Install Firefox Browser for Android
Edited by Jay, Maria Quinney
Firefox by Mozilla has been on the internet scene since November 2004 (Firefox 1.0). Over the years it has significantly grown in popularity due to its security, speed, customization options, and the fact that it's on an open source platform. When software opens up the source code and allows developers from around the world to contribute, great things can be accomplished. A large group of highly driven developers working in tandem can produce incredible results in the software realm.
The first version of Firefox for Android (2.1-2.2 Eclair) was released back in 2011, and since then, there have been numerous improvements made. In the following VisiHow, we did a fresh install of Firefox 57.0 on a Google Pixel running the Oreo OS.
Please note that you have to be running Android 4.2 or higher to continue with the installation.
- 1 Installing FireFox and Syncing Other Devices
- 2 Customize Homepage and Set the Default Search Engine
- 3 Share, New Tabs (Standard & Private), Bookmarks, Find in Page, Close Tabs
- 4 Request desktop site, Add-ons, Page options, Tools
- 5 Privacy
- 6 Accessibility, Notifications, Advanced
- 7 Clear private data and Make default browser
- 8 Comments
Installing FireFox and Syncing Other Devices
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- 6If you want to sync this version of Firefox with other devices, tap "Sign in" or "Create an account". For this article, we created an account to sync. If you don't want to sync, tap "START BROWSING" and skip to the next section of this tutorial.The next two screens talk about customization and syncing.
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Customize Homepage and Set the Default Search Engine
Share, New Tabs (Standard & Private), Bookmarks, Find in Page, Close Tabs
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Request desktop site, Add-ons, Page options, Tools
Privacy
To access Firefox's Privacy settings, tap the three-dot menu in the upper right corner, followed by "Settings".
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- Do not track: Toggle this on, and Firefox will tell sites that you do not want to be tracked.
- Tracking protection: This is enabled by default when you browse with Private tabs.
- Cookies: If this is enabled, Firefox will store cookies collected from the sites you visit.
- Clear private data on exit: Enabling this will ensure that your browsing data (open tabs, history, cookies, cache, site settings, etc.) will be cleared when you close Firefox after each session.
- Manage logins: Tap on this to access all your stored logins. You can access usernames and passwords, as well as make any necessary edits.
- Remember logins: Checking this will remember your logins on sites that require you to sign in.
- Use master password: Tap this to set one password for all your logins.
- Telemetry: Checking this will share performance usage, hardware and customization data about your browser.
- Crash report: Check this to send reports to Mozilla in the event Firefox crashes at some point.
- Mozilla location services: Enabling this will share your location when connected to WiFi or Data to improve Firefox's geolocation services.
- Firefox Health Report: Check this to share data with Mozilla about your browser health.
Accessibility, Notifications, Advanced
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- Restore tabs: Choose to either always restore or never restore tabs after quitting Firefox.
- Character encoding: You can select to show or not to show the encoding menu.
- Show images: Select Always, Only over WiFi, or Blocked. This is good to watch if you're on a limited data plan.
- Show web fonts: Enable this to download remote fonts when a page is loading.
- Auto-play: Enabling this will allow Firefox to auto-play media (videos/sound) if the website offers it upon page load.
- Remote debugging via USB: Enable this, and you can debug while the device is connected to a USB cable.
- Remote debugging via WiFi: If you enable this, your device will need to have a QR code reader app installed.
Clear private data and Make default browser
To clear your private data, tap the three-dot menu in the top right corner, then tap "Settings".
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- 4On the Browser app page, select the radio button next to Firefox.From the Default apps screen, tap "Browser app".
If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.