Firefox for Android Support Forum

I downloaded some Mozilla apps last week, apps that control mainly privacy plus Dark Screen. The next day I attempted to log in to my bank account and I couldn't. I got a message saying that Java Script was needed. This is very confusing because I did not knowingly disable Java script. I tried my other bank and got same message. I tried to log in using my Duck Duck Go browser and everything worked as it should. So how did this happen? I'm trying to figure out your instructions on how to enable Java script again, but can't find the menu for my Firefox browser. Sorry but I'm not tech savvy!

I am not sure this is the right forum to be asking all of the questions below but .. I am starting here and will be guided by your feedback if only some questions can be answered here.

All my questions pertain to Firefox Nightly on Android. 101.0a1 (Build #2015874793) It is my hope that the Q&A might help other users of Firefox Nightly on Android.

1. (generic) Where will I find discussion of or documentation (specifications, user manual, usage notes, self-documenting source code, etc.) for the various Firefox settings accessible via about:config ?
2. (specific) What is the intended use scenario for the media.volume_scale setting?
3. (specific) What is the intended use scenario for the media.default_volume setting?
4. (specific) What is the intended use scenario for the media.hardwaremediakeys.enabled setting?
5. (generic) Is it reasonable to expect that a browser be able to determine either the RMS or Peak loudness of the src for a media element and mute (i.e. set ~.volume=0) if that loudness is above some user specified level? For example:
   • Might there be metadata within the file header that describes loudness just as there is metadata that describes duration?
   • Might parsing just the first 3-5 seconds of the file be sufficiently manageable to estimate loudness without grossly impacting page load-time or grossly taxing the CPU?
   • Might the default action be to set ~.volume=0 until such time as the browser has parsed the entire src to determine actual RMS loudness .. and only then restore ~.volume to user-prescribed maximum permitted volume iff RMS loudness is below a user prescribed threshold? (the bigger the file the longer that media is muted before it can be potentially unmuted!)

Thank you, in advance, for any time you spend responding to my questions. I am especially appreciative of links that I can follow to find answers for myself rather than being spoon-fed answers on a specific case by case basis.

I'm well aware that I can chose a download manager when downloading a file, but, as I end up downloading files very often and typically one after the other it can get particularly annoying.

Is it possible to set a default download manager so I don't have to interact with a popup all the time, and, if no such option exists will one be implemented in the future?

I installed ublock origin. But it doesn't work now, where it used to work. If I click to go to its page, no web is loaded. Re-installing doesn't help. the same situation happends to other ad block add-ons.

I originally was able to create the home page shortcut to Piped with Chrome, but the shortcut launched Chrome, even though Firefox is my default browser?

Piped [https://piped.kavin.rocks/https://pip.../|Piped]

So I deleted the shortcut. Now, Chrome no longer even offers me the option to "Add to Home Screen" from the Piped page, but it still does for other sites. Within Chrome, It now offers me the option to open the page in Firefox, even if I make Chrome the default browser.

How can I get a shortcut to Piped on my home page that will open in Firefox?

Hello Team,

My query is regarding Youtube HD extension in Firefox Android Browser. The browser supports max quality upto 1080p resolution. The query is I cannot watch Youtube video in 1440p , 4k resolution. What's the problem with the extension.

Similarly I use other browser on my phone i.e. Vivaldi browser. On Vivaldi browser I can watch Youtube videos in 1440p , 4k resolution.

Regards, Abhishek C.

I have the xpi android file for check4change in my android but don't know how to add to the add-on on Firefox, i tried to open the xpi file using file manager but no option of Firefox in file manager to run the xpi file. Need help please

Currently using Firefox Nightly version 111.0a1 for Android now when trying to open a link in another app it always shows a popup to confirm.

This was not present in previous releases and I don't know if there is a way to prevent this popup as it makes it uncomfortable. Is there an option I may be missing to disable this feature? If not, could an option like this be introduced?

Thanks and regards

I realise this is a bit of a niche problem, but it's really annoying.

I use a British newspaper crossword site, https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords

The crossword consists of a lot of 1-character text fields, and when you type into one of them, it auto-advances to the next one. Firefox on Android always tries to put the new box that the cursor is in as close to the center of the display as possible. This takes 1/2 a second, during which Firefox misses the next letter I'm trying to type.

Either I need to slow my typing down, or I need to stop Firefox auto-centering the new text box.

Is this possible?

Simon

Hello everybody,

Firefox v122 is running on an Android 8 tablet.

1. Are the "about:config" configuration settings still supposed inaccessible for this version?

2. Will these "about:config" configuration settings eventually become available again?

3. Is the interim solution still to install the Nightly version?

Thank you.

My Proton Mail package requires java be active. When I am browsing with Mozilla browser I am frequently re-directed to a page not requiring java. I type about:config bot get no warning and never advance to a page ro make java changes. This about maxeysf my abilities out . Help me please! Geoff in east Tennesee

Since the last update the Android status bar (top bar with the notifications, time, WiFi, battery info, etc) disappears when start browsing in the light mode. When launching the Firefox app everything is OK but as soon I start browsing the icons on the bar just turn white. ( Please see the images below) Before the last update it worked well. Any suggestions to solve this issue?

About:config simply shows me a blank screen.

I need to customize a few settings and I presently cannot. This question marks this as answered but the answer is talking about a solution to the specific reason they were trying to access about:config, not why they cannot access it. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1373286

Others say to use the nightly build, which I don't want. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1302626

What's the deal? I've spent an hour or so now looking this up and haven't found anything.

Is there a way to have Firefox respond/be the default for the Google Assistant instead of Chrome?

Are there any other voiced activated assistants that can do this?

Can I use Bixby like Google Assistant, and have these things done.

I would also like all home page shortcuts to open Firefox. even those that were placed there by Chrome.

It seems like such a simple thing to ask. I want to be able to manually create a couple shortcuts to load my favorite web pages. The whole point of a shortcut is to avoid clutter, and streamline the process of using your favorite websites, right?

I manually add three shortcuts to my "firefox home screen". Google, Google news, and another page that is hosted on my local network. That's it. I don't want recommended sites, affiliate links, suggestions, or sites from my history clogging up my very short list of favorite website shortcuts. For this reason I configured the home screen to ONLY show "Shortcuts". Sponsored shortcuts, jump back in, recent bookmarks, recently visited, and pocket are all turned OFF. Still, I sometimes get new shortcuts to other sites I have visited added to my home screen (without the pin icon) randomly. Some sites that I visit sometimes appear there....but not always. Just randomly. If I wanted to have my history appear in shortcuts I supposed I would check the option to show recently visited sites...but I don't. Why would I want shortcuts added for random sites I have visited when I could just look at my history? If every site I visit has the potential to be added to my shortcuts randomly, how does that make using shortcuts a convenience? It doesn't seem to matter what I want because Firefox just does it anyway....sometimes....

The only way to remove these random automatic shortcuts is to remove them from my history individually or clear my entire history. This means I'm constantly fighting to keep these randomly created shortcuts at bay. I don't want to necessarily remove sites from my history, I just don't want them to randomly auto appear on my manually curated list of shortcuts.

I attempted to work around this issue by using the "Add to my Home Screen" option. I could just have shortcuts on my android home screen instead of the Firefox browser home screen. Then I can turn off the shortcuts option under "customize my home screen" entirely. Unfortunately this works fine for some sites, but for others that option is replaced with "Install" instead. I assume this is meant to install the app associated with that domain. I don't want to install the Google News app or I would do so in the app store, not with my non-google web browser. That's a moot point though because tapping on "install" doesn't install anything anyway, but rather it does the same exact thing that "Add to my Home Screen" does. It adds a shortcut to my home screen. Great! Except the problem now is that when I use that home screen shortcut, all of the Firefox UI breaks (Incidentally this also happens to the Brave Browser as well). I have no address bar, no menus, no tabs. It's as if I'm looking at the Google News app instead of a page in Firefox. I do not have the Google News app installed, so I know that is not the case.

I have posted comments about this in the google play store firefox page, and even emailed developers. The only response I got was a confusing explanation that this feature was added to mirror the functionality of the desktop browser. Either I didn't explain my problem well enough or they didn't read my explanation. This is why I posting yet again in another place, and I'm trying to be very detailed in my explanation so there is no misunderstanding my issue.

I am a huge advocate for Firefox. I recommend it to everyone and I have been using it personally for decades. Before there was even a Chrome! So imagine how painful it is for me to be trying out Brave or even Samsung's "Internet" to see if they are viable alternatives to Firefox. It doesn't seem like I'm asking for something unreasonable... I just want a few icons on my screen that I can tap on to open my favorite web pages. I don't care if it's on the android home screen or the Firefox home screen, although I should be able to choose either or both. Unfortunately neither method seems to work without bugging out.

Again, I'm a big FF advocate. I would love to see you back on top instead of having a 1% market share....but I can hardly sympathize with your plight when what should be basic functionality is not working correctly.

Please make it so that random sites that I visit aren't added to shortcuts, at least unless I have enabled "recent" options. Please make it so that I can add ANY website to my android home screen, without seeing the confusing alternative choice, "Install". Please make it so that websites cannot interfere with the Firefox UI. If I am indeed using Firefox to view a page, then I should at all times have the UI available. I should always have access to the basic functionality of a browser, such as stop, reload, bookmarks, history, help, about, etc.

I remember sites with related terms not always being grouped up not too long ago. The change isn't bad but would like to know how to disable it. The main issue being ever since this change was implemented, it breaks some functionality. It keeps you from being able to look through the rest of your history until you delete the group. Either it prevents you from continuing to scroll down. Or when you do keep scrolling, it keeps looping the sites already shown.

How to add speed dials in homepage and URL bar on Firefox Android?

I access some sites instantly like alternative search engines, social media, news sites, messages and others so need them on homepage of browser (also new tab like Chrome otherwise speed dials won't work).

But in Firefox Android and Chromebooks, I can't find a way to have done sites as speed dials like Edge browser, Samsung browser, cococ browser, soul browser, mask browser, kiwi browser, Brave browser, Vivaldi browser, and Opera browsers among others. Only Firefox is light years backward despite being veteran.

Humbly requesting this feature urgently as usability is zero when using Firefox browsers and I have to go back to one of the browsers mentioned in that case.