Unlike other browsers, Firefox uses its own rendering engine. Accordingly, Mozilla has the power to try new improvements and changes. Also, the search engine is becoming faster with each update as it is rewritten in the Rust programming language. Mozilla is now rolling out a new version of the browser, Firefox 90 for Android and desktop that brings a bundle of improvements.
Must see: Google Chrome 92 Beta is now available to download
Talking about the desktop version, Firefox 90 now allows the user to save, manage, and auto-fill credit card information. Though, the introduction of this feature is already late as it is available in other browsers like Chrome and Safari for several years. Along with this, Firefox 90 has removed the FTP support from the browser, that Chrome did the last year.
Moreover, the new version adds Quantum Render aka WebRender, which is the faster page compositor written in Rust. FYI, WebRender as well is already available on all Android handsets except for Chromebook devices. However, the language is only limited to the devices that equip PowerVR and Adreno 4 graphics like Snapdragon 808 and Snapdragon 415, etc. Here is the precise changelog for desktop and Android.
Desktop Changelog
- On Windows, updates can now be applied in the background while Firefox is not running.
- Firefox for Windows now offers a new page about third-party to help identify compatibility issues caused by third-party applications
- Exceptions to HTTPS-Only mode can be managed in about: preferences#privacy
- Print to PDF now produces working hyperlinks
- The “Open Image in New Tab” context menu item now opens images and media in a background tab by default
- Most users without hardware-accelerated WebRender will now be using software WebRender.
- Improved software WebRender performance
- FTP support has been removed
- Version 2 of Firefox’s SmartBlock feature further improves private browsing. Third-party Facebook scripts are blocked to prevent you from being tracked but are now automatically loaded “just in time” if you decide to “Log in with Facebook” on any website.
- Support for Private Fields (TC39 proposal, stage 3) is available in DevTools. The support includes: object inspection, autocompletion, expression evaluation, variable tooltips, and pretty-printing (bug)
- Support for Fetch Metadata Request Headers, which allows web applications to better protect themselves and their users against various cross-origin threats.
- Added the ability to use client authentication certificates stored in hardware tokens or Operating System storage.
- The Network panel shows a preview of HTTP requests for fonts in the Response tab (bug)
- Various security fixes
Android Changelog
- Firefox can now save, manage, and auto-fill credit card information for you, making shopping on Firefox more convenient.
- Back/Forward Cache (aka BFCache) is now enabled for webpages that use unload event listeners, making the back and forward navigations faster on these pages.
- Users that need to import user Android certificates can do so through the secret settings
- Various stability and security fixes
Flash the desktop version of Firefox 90 from the official browser’s website. While the Android version can be downloaded directly through Play Store.
