The experience has just gotten better for the small percentage of the market that prefers Firefox over Chrome, the default browser on Android devices. Mozilla, the company behind Firefox, announced today the release of over 450 new extensions, also known as browser add-ons, which are now available on Mozilla’s Firefox Browser Add-ons page. These extensions enable users to tailor the mobile browser to their specific requirements, whether that means adding anti-tracking privacy tools, content blockers, productivity tools, or other features that introduce new experiences, such as streaming music, or those that allow users to personalize the browser’s user interface, such as switching all websites to dark mode or providing a better way to manage tabs.
For years, Firefox for Android users have been frustrated by a lack of extensions, following the 2020 release of a rebuilt version of the mobile browser that replaced the app’s previous codebase with “GeckoView,” a new, faster, and more customizable browser engine. The company stated at the time that it made the decision to limit the supported extensions to only those in the “Recommended Extensions” program — meaning those that were commonly installed by end users. This decision allowed Mozilla to get the new browser into the hands of consumers quickly, but it killed the long tail of extension development — and opportunity for software developers focused on this market.
While more extensions were later enabled in Firefox’s nightly builds, the publicly available Firefox for Android browser did not have access to these hundreds of extensions, leaving the majority of Firefox’s mainstream users in the dark.
Mozilla announced in August of this year that it had finally completed the infrastructure required to bring the open extension ecosystem back to Firefox for Android. It then began testing and making hundreds more extensions available to Firefox for Android users, culminating in today’s announcement that there are now more than 450 extensions available.
The company emphasized the value of an open ecosystem, pointing out that nearly half of all Firefox desktop users have an extension installed to customize their experience.
Many of the recommended extensions for the Android browser have user numbers in the six digits or higher, but the app itself only has a small share of the mobile browser market due to the popularity of the default browsers, Chrome and Safari, on Android and iOS, respectively. According to StatCounter data, Firefox has a 0.5% market share on mobile devices as of November 2023. Chrome, on the other hand, has a 64.23% market share. In the mobile browser race, Safari, Samsung’s browser, Opera, and others are all ahead of Firefox.
Nonetheless, the app has a small but devoted following, including those looking for alternatives to the Big Tech giants. One of its main selling points is automatic tracker blocking, which appeals to those who value their privacy. According to Google Play Store statistics, Firefox for Android has surpassed 100 million installs to date.
“The opportunity for innovation is vast,” said Giorgio Natili, Firefox’s director of Engineering, in an announcement about the extensions’ launch. “It’s thrilling to see extension developers embrace this moment and create novel browsing experiences and features for Firefox for Android users. People don’t have to browse the mobile web in a strictly singular way anymore. With extensions, you’re free to change the way Firefox for Android looks and behaves. It’s only going to get better as more developers innovate within this exciting new space,” he added.
