Surf the web without leaving marks.
Over the past few years, security has been a rising concern especially when it comes to smartphones. A lot of users have no clue when it comes to privacy and browsing history.
Android web browsers are a dime a dozen. It’s not easy to decide which one is right for browsing safely without compromising on privacy. Most Android web browsers offer some form of “private” browsing but are not foolproof.
Firefox has maintained high standards of security and privacy. They took one step forward last year by introducing Firefox Focus for the iOS users in November 2016. About a week back, Firefox released the Focus browser for Android users for a secure ad-free browsing experience.
What is Firefox Focus?
Mozilla is here with a new option and privacy centric browser which takes private browsing to the next level.
If user reviews are anything to go by, Firefox Focus is the solution for Android users can rely on. The app has an in-built ad-blocker. It also makes it easy to delete history and cookies. The app is so secure it actually blocks screenshots while web browsing. It is extremely fast and easy to use with great web browsing experience.
You can either set Focus as your default browser, or launch it manually whenever you wish to browse privately.
Firefox Focus Interface
Firefox Focus is intuitive to use with a subtle pinks and purple UI which is pleasing to the eyes.
How does Firefox Focus work?
Privacy
Firefox Focus provides added privacy by letting you block website trackers by category:
- Ads, analytics and social trackers
- Other content trackers – this category includes embedded videos, photo slideshows, and news article embeds that could track your browsing history, cache.
- Firefox Focus uses Yahoo as its default search engine, but you can change it to Google or any other search engine of your choice.
- Users can save their mobile data as it blocks some parts of web pages from loading.
- Web pages often load faster with Firefox Focus, as it blocks web fonts which sometimes slow down web pages. Web fonts are typefaces used to style the text, blocking them alters the appearance of text on web pages but all text is displayed legibly.
- The browser by default blocks ad trackers and can erase your browsing history, including passwords and cookies.
- There aren’t many configuration options in Focus, neither does it allow you to mark favorites or open new tabs.
As Firefox Focus blocks ads and ad trackers, this makes browsing fast for users and makes data usage more efficient.
Firefox Focus features
Firefox Focus can be set as the default browser, which means you can use it with your most common apps like Facebook and others, without being tracked. When you need to access more advanced browser features you can launch it manually too.
There is an ad tracker counter, which informs you about the number of blocked tracking ads while using an app.
You can also erase your browsing history, when it’s running in the background. You’ll receive a push notification that you can tap to launch the app again and take the necessary actions.
What’s different for Android users?
There are no major differences between Focus for Android and for iPhone. The app retains the stripped-down, simple interface of its iOS, down to the incredibly basic browsing experience and Yahoo search toolbar. You cannot favorite web pages or open multiple tabs in Focus — instead, you are likely to perform quick searches and visit web pages directly. You can disable its ad tracker blocker if, for some reason, any websites you want to visit don’t load correctly.
The main difference is that you can set Firefox Focus as the default browser. Also if you switch to another app, you’ll get a reminder notification that lets you erase your history without skipping a beat.
Requirements
Firefox Focus is available in the Play store for supported devices.
Requires 5.0 and higher version of Android OS.
How to use Firefox Focus as a browser?
To use Firefox Focus to maintain your privacy and security launch Firefox Focus. Now enter your search or website address in the field and you are good to go.
- If a page is not loaded correctly or you wish open it in regular Firefox or another browser, tap the menu button at the top right and choose from the options: Share, Open with Firefox to open a page in regular Firefox, or Open with select the other browser to open the page in another browser.
- To erase all information about your session at any time tap the Erase button
How to customize your Firefox Focus protection settings?
To customize the level of content blocking and tracking follow the steps below:
- Open Firefox Focus.
- Tap the menu button at the top right corner.
- Tap Settings.
- Tap the switch next to each feature to turn it on or off.
- Tap the back button or close Firefox Focus. Firefox Focus will save your changes automatically.
Wrap Up
If you like privacy-centric surfing Firefox Focus browser is the best solution, it keeps your privacy intact and helps to save mobile data usage thus, giving a smooth experience. In the new Android release, Firefox Focus has added a few other features and has included the ability to disable its built-in tracker blocker. It has the perk of speeding up web browsing sessions, as ads and other web trackers will be blocked which slows down pages from loading and impact performance.