.1
Firefox 24 and Firefox 24 ESR were released on September 17, 2013. The release includes support for the new scrollbar style in Mac OS X 10.7 (and newer), closing tabs to the right, an improved browser console for debugging, and improved SVG rendering, among other things.[129] It is the first version of the browser that uses SpiderMonkey 24.[130]
Firefox 25 was released on October 29, 2013. Firefox 25 Nightly was at one point slated to include the Australis theme, but Australis did not actually land on Nightly until Firefox 28,[131] did not make it to Firefox 28 Aurora channel, and was finally available with Firefox 29.[132] This release added support for <iframe srcdoc> attribute, background-attachment:local in CSS, along with Web audio API support, a separate find bar for each tab and many other bug fixes.[133][134][135]
Firefox 26 was released on December 10, 2013. Firefox 26 changed the behavior of Java plugins to "click-to-play" mode instead of automatically running them. It also added support for H.264 on Linux, password manager support for script-generated fields, and the ability for Windows users without advanced write permissions to update Firefox, as well as many bug fixes and developer-related changes.[136]
Firefox 27 was released on February 4, 2014. It adds improved Social API and SPDY 3.1 support, as well as enabling of TLS 1.1 and 1.2 by default. Also, it brings many bug fixes, security improvements, and developer-related changes.[137]
Firefox 28 was released on March 18, 2014. It added support for VP9 video decoding and support for Opus in WebM.[138] For Android, features such as predictive lookup from the address bar, quick share buttons and support for OpenSearch were added.[139]
Firefox 29 was released on April 29, 2014 and includes the Australis interface, it also removes the add-on bar and moves its content to the navigation bar.[140]
Firefox 30 was released on June 10, 2014. It adds support for GStreamer 1.0 and a new sidebar button, and most plugins are not activated by default.[141][142]
All Java plug-ins are defaulted to 'click to play'.
Password manager now supports script-generated password fields.
Updates can now be performed by Windows users without write permissions to Firefox install directory (requires Mozilla Maintenance Service).
Support for H.264 on Linux if the appropriate gstreamer plug-ins are installed.
Support for MP3 decoding on Windows XP, completing MP3 support across Windows OS versions.
CSP implementation now supports multiple policies, including the case of both an enforced and Report-Only policy, per the specification.
Social API now supports Social Bookmarking for multiple providers through its SocialMarks functionality.
Math.ToFloat32 takes a JavaScript value and converts it to a Float32, whenever possible.
There is no longer a prompt when websites use appcache.
Support for the CSS image orientation property.
New App Manager allows you to deploy and debug HTML5 webapps on Firefox OS phones and the Firefox OS Simulator.
IndexedDB can now be used as a "optimistic" storage area so it doesn't require any prompts and data is stored in a pool with LRU eviction policy, in short temporary storage.
Fixed: When displaying a standalone image, Firefox matches the Exif orientation information contained within the JPEG image.
Fixed: Text Rendering Issues on Windows 7 with Platform Update KB2670838 (MSIE 10 Prerequisite) or on Windows 8.1.
Improved page load times due to no longer decoding images that are not visible.
You can now run more than one service at a time with Firefox SocialAPI, allowing you to receive notifications, chat and more from multiple integrated services.
Enabled TLS 1.1 (RFC 4346) and TLS 1.2 (RFC 5246) by default.
Added support for SPDY 3.1 protocol.
Ability to reset style sheets using all:unset.
You can now choose to deobfuscate javascript in the debugger.
Added support for scrolled fieldsets.
Implemented allow-popups directive for iframe sandbox, enabling increased security.
CSS cursor keywords -moz-grab and -moz-grabbing have been unprefixed.
Added support for ES6 generators in SpiderMonkey.
Implemented support for mathematical function Math.hypot() in ES6.
Dashed line support on Canvas.
Had Azure/Skia content rendering working on Linux.
Firefox 31 and Firefox 31 ESR were released on July 22, 2014. Both versions added search field on the new tab page and were improved to block malware from downloaded files, along with other new features.[158] Firefox 31 ESR is the first ESR to include the Australis interface, unifying the user experience across different Firefox versions. Firefox 24.x.x ESR versions would be automatically updated to ESR version 31 after October 14, 2014.[159]
Firefox 32 was released on September 2, 2014. It shows off HTTP caching improvements, adds HiDPI/Retina support in the Developer Tools UI and widens HTML5 support, among other things.[160][161]
Firefox 33 was released on October 14, 2014. It now has off-main-thread compositing (OMTC) enabled by default on Windows (which brings responsiveness improvements),[162]OpenH264 support, search suggestions on about:home and about:newtab, address bar search improvements, session restore reliability improvements, and other changes.[163]
Firefox 33.1 was released on November 10, 2014, celebrating Firefox's 10-year anniversary.[164][165] Firefox 33.1.1 was released for desktop only on November 14, 2014, fixing a startup crash.[166]
The logo of Firefox Hello.
Firefox 34 was released on December 1, 2014. It brings Firefox Hello (a WebRTC client for voice and video chat), an improved search bar, and the implementation of HTTP/2 (draft14) and ALPN, together with other features. It also disables SSLv3, and enables the ability to recover from a locked Firefox process and to switch themes and personas directly in the customization mode.[167]
Firefox 35 was released on January 13, 2015. It brings support for a room-based conversations model to the Firefox Hello chat service, and other functions, it also includes security fixes.[168]
Firefox 36 was released for desktop on February 24, 2015, bringing full HTTP/2 support and other smaller improvements and fixes.[169] It was also released for Android three days later on February 27, 2015, adding support for the tablet user interface.[170]
Firefox 37 was released on March 31, 2015, bringing a heartbeat user rating system, which provides user feedback about the Firefox, and improved protection against website impersonation via OneCRL centralized certificate revocation. Also, Bing search is changed to use HTTPS for secure searching, and added is support for opportunistic encryption of the HTTP traffic where the server supports HTTP/2's AltSvc feature.[171][172]
Partial implementation of the OpenType MATH table.
Support of Prefer:Safe http header for parental control.
audio/video .ogg and .pdf files handled by Firefox if no application specified (Windows only).
Upper Sorbian [hsb] locale added.
Removal of the CAPS infrastructure for specifying site-specific permissions (via capability.policy.* preferences). Most notably, attempts to use this functionality to grant access to the clipboard will no longer work. The sole exception is the checkloaduri permission, which may still be used as before to allow sites to load file:// URIs.
WebVTT implemented and enabled.
CSS3 variables implemented.
Developer Tools: Add-on Debugger.
Developer Tools: Canvas Debugger.
New Array built-in: Array.prototype.fill().
New Object built-in: Object.setPrototypeOf().
CSP 1.1 nonce-source and hash-source enabled by default.
Developer Tools: Eyedropper tool added to the color picker.
Developer Tools: Editable Box Model.
Developer Tools: Code Editor improvements.
Developer Tools: Console stack traces.
Developer Tools: Copy as cURL.
Developer Tools: Styled console logs.
navigator.sendBeacon enabled by default.
Dialogs spawned from the onbeforeunload event no longer block access to the rest of the browser.
Fixed: Search for partially selected link text from context menu.
Both Firefox 38 and Firefox 38 ESR were released on May 12, 2015, with new tab-based preferences, Ruby annotation support and availability of WebSockets in web workers, along with the implementation of the BroadcastChannel API and other features and security fixes.[208]
Firefox 39 was released on July 2, 2015 for desktop and Android, disabling insecure SSLv3 and RC4, improving performance for IPv6 fallback to IPv4 and including various security fixes.[209][210] Firefox 39.0.3 was released on August 6, 2015, to fix a zero-day exploit.[211]
Firefox 40 was released on August 11, 2015 for desktop and Android. On Windows 10, the Australis theme was updated to reflect the overall appearance of Windows 10, and the interface is adapted for usability on touchscreens when used in the operating system's "Tablet mode". Firefox 40 includes additional security features, including the filtering of pages that offer potentially unwanted programs, and warnings during the installation of unsigned extensions; in future versions, signing of extensions will become mandatory, and the browser will refuse to install extensions that have not been signed. Firefox 40 also includes performance improvements, such as off-main-thread compositing on Linux.[212][213][214]
Firefox 41 was released on September 22, 2015 for desktop and Android. Among many additions are the ability to set a profile picture for a Firefox account, enhanced IME support using Text Services Framework, and instant messaging on Firefox Hello.[215][216]
Firefox 42 was released on November 3, 2015 for desktop and Android. Among many additions are private browsing with tracking protection, IPv6 support in WebRTC, and the ability to view HTML source in a tab.[217][218]
Firefox 43 was released on December 15, 2015 for desktop and Android. Among many additions are the availability of the 64-bit version for Windows 7 and above, a new strict blocklist, and audio indicators on Android.[219][220]
Firefox 44 was released on January 26, 2016 for desktop and Android. Among many additions are the improvement of warning pages for certificate errors and untrusted connections, enabling of H.264 and WebM/VP9 video support on systems that don't support MP4/H.264, support for the brotli compression format via HTTPS content-encoding, and the use of Android print service to enable cloud printing.[221][222] "Ask me every time" cookies option was removed without any notifications.[223]
autocomplete=off is no longer supported for username/password fields.
URL parser avoids doing percent encoding when setting the Fragment part of the URL, and percent decoding when getting the Fragment in line with the URL spec.
RegExp.prototype.source now returns "(?:)" instead of the empty string for empty regular expressions.
Improved page load times via speculative connection warmup.
WebSocket now available in web workers.
BroadcastChannel API implemented.
Implemented srcset attribute and <picture> element for responsive images.
Implemented DOM3 Events KeyboardEvent.code.
Mac OS X: Implemented a subset of the Media Source Extensions (MSE) API to allow native HTML5 playback on YouTube.
Implemented Encrypted Media Extensions (EME) API to support encrypted HTML5 video/audio playback (Windows Vista or later only).
Automatically downloaded Adobe Primetime Content Decryption Module (CDM) for DRM playback through EME (Windows Vista or later only).
Optimized-out variables are now visible in Debugger UI.
XMLHttpRequest logs in the web console are now visually labelled and can be filtered separately from regular network requests.
WebRTC now has multistream and renegotiation support.
copy command added to console.
38.0esr
May 12, 2015
Official Firefox 38.0 Extended Support Release (ESR).[208]
Fixed a crash on start-up with first generation NVidia Optimus graphics cards.
Fixed a problem in which users who import cookies from Google Chrome can end up with broken websites.
Fixed a problem that large animated images may fail to play and may stop other images from loading.
Fixed a problem that WebRTC H264 video streams from CiscoSpark native clients are not decoded correctly (Fixed in Firefox ESR 38.0.1; was already fixed in Firefox 38.0).
Android
Fixed a crash on start-up on devices for which Firefox does not support Android hardware acceleration.
Fixed a problem that large animated images may fail to play and may stop other images from loading.
Fixed a problem that Mozilla Location Service (MLS) stumbler may not submit all data.
Improved warning pages for certificate errors and untrusted connections.
Enabled H.264 if system decoder is available.
Enabled WebM/VP9 video support on systems that don't support MP4/H.264.
In the animation-inspector timeline, lightning bolt icon next to animations running on the compositor thread.
Support for the brotli compression format via HTTPS content-encoding.
Screenshot commands allow user choice of pixel ratio in Developer Tools.
Fixed an issue where Windows XP and Vista screensaver doesn't disable when watching videos.
Various security fixes.
To support unicode-range descriptor for webfonts, font matching under Linux now uses the same font matching code as other platforms.
Use of a SHA-256 signing certificate for Windows builds, to meet new signing requirements.
Firefox has removed support for the RC4 decipher.
Firefox will no longer trust the Equifax Secure Certificate Authority 1024-bit root certificate or the UTN – DATACorp SGC to validate secure website certificates.
Stricter validation of web fonts.
On-screen keyboard support temporarily turned off for Windows 8 and Windows 8.1.
Right-clicking on a logged object in the console to store it as a global variable on the page.
Visual tools for Animation:.
View/Edit CSS animation keyframe rules directly in the inspector.
Visually modify the cubic-bezier curve that drives the way animations progress through time.
Discover and scrub through all CSS animations and transitions playing on the page.
Firefox 45 and Firefox 45 ESR were released on March 8, 2016 for desktop (both) and Android (no ESR). Among many additions were Instant Browser sharing through Hello, the addition of Guarani locale, the ability to filter snapshot output in memory tool, and the removal of the Tab Groups (panorama) feature.[254][255]
Firefox 46 was released on April 26, 2016 for both desktop and Android. Among the many additions were improved security of the JavaScript Just In Time (JIT) Compiler, the GTK3 integration (Linux only), HKDF support for Web Crypto API, and removal of support for Android 3.0 (Android only).[256][257]
Firefox 47 was released on June 7, 2016 for both desktop and Android. Among the many additions were support for Google's Widevine CDM on Windows and Mac OS X so streaming services like Amazon Video can switch from Silverlight to encrypted HTML5 video; enabling VP9 video codec for users with fast machines; the ability of embedded YouTube videos to play with HTML5 video if Flash is not installed; and the addition of the Latgalian language. It is also the last Firefox version to support Android 2.3.x.[258][259]
Firefox 48 was released on August 2, 2016 for both desktop and Android. Among the many additions were enhanced download protection and the removal of the Windows Remote Access Service modem Autodial. It was also the first official release with "Electrolysis" (multi-process Firefox, meaning that the interface and web pages are running in separate processes in the computer) was enabled.
Firefox 48 is the last Firefox version to support Mac OS X Snow Leopard, Mac OS X Lion, and OS X Mountain Lion.[260] Additionally, support for old processors without SSE2 extensions such as the AMD Athlon XP and Pentium III was dropped.[260]
Firefox 49 was released on September 20, 2016 for both desktop and Android. Among the many additions were an updated Firefox Login Manager, improved video performance for users on systems that support SSE3 without hardware acceleration, added context menu controls to HTML5 audio and video that let users loop files or play files at 1.25x speed, improvements in about:memory reports for tracking font memory usage, and the removal of Firefox Hello.[261][262] The macOS version now requires at least OS X Mavericks, and the Microsoft Windows version requires a CPU which supports SSE2.[260]
Firefox 50 was released on November 15, 2016 for both desktop and Android. Among the many additions were playback video on more sites without plugins with WebM EME Support for Widevine on Windows and Mac, improved performance for SDK extensions or extensions using the SDK module loader; download protection for a large number of executable file types on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux, increased availability of WebGL to more than 98 percent of users on Windows 7 and newer (desktop), and support for HLS videos via player overlay (Android).[263][264]
Firefox 51 was released on January 24, 2017 for both desktop and Android. Among the many additions were added support for FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) playback, better Tab Switching, support for WebGL 2, and a warning that is displayed when a login page does not have a secure connection.[265][266]
Support for Google's Widevine CDM on Windows and Mac OS X so streaming services like Amazon Video can switch from Silverlight to encrypted HTML5 video.
Enabled VP9 video codec for users with fast machines
Embedded YouTube videos now play with HTML5 video if Flash is not installed.
Ability to view and search open tabs from your smartphone or another computer in a sidebar
Allowed no-cache on back/forward navigations for https resources
Latgalu [ltg] locale added.
Various security fixes
FUEL (Firefox User Extension Library) has been removed. Add-ons relying on it will stop working.
The browser.sessionstore.restore_on_demand preference has been reset to its default value (true) to avoid e10s performance problems.
The Firefox click-to-activate plugin whitelist has been removed.
Web platform changes
Ability to view, start, and debug registered Service Workers in the Service Workers developer tool
Ability to simulate Push messages in the Service Workers developer tool
'Start' button for service workers in about:debugging to start registered Service Workers
Changes that can affect add-on compatibility
Added support for ChaCha20/Poly1305 cipher suites
Custom user agents supported in Responsive Design Mode
Smart multi-line input in the Web Console
cuechange events are now available on TextTrack objects
WebCrypto: PBKDF2 supports SHA-2 hash algorithms
WebCrypto: RSA-PSS signature support
Android
Last release to support Android 2.3.x (Gingerbread)
Updated Firefox Login Manager to allow HTTPS pages to use saved HTTP logins. It's one more way Firefox is supporting Let's Encrypt and helping users transition to a more secure web.
Added features to Reader Mode that make it easier on the eyes and the ears.
Controls that allow users to adjust the width and line spacing of text.
Narrate, which reads the content of a page out loud.
Improved video performance for users on systems that support SSSE3 without hardware acceleration.
Added context menu controls to HTML5 audio and video that let users loops files or play files at 1.25x speed.
Improved performance on OS X systems without hardware acceleration.
Improved appearance of anti-aliased OS X fonts.
Improvements in about:memory reports for tracking font memory usage.
Improved performance on Windows systems without hardware acceleration.
Fixed an issue that prevented users from updating Firefox for Mac unless they originally installed Firefox. Now, those users as well as any user with administrative credentials can update Firefox.
Ended Firefox for Mac support for OS X 10.6, 10.7, and 10.8.
Ended Firefox for Windows support for SSE processors.
Removed Firefox Hello.
Re-enabled the default for Graphite2 font shaping.
Added a Cause column to the Network Monitor to show what caused each network request.
Mitigated a startup crash issue caused by Websense (Windows only).
49.0.2
October 20, 2016
Off-cycle security and stability update.[290][291]
Asynchronous rendering of the Flash plugins for desktop is now enabled by default. This should improve performance and reduce crashes for sites that use the Flash plugin.
Changed D3D9 default fallback preference to prevent graphical artifacts.
Fixed a network issue that prevents some users from seeing the Firefox UI on startup.
Fixed a web compatibility issue with Array.prototype.values
Fixed a web compatibility issue with file uploads on Android.
Diagnostic information on timing for tab switching.
Fix for a Canvas filters graphics issue affecting HTML5 apps.
Added support for FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) playback.
Improved reliability of browser data sync.
An even faster E10s! Tab Switching is better!
Added Georgian (ka) and Kabyle (kab) locales.
A warning is displayed when a login page does not have a secure connection.
Added support for WebGL 2, with advanced graphics rendering features like transform feedback, improved texturing capabilities, and a new sophisticated shading language.
Firefox will save passwords even in forms that do not have "submit" events.
Improved video performance for users without GPU acceleration for less CPU usage and a better full screen experience.
Added a zoom button in the URL bar:
Displays percent above or below 100 percent when a user has changed the page zoom setting from the default.
Lets users return to the default setting by clicking on the button.
Users can view passwords in the save password prompt before saving them.
Removed Belarusian (be) locale.
Various security fixes.
Updated to NSS 3.28.1.
Re-enabled E10s support for Russian (ru) locale.
Use of 2D graphics library (Skia) for content rendering on Linux.
Android
Added Nepali (ne-NP), Bulgarian (bg) and Kabyle (kab) locales.
Firefox 52 and Firefox 52 ESR were released on March 7, 2017 for desktop (both) and Android (no ESR). An important aspect of Firefox ESR 52.0 is that it is the first ESR version based on Firefox Electrolysis (Firefox 48) code base. Firefox 52 added support for WebAssembly (while disabled in Firefox ESR 52), an emerging standard that brings near-native performance to Web-based games, apps, and software libraries without the use of plugins; automatic captive portal detection, for easier access to Wi-Fi hotspots; user warnings for insecure HTTP pages with logins (desktop); and display of media controls to pause or resume playback on the Android notification bar.[300][301] Firefox 52 dropped support for NPAPI plugins like Microsoft Silverlight and Java with the exception of Adobe Flash Player (except the ESR version which still supports NPAPI).[302]
Firefox 53 was released on April 19, 2017 for both desktop and Android. Starting with Firefox 53, Microsoft Windows support is exclusively for Windows 7 and above. Among the many additions are: improved graphics stability for Windows users with the addition of compositor process separation, light and dark "compact" themes available, based on the Firefox Developer Edition theme, removal of support for 32-bit macOS and Linux support for processors older than Pentium 4 and AMD Opteron; new visual design for audio and video controls, support for WebM video with alpha compositing, which allows playing videos with transparent backgrounds (desktop), Reader Mode displaying estimated reading time for the page (desktop and Android), and enabling two columns tabs setting in portrait mode (Android).[303][304]
Firefox 54 was released on June 13, 2017 for both desktop and Android. Among the many additions are: simplifying the download button and download status panel, added support for multiple content processes, the ability to create and save custom devices in Responsive web design mode (desktop), improved audio and video playback in the browser, and improved bookmarks sync performance (Android).[305][306]
Firefox 55 was released on August 8, 2017 for both desktop and Android. Among the many additions are: the launch of Windows support for WebVR, bringing immersive experiences to the web, options that let users optimize recent performance improvements, simplification of the installation process with a streamlined Windows stub installer, improvements to address bar functionality, simplification of printing from Reader Mode (desktop), and the option for accessibility settings to respect the system's set font size when displaying web pages (Android). This is also the last version to support Android Ice Cream Sandwich.[307][308]
Firefox 56 was released on September 28, 2017 for both desktop and Android. Among the many additions are: a new layout for the "Preferences" page, the launch of Firefox Screenshots, support for address form autofill, hardware acceleration for AES-GCM, update of the Safe Browsing protocol to version 4, improved security or verifying update downloads (desktop), improvement of support for WebExtensions, and the end of support for Adobe Flash (Android). Starting with this version, Android support is exclusively for Android Jelly Bean and above.[309][310]
Another change was the introduction of the mozlz4 format, a proprietary variant of the lz4 compression format (.mozlz4 and .jsonlz4 file extensions instead of .json.lz4 as per unix/linux standard). Session data is stored in the lz4 format instead of plain text. Firefox 56 cannot recognize the legacy plain text session files, only the lz4-encoded ones.
Firefox 57 was released on November 14, 2017 for desktop and Android with the name Firefox Quantum.[311]ZDNet dubbed it a "comeback" following years of falling market share against Google Chrome.[312][313] The release included a new interface design, codenamed "Photon", and a new rendering engine almost twice as fast as the previous one used.[311][312][314] One of the largest visual changes in Photon was the removal of the search box from the address bar. Firefox 57 no longer supports legacy add-ons using XUL technologies.[315][316][317] That same day, Mozilla announced that Google would be the default search engine in the US and Canada, a departure from Yahoo, which had been the default search engine in the US and Canada since 2014.[318]
Firefox 58 was released on January 23, 2018 for desktop and Android. Among the additions were: support for credit card autofill, the drop of support for user profiles in previous versions of Firefox, a warning to alert users and site owners of planned security changes to sites affected by the gradual distrust plan for the Symantec certificate authority (desktop), full screen bookmark management with folder support, support for FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) playback, the ability to change the status bar color in themes, and removal of the Firefox Search widget from the home screen (Android).[319][320]
Firefox 59 was released on March 13, 2018 for desktop and Android. Among the additions were: faster load times and improved graphics, improved Real-Time Communications (RTC) capabilities, additional features for Firefox Screenshots, support for W3C specs for pointer events, Private Browsing Mode's removal of path information from referrers to prevent cross-site tracking (desktop), and the addition of Firefox as an Assist app, support for HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) playback for improved compatibility with video sites, and removal of the "about:" page.[321][322]
Added support for WebAssembly, an emerging standard that brings near-native performance to Web-based games, apps, and software libraries without the use of plugins.
Added automatic captive portal detection, for easier access to Wi-Fi hotspots. When accessing the Internet via a captive portal, Firefox will alert users and open the portal login page in a new tab.
Enabled multi-process Firefox for Windows users with touch screens
Added user warnings for non-secure HTTP pages with logins. Firefox now displays a "This connection is not secure" message when users click into the username and password fields on pages that don't use HTTPS.
Implemented the Strict Secure Cookies specification which forbids insecure HTTP sites from setting cookies with the "secure" attribute. In some cases, this will prevent an insecure site from setting a cookie with the same name as an existing "secure" cookie from the same base domain.
Enhanced Sync to allow users to send and open tabs from one device to another.
Improved text input for third-party keyboard layouts on Windows. This will address some keyboard layouts that:
have chained dead keys.
input two or more characters with a non-printable key or a dead key sequence.
input a character even when a dead key sequence failed to compose a character.
Removed support for Netscape Plugin API (NPAPI) plugins other than Flash. Silverlight, Java, Acrobat and the like are no longer supported.
Removed Battery Status API to reduce fingerprinting of users by trackers.
Improved experience for downloads:
Notification in the toolbar when a download fails.
Quick access to five most recent downloads rather than three.
Larger buttons for canceling and restarting downloads.
Displaying (but allowing users to override) an "Untrusted Connection" error when encountering SHA-1 certificates that chain up to a root certificate included in Mozilla's CA Certificate Program. (Note: Firefox continues to permit SHA-1 certificates that chain to manually imported root certificates.)
Migrated Firefox users on Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems to the extended support release (ESR) version of Firefox.
When not using Direct2D on Windows, Skia is used for content rendering.
Enabled CSS Grid Layout, opening up a world of new possibilities for graphic design.
Redesigned Responsive Design Mode to include device selection, network throttling, and more.
Improved security for screen sharing, which now shows a preview and no longer requires a whitelisted domain.
Android
Reduced APK file size by more than 5 MB for faster download and installation.
Display of media controls to pause or resume playback on the Android notification bar. This gives users easy access to controls and allows them to see when audio or video is playing (and consuming mobile data) on Firefox.
Launched Windows support for WebVR, bringing immersive experiences to the web.
Added options that let users optimize recent performance improvements
Setting to enable Hardware VP9 acceleration on Windows 10 Anniversary Update for better battery life and lower CPU usage while watching videos
Setting to modify the number of concurrent content processes for faster page loading and more responsive tab switching
Simplified installation process with a streamlined Windows stub installer
Firefox for Windows 64-bit is now installed by default on 64-bit systems with at least 2GB of RAM
Full installers with advanced installation options are still available
Improved address bar functionality
Search with any installed one-click search engine directly from the address bar
Search suggestions appear by default
When entering a hostname (like pinterest.com) in the URL bar, Firefox resolves to the secure version of the site (https://www.pinterest.com) instead of the insecure version (http://www.pinterest.com) when possible
Updated Sidebar for bookmarks, history, and synced tabs so it can appear at the right edge of the window as well as the left
Added support for stereo microphones with WebRTC
Simplified printing from Reader Mode
Updated Firefox for OS X and macOS to allow users to assign custom keyboard shortcuts to Firefox menu items via System Preferences
Browsing sessions with a high number of tabs are now restored in an instant
Make screenshots of webpages, and save them locally or upload them to the cloud. This feature will undergo A/B testing and will not be visible for some users.
Added Belarusian (be) locale
Various security fixes
Modernized application update UI to be less intrusive and more aligned with the rest of the browser. Only users who have not restarted their browser 8 days after downloading an update or users who opted out of automatic updates will see this change.
Made the Adobe Flash plugin click-to-activate by default and allowed only on http:// and https:// URL schemes. (This change will not be visible to all users immediately.)
Firefox does not support downgrades, even though this may have worked in past versions. Users who install Firefox 55+ and later downgrade to an earlier version may experience issues with Firefox.
Sites that don't use SSL can no longer access Geolocation APIs to determine a user's physical location
A completely new browsing engine, designed to take full advantage of the processing power in modern devices
A redesigned interface with optimizations for touch screens
A unified address and search bar. New installs will see this unified bar
A revamped new tab page that includes top visited sites, recently visited pages, and recommendations from Pocket (in the US, Canada, and Germany)
An updated product tour to orient new and returning Firefox users
AMD VP9 hardware video decoder support for improved video playback with lower power consumption
An expanded section in preferences to manage all website permissions
Various security fixes
Firefox now exclusively supports extensions built using the WebExtension API, and unsupported legacy extensions will no longer work
The browser's autoscroll feature, as well as scrolling by keyboard input and touch-dragging of scrollbars, now use asynchronous scrolling. These scrolling methods are now similar to other input methods like mousewheel, and provide a smoother scrolling experience
The content process now has a stricter security sandbox that blocks filesystem reading and writing on Linux, similar to the protections for Windows and macOS that shipped in Firefox 56
Middle mouse paste in the content area no longer navigates to URLs by default on Unix systems
Removed the toolbar Share button
Some older versions of the ATOK IME, including ATOK 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010, can cause crashes and are therefore disabled on the Windows 64-bit version of Firefox Quantum
The default font for Japanese text is now Meiryo
A complete visual refresh of both the Light and Dark DevTools themes, matching the new visual style of Firefox Quantum
The Inspector shows the values of CSS variables on hover
Completely new and re-designed Console panel. Joining the Debugger and the Network Monitor, the Console has been rewritten using modern web technologies such as React and Redux. It now also allows to inspect objects in context.
Android
Performance improvements for faster page loading and stability
Updated interface, including a revamped new tab page that includes top visited sites, recently visited pages, and recommendations from Pocket (in the US, Canada and Germany)
Video decoding is shut down when the tab playing the media is sent to the background. Video resumes when the tab is brought to the foreground. Audio will not be affected
Added an option to enable tracking protection outside of private browsing
Automatically enabled private mode on compatible keyboards during private browsing
Long URLs in the URL bar are now scrollable
Added Wolof (wo) locale
Firefox for Android now exclusively supports extensions built using the WebExtension API, and unsupported legacy extensions will no longer work
Android Apps can now launch Firefox Custom Tabs
57.0.1
November 29, 2017
Off-cycle security and stability update.[362][363]
Fix for a video color distortion issue on YouTube and other video sites with some AMD devices.
Fix for an issue with prefs.js when the profile path has non-ASCII characters.
Various security fixes.
Fixed an issue in which Google map crashes on macOS with Intel HD Graphics 3000.
Blocked injection of a client library associated with the RealPlayer Free player which is known to cause performance problems in Firefox.
Android
Fixed an issue in which Stop button no longer appears immediately after starting a navigation.
Rendering graphics for Windows users by using Off-Main-Thread Painting (OMTP)
Loading pages faster by changing how Firefox caches and retrieves JavaScript
Improvements to Firefox Screenshots:
Copy and paste screenshots directly to your clipboard
Firefox Screenshots now works in Private Browsing mode
Added support for credit card autofill
Added Nepali (ne-NP) locale
Users can enable Tracking Protection at all times.
Fonts installed in non-standard directories will no longer appear blank for Linux users
Various security fixes
User profiles created in Firefox 58 (and in future releases) are not supported in previous versions of Firefox. Users who downgrade to a previous version should create a new profile for that version.
Added a warning to alert users and site owners of planned security changes to sites affected by the gradual distrust plan for the Symantec certificate authority
Implemented the PerformanceNavigationTiming API
Added PerformanceResourceTiming.workerStart so sites can measure service worker startup time
Android
Performance improvements, including:
Support for Progressive Web Apps
Loading pages faster by changing how Firefox caches and retrieves JavaScript
Added ability to Sync only over non-metered connections (e.g., WiFi). Setting available via Sync Preferences.
Added full screen bookmark management with folder support
Added support for FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) playback
Added ability to change the status bar color in themes
Added Bengali from Bangladesh (bn-BD) and Nepali (ne-NP) locales
Removed the Firefox Search widget from home screen
Updated the Safe Browsing protocol to version 4
58.0.1
January 29, 2018
Off-cycle security and stability update.[368][369]
Security fix.
Fixed an issue in which, when using certain non-default security policies on Windows (for example with Windows Defender Exploit Protection or Webroot security products), Firefox 58.0 would fail to load pages.
Android
Fixed performance issue whereby some installations were initially slow to load pages.
Avoided a signature validation issue during update on macOS
Blocklisted graphics drivers related to off main thread painting crashes.
Fixed tab crash during printing.
Fix for clicking links and scrolling emails on Microsoft Hotmail and Outlook (OWA) webmail.
Android
Fixed an issue in which, if the user cancels a download by exiting our app chooser dialogue without choosing anything, the download continues invisibly in background.
Implemented RTP Transceiver to give pages more fine grained control over calls
Implemented features to support large scale conferences
Added support for W3C specs for pointer events and improved platform integration with added device support for mouse, pen, and touch screen pointer input
Added the Ecosia search engine as an option for German Firefox
Added the Qwant search engine as an option for French Firefox
Added settings in about:preferences to stop websites from asking to send notifications or access your device's camera, microphone, and location, while still allowing trusted websites to use these features
Various security fixes
Firefox Private Browsing Mode will remove path information from referrers to prevent cross-site tracking
Android
Added Firefox as an Assist App so users can start a search by long-pressing the home button
Added support for HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) playback for improved compatibility with video sites
Firefox Private Browsing Mode will remove path information from referrers sent to third parties to help prevent third-party data leakage
Off-cycle security and stability update.[374][375]
Fixed invalid page rendering with hardware acceleration enabled
Fixed an issue in which Windows 7 users with touch screens or certain 3rd party desktop applications which interact with Firefox through accessibility services may experience random browser crashes
Fixed an issue in which browser keyboard shortcuts (e.g. copy Ctrl+C) don't work on sites that use those keys with resistFingerprinting enabled
Fixed high CPU / memory churn caused by third-party software on some computers.
Fixed an issue in which users who have configured an "automatic proxy configuration URL" and want to reload their proxy settings from the URL will find the Reload button disabled in the Connection Settings dialog when they select Preferences/Options > Network Proxy > Settings
Fixed an issue in which URL fragment identifiers break Service Worker responses.
Fixed an issue in which users trying to cancel a print around the time it completed would continue to get intermittent crashes
Fixed broken getUserMedia (audio) on DragonFly, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD. Video chat apps either wouldn't work or be always muted
Various security fixes
Android
Fixed top crasher on Firefox for Android
Fixed an issue in which URL fragment identifiers break Service Worker responses
Firefox 60 and Firefox 60 ESR were released on May 9, 2018 for desktop (both) and Android (no ESR). It includes a policy engine that allows customized Firefox deployments in enterprise environments, using Windows Group Policy or a cross-platform JSON file, enhancements to New Tab / Firefox Home, a redesigned Cookies and Site Storage section in Preferences for greater clarity and control of first- and third-party cookies, the application of Quantum CSS to render browser UI, support for Web Authentication API, which allows USB tokens for website authentication, an option for Linux users to show or hide page titles in a bar at the top of the browser, improved WebRTC audio performance and playback for Linux users (desktop), exclusive support for extensions built using the WebExtension API (ESR), the implementation of Quantum CSS (also known as Stylo) in Android for faster page rendering; and the addition of the View Page Source option to the Page Action menu (Android).[377][378][379]
Firefox 61 was released on June 26, 2018 for both desktop and Android. Among the many additions were: Improvements for dark theme support across the entire Firefox user interface, added support to allow WebExtensions to hide tabs, improved bookmark syncing, convenient access to more search engines (desktop), improved security and enhanced performances (both), and the fix for a recurring crash on Samsung Galaxy S8 devices running Android Oreo (Android).[380][381]
Firefox 62 was released on September 5, 2018 for both desktop and Android. Among the many additions were: FreeBSD support for WebAuthn, a preference that allows users to distrust certificates issued by Symantec in advance of removing all trust for Symantec-issued certificates in Firefox 63, improved graphics rendering for Windows users without accelerated hardware using Parallel-Off-Main-Thread Painting, CSS Variable Fonts (OpenType Font Variations) support, support for CSS Shapes, allowing for richer web page layouts (desktop), improved scrolling performance, faster page load times over Wi-Fi connections by loading from the network cache if disk cache is slow, and "Product and feature tips" toggle in Notifications settings (Android).[382][383] The bookmarks' Description field was deprecated and will be removed completely in future releases.
Firefox 63 was released on October 23, 2018 for both desktop and Android. Among the many additions and changes were: Performance and visual improvements for Windows and macOS users, content blocking, WebExtensions running in their own process in Linux, recognition of the operating system accessibility setting for reducing animation, the addition of Amazon and Google as Top Sites tiles on the Firefox Home (New Tab) page, the removal of the "Never Check for Updates" option from "about:preferences" and "Open in Sidebars" feature from the Library (desktop), support for Picture-In-Picture video, and use of notification channels (Android).[384][385]
Firefox 64 version 64.0 was released on December 11, 2018 for desktop only. Firefox 64 for desktop provides better recommendations, enhanced tab management, easier performance management, improved performance for Mac and Linux users by enabling link time optimization (Clang LTO), more seamless sharing on Windows, the option to remove add-ons using the context menu on their toolbar buttons, TLS certificates issued by Symantec that are no longer trusted by Firefox, and the availability of WebVR on macOS.[386] Three days later, version 64.0.1 was released for Android only. Firefox 64 for Android provides faster and more responsive scrolling and fixes for performance lags for users with installed password manager apps and an issue that resulted in the loading indicator using too much of the CPU and power.[387]
Firefox 65 was released on January 29, 2019 for both desktop and Android. Among the many additions and changes were: improved performance and web compatibility, with support for the WebP image format; enhanced security for macOS, Linux, and Android users via stronger stack smashing protection which is now enabled by default for all platforms (both desktop and Android); enhanced tracking protection; updated language settings in Preferences; support for Handoff on macOS; a better video streaming experience for Windows users; easier performance management; an improved pop-up blocker; the availability of Firefox for Windows with 32- and 64-bit MSI installers for easier enterprise deployments; additional support for Flexbox (desktop); and the restoration of Chromecast controls to the location bar (Android).[388][389]
Firefox 66 was released on March 19, 2019 for both desktop and Android. Among the many additions and changes were: Prevention of websites from automatically playing sound, smoother scrolling (both), an improved search experience and performance and better user experience for extensions, the addition of basic support for macOS Touch Bar and of support for Windows Hello on Windows 10, the enabling of AV1 support on 32-bit Windows and MacOS (desktop), and the addition of support to open files from external storage, such as an SD card (Android).[390][391]
Firefox 67 was released on May 21, 2019 for both desktop and Android. Among the many additions and changes were: Lowering priority of setTimeout during page load; suspending unused tabs; the ability to block known cryptominers and fingerprinters in the Custom settings of the Content Blocking preferences; improvement of keyboard accessibility; usability and security improvements in Private Browsing; protection against running older versions of the browser which can lead to data corruption and stability issues (desktop); a new Firefox search widget with voice input; and removal of the Guest Session feature to streamline user experience (Android).[392][393]
Added a policy engine that allows customized Firefox deployments in enterprise environments, using Windows Group Policy or a cross-platform JSON file.
DNS over HTTPS (DOH) functionality available.
Enhancements to New Tab / Firefox Home.
Responsive layout that shows more content for users with wide-screen displays.
Highlights section includes web sites saved to Pocket.
More options to reorder sections and content on the page.
Pocket Sponsored Stories will appear for a percentage of users in the US.
Redesigned Cookies and Site Storage section in Preferences for greater clarity and control of first- and third-party cookies.
Applied Quantum CSS to render browser UI.
Added support for Web Authentication API, which allows USB tokens for website authentication.
Enhanced camera privacy indicators: Firefox now turns off your camera and the camera's light when you disable video recording, and turns the camera and light on when you resume recording.
Added an option for Linux users to show or hide page titles in a bar at the top of the browser.
Improved WebRTC audio performance and playback for Linux users.
Locale added: Occitan (oc).
Various security fixes.
Changed the Windows shortcut for entering Reader View to F9, for better compatibility with keyboard layouts that use AltGr.
Bookmarks no longer support multiple keywords for the same URL unless the request has different POST data.
TLS certificates issued by Symantec before June 1, 2016 are no longer trusted by Firefox.
Updated the Skia graphics library to milestone 66.
Changes affecting developers.
Android
Implemented Quantum CSS (also known as Stylo) in Android for faster page rendering.
Added View Page Source option to the Page Action menu.
Official Firefox 60.0 Extended Support Release (ESR).[378]
Firefox Quantum arrives in the ESR channel. Key features include:
A completely new browser engine, designed to take full advantage of the processing power in modern devices
A redesigned interface with a clean, modern appearance, consistent visual elements, and optimizations for touch screens
A unified address and search bar. New installs will see this unified bar.
A revamped new tab page that includes top visited sites, recently visited pages, and recommendations from Pocket (in the US, Canada, and Germany)
An updated product tour to orient new and returning Firefox users
Support for enterprise environments, with a policy engine that allows customized Firefox deployments using Windows Group Policy or a cross-platform JSON file
Firefox now exclusively supports extensions built using the WebExtension API. Unsupported legacy extensions will no longer work in Firefox 60 ESR, but they will continue to work in Firefox 52 ESR, which will be supported until September 2018.
DNS over HTTPS (DOH) functionality available.
TLS certificates issued by Symantec before June 1, 2016 are no longer trusted by Firefox. The "security.pki.distrust_ca_policy" preference can be set to 0 to reinstate trust in those certificates
In the network connections settings, sites added to the "No proxy for" list will now honor that setting regardless of any other specified proxy settings
Faster page rendering with Quantum CSS improvements and the new retained display list feature
Faster switching between tabs on Windows and Linux
WebExtensions now run in their own process on MacOS
Convenient access to more search engines: You can now add search engines to the address bar "Search with" tool from the page action menu when on a webpage that provides an OpenSearch plugin
Share links from Firefox for MacOS more easily: You can now share the URL of an active tab from the page actions menu in the address bar
Improved security:
On-by-default support for the latest draft of the TLS 1.3 specification
Access to FTP subresources inside http(s) pages has been blocked
A more consistent user experience: Improvements for dark theme support across the entire Firefox user interface
More customization for tab management: added support to allow WebExtensions to hide tabs
Improved bookmark syncing
The settings for customizing your homepage and new tab page in Firefox have been added to a new Preferences section that can be accessed from Firefox at about:preferences#home. The settings can also be accessed via the gear icon on the New Tab page.
Android
Performance enhancements:
Quantum CSS improvements which improve page rendering times
Faster scrolling due to treating touch event listeners as passive by default
Improved security: On-by-default support for the latest draft of the TLS 1.3 specification
Fixed a recurring crash on Samsung Galaxy S8 devices running Android Oreo (8.0)
Firefox Home (the default New Tab) now allows users to display up to 4 rows of top sites, Pocket stories, and highlights
"Reopen in Container" tab menu option appears for users with Containers that lets them choose to reopen a tab in a different container
In advance of removing all trust for Symantec-issued certificates in Firefox 63, a preference was added that allows users to distrust certificates issued by Symantec
Added FreeBSD support for WebAuthn
Improved graphics rendering for Windows users without accelerated hardware using Parallel-Off-Main-Thread Painting
Support for CSS Shapes, allowing for richer web page layouts. This goes hand in hand with a brand new Shape Path Editor in the CSS inspector
CSS Variable Fonts (OpenType Font Variations) support, which makes it possible to create beautiful typography with a single font file
Updates for enterprise environments:
AutoConfig is sandboxed to the documented API by default
Added Canadian English (en-CA) locale
Removed the description field for bookmarks
Dark theme is automatically enabled in macOS 10.14 dark mode
Changed the default setting to Enforce (3) for the security.pki.name_matching_mode preference
Adobe Flash applets now run in a more secure mode using process sandboxing on macOS
Users disconnecting from Sync are now offered the option to wipe their Firefox profile data (including bookmarks, passwords, history, cookies, and site data) from their desktop computer
Changed how WebRTC handles screen sharing: When screen-sharing a window, the window will be brought to front
Three-pane Inspector in Developer Tools separates the rules into its own panel
Changes affecting developers
Android
Improved scrolling performance
Faster page load times over WiFi connections by loading from the network cache if disk cache is slow
"Product and feature tips" toggle in Notifications settings, allowing for more control over which notifications are shown
WebRTC video sessions between Firefox for Android and Safari browsers works again
Performance and visual improvements for Windows users
Moved the build infrastructure of Firefox on Windows to the Clang toolchain, bringing important performance gains
Firefox theme now matches the Windows 10 OS Dark and Light modes
Performance improvements for macOS users
Improved reactivity
Faster tab switching
WebGL power preferences allow non-performance-critical applications and applets to request the low-power GPU instead of the high-power GPU in multi-GPU systems
Added content blocking, a collection of Firefox settings that offer users greater control over technology that can track them around the web.
WebExtensions now run in their own process on Linux
Firefox now warns about having multiple windows and tabs open when quitting from the main menu
Firefox now recognizes the operating system accessibility setting for reducing animation
Added search shortcuts for Top Sites: Amazon and Google appear as Top Sites tiles on the Firefox Home (New Tab) page (U.S. only)
Resolved an issue that prevented the address bar from autofilling bookmarked URLs in certain cases
In the Library, the Open in Sidebar feature for individual bookmarks was removed
The option to Never check for updates was removed from about:preferences
The Ctrl+Tab shortcut now displays thumbnail previews of your tabs and cycles through tabs in recently used order
Refreshed visual style of Developer Tools menus to improve navigation and consistency
The Dev Tools accessibility inspector is now enabled by default
Added support for Web Components custom elements and shadow DOM
The inspector now ships with a Font Editor that allows you to control non-variable as well as variable fonts
Android
Added support for Picture-In-Picture video
Started using notification channels
Locales added: English from Canada (en-CA), and Ligurian (lij)
App now targets Oreo with security and performance improvements and support for new features
Better recommendations: You may see suggestions in regular browsing mode for new and relevant Firefox features, services, and extensions based on how you use the web (for US users only).
Enhanced tab management: You can now select multiple tabs from the tab bar and close, move, bookmark, or pin them quickly and easily.
Easier performance management: The new Task Manager page found at about:performance lets you see how much energy each open tab consumes and provides access to close tabs to conserve power.
Improved performance for Mac and Linux users, by enabling link time optimization (Clang LTO).
More seamless sharing on Windows: Windows users can now share web pages using the native sharing experience.
Added option to remove add-ons using the context menu on their toolbar buttons.
Updated the policy engine on macOS to allow using configuration profiles to customize Firefox for enterprise deployments.
Various security fixes.
RSS feed preview and live bookmarks are available only via add-ons.
TLS certificates issued by Symantec are no longer trusted by Firefox.
about:crashes has been redesigned to make it clear when a crash is being submitted to Mozilla, as well as being clear that removing crashes locally does not remove them from crash-stats.mozilla.com.
The macOS keyboard shortcut to add "www" and ".com" to a URL is now ctrl-enter instead of [apple]-enter.
You may now overlay multiple CSS grids at the same time (up to 3) in the CSS Grid Inspector.
The Web Console's command line now highlights JavaScript syntax.
When hovering over elements in the Accessibility panel, the contrast ratio of text against background is now indicated.
Added support for the new CSS scrollbar specification.
Firefox now prevents websites from automatically playing sound
Improved search experience:
Find a specific webpage faster when you have a lot of tabs open
Easier search via a redesigned new tab in Private Windows
Smoother scrolling: Scroll anchoring keeps content from jumping as images and ads load at the top of a page
Improved performance and better user experience for extensions:
Extensions now store their settings in a Firefox database, rather than individual JSON files, making every site you visit faster
A redesigned keyboard shortcuts section in about:addons makes it easier to view and adjust default shortcuts
Redesigned certificate error pages help you better understand and resolve issues, including identification of certificate issuers for anti-virus software
Added basic support for macOS Touch Bar
Experimenting with an improved Pocket experience in New Tab with different layouts and more topical content
Improved performance and reduced crash rates by doubling web content loading processes from 4 to 8
Easier, passwordless security: Added support for Windows Hello on Windows 10
Enabled AV1 support on 32-bit Windows and MacOS
The Dark and Light Firefox themes now override the system setting for title bar accent color on Windows 10
Linux users: Resolved an issue that caused Firefox to freeze when downloading files
Various security fixes
System title bar is hidden by default to match Gnome guideline for Linux users
DevTools Inspector is now fully usable when the Debugger is paused
Lowered priority of setTimeout and setInterval during page load to improve overall page load performance
Fixed: <button> element is no longer special cased in event dispatch, per latest specifications
Android
Added support to open files from external storage, such as an SD card
