What is Firefox Focus for iOS?

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  • Creator: Joni
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Focus by Firefox is a free content blocking app for Safari on iOS that allows you to improve the privacy and performance of your mobile Web browsing experience. Focus may also reduce your mobile data usage.

focusoverview

How does Focus work?

Privacy

Tracking generally refers to the collection of a person’s browsing data across multiple sites. Focus brings added privacy by allowing you to block known website trackers by category:

  • Ad, analytics and social trackers
  • Other content trackers - this category includes embedded videos, photo slideshows, and news article embeds that could track you. Blocking other content trackers may cause many sites to stop functioning properly.
For Tracking Protection, Focus uses a list provided by Disconnect to identify and block trackers. You can read more about tracking and the standards Disconnect uses to create its list here.


Performance

Focus works by blocking some parts of Web pages from loading. With less to download, Web pages often load faster with Focus. Your mobile data usage may also be lower.

  • Web fonts - fonts that are downloaded from the server (may slow down web pages). Web fonts are typefaces used to style the text on some web pages. Blocking Web fonts will alter the appearance of text on any pages where Web fonts are used, but all text will still display legibly.

Focus will incorporate more performance-enhancing features in the future.

How to enable Focus

In order for Focus to work, you’ll need to activate it in Safari. Follow these step-by-step instructions to get started. You’ll only need to do this once.

  1. Install Focus from the Apple App store.
  2. Enable Focus in Safari by following these steps:
    • Open the Settings app.
    • Find Safari on the list and tap on it.
    safari
  • Tap “Content Blockers” under General.
    contentblockers
  • Tap the switch next to “Focus” to enable it. (Green means it’s enabled.)
    enablefocus
  • Close the “Settings” app.
  1. Launch Focus and swipe to the left until you see the “Focus is enabled!” screen.
  2. Tap “Get Started”.
  3. Tap the switch next to each tracker you want to block (green greenswitchfocus means it’s activated).
  4. Close Focus and start browsing!

Focus will quietly block trackers in the background while you browse. You won’t need to open it again unless you want to change your settings.


Requirements

Focus is available in the iTunes store for supported devices. Content blocking is only available on 64 bit devices, iOS9 and above including:

  • iPhone 5s and above.
  • iPad Air and above (excluding first-generation iPad mini).
  • iPod Touch 6th Generation