How to Firefox

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Mobile extensions and iOS

  • The article’s claim that iOS can’t run “real” desktop extensions is contested. Orion on iOS runs many Firefox/Chrome WebExtensions on top of WebKit, proving Apple permits at least partial support.
  • However, Orion is beta, closed-source for now, and only supports ~70% of APIs; many extensions install but don’t function correctly, including some ad blockers. Users report crashes and missing API documentation.
  • Firefox for Android is seen as the only mature mobile browser with robust uBlock Origin support. Zen on Android also supports Firefox sync and extensions, but has Widevine/DRM issues.

Performance and resource use

  • Several users switching from Chrome perceive Firefox as slower or less “smooth” (startup time, UI responsiveness, dev workflows with SPAs and thousands of JS files, heavy VMs, YouTube with many tabs, Android cold starts).
  • Others report parity or near-parity and point to benchmarks, or say Firefox feels faster once adblocking is considered. Some note Firefox memory/GPU usage growing over long sessions.
  • Linux-specific issues (GTK, Wayland/X11, Nvidia, sandboxing quirks) and individual extensions are suspected in some “Firefox is slow” anecdotes; others cannot reproduce the reported slowness at all.

Profiles vs containers

  • Strong disagreement over “Firefox has no profiles.” Profiles have long existed (about:profiles, -P), and a new, friendlier profile manager is rolling out (browser.profiles.enabled).
  • Containers (Multi-Account Containers) get heavy praise for per-tab isolation, color-coding, and domain rules (e.g., keep social media or work logins separate).
  • Critics prefer Chrome-style window-based profiles for clean separation of history/passwords and simpler mental model; container UX (rules, shortcuts, subdomains) is seen as confusing by some.

uBlock Origin, Manifest V3, and browser choice

  • Many commenters switched from Chrome specifically because Manifest V3 effectively kills classic uBlock Origin there. Flags and manual MV2 installs are temporary and version-limited.
  • uBlock Origin Lite on MV3 is considered “good enough” by some, but others emphasize its reduced capabilities (filter syntax limits, fewer custom lists, historically missing features, though some have been added recently).
  • This change is widely viewed as Google using its browser dominance to protect its ad business, and as a key reason to use Firefox or non-Chromium engines.

Alternatives to Firefox

  • Brave: popular for built-in adblocking and Chromium familiarity; criticism centers on crypto/ads business model and past affiliate-code incident, though features can be disabled.
  • Vivaldi: praised for workspaces, tab stacking, and UI customizability; some find it heavy or slower.
  • Orion: liked on macOS/iOS for energy use and extension support, but widely described as beta-quality and immature.
  • Zen, LibreWolf, Waterfox: Firefox-based forks offering different defaults (privacy hardening, integrated sync, legacy add-on support) but add more fragmentation.

Telemetry, trust, and Mozilla’s direction

  • Several users resent defaults like telemetry, sponsored new-tab suggestions, PPA ad-attribution (opt-out/linked to telemetry), Pocket, and VPN promos, seeing “enshittification” and ad-tech drift.
  • Others argue Firefox remains vastly better than Google/Chromium on privacy even with defaults, and that disabling telemetry harms product quality. Forks like LibreWolf are suggested for zero-telemetry setups.

Features praised in Firefox

  • uBlock Origin, Multi-Account Containers, Reader View, vertical tabs + tab groups, Tree Style Tabs, panorama tab groups, per-tab SOCKS/VPN containers, “send tab to device,” rich bookmark/keyword search, and custom hardening via user.js.
  • Several insist “How to Firefox” can be as simple as: install Firefox, add uBlock Origin, optionally turn off telemetry; deeper customization is optional.

Compatibility, security, and monoculture worries

  • Some encounter real site breakage or “Chrome only” warnings (government portals, enterprise tools, Slack/Teams huddles, certain Indian sites, YouTube behavior with adblock). UA-spoofing extensions help in some cases.
  • A few point to Firefox’s weaker sandboxing on Android and historical site-isolation gaps; a Mozilla engineer replies that site isolation exists on desktop and Android sandboxing work is ongoing.
  • Many see preserving a non-Chromium engine (Gecko) as strategically important to avoid a Chrome-style monoculture repeating the Internet Explorer era.