Dunbar's Number
So I've just been looking at the new #Firefox design proposals and oh boy!
Firstly I will say that as a #FirefoxForAndroid user it's been obvious to the whole world and its mother that Firefox has needed a bit of an update for a while, so this is amazing news that everyone should get behind. #FirefoxAndroid has been my primary browser for a while. The mobile age huh!
Dunbar's Number
One really cool thing I saw and maybe am misinterpreting, so blame me if it doesn't unfold this way. #FirefoxForAndroid is doing away with its custom implementation of #ReaderMode meaning that with the #Firefox update, reader mode should be able to plug in to the system TTS engine and thus finally bringing #accessibility parity to #Android. Hopefully. But again, I could be wrong.
Dunbar's Number
Something I found quite odd in regards to the #Firefox refresh. Especially given the new unified design, is that #FirefoxForIOS seems to be getting a tab bar, whereas #FirefoxForAndroid doesn't. Which is surprising because the idea on #MozillaConnect has over 200 votes for the #Android feature while an #iOS counterpart doesn't even publicly exist. But again, this is interpretation. I could be wrong and things could be subject to change.
Dunbar's Number
Just to add to this, I didn't see any tab grouping or tab stacking implementations in the proposal for #Firefox. That's not to say they're not being worked on, but don't get your hopes up.
But to talk about the design again, an estimated 70% of browser users are on #mobile. 70% of those using #Android and the majority of those using #Android13 with native #MaterialYou. I'm unsure why #Mozilla wouldn't design for them specifically a browser that looks and feels native and feels super fast.
Dunbar's Number
I wonder how many users will be turned away from having to learn new unintuitive user experiences though. No one is installing a #Mozilla app because it behaves in a specific way. Just how much weight does the maker of #Firefox have? Oh well, at least stuff is happening.
Dunbar's Number
So everyone clamouring for #MaterialYou will have to clamour on, as there's none coming to #FirefoxForAndroid as of what I saw. Disclaimer, what I saw could be inaccurate or fake. But essentially #Firefox on #Android will be a browser that doesn't quite look or feel like an Android app. I'm honestly not sure what the point of that is. Every other app on people's phones will look and act one way except the #Mozilla one. Seems a silly idea to me and one that generally fails.
Dunbar's Number
But there's some interesting ideas going into #Firefox. They could've and should've probably been implemented in a platform specific manner but it is what it is. At least the app is being modernized and as such should become more lightweight. All in all, what's been proposed for #FirefoxForAndroid and #FirefoxForIOS is an improvement on what we have, but has massive room for improvement.
Dunbar's Number
That said, anyone that likes new shiny apps will know that there's something that never works out well for users and that's unified design between #Android and #iOS. While I understand that some management feel #mobile is mobile, they're two different platforms with different design conventions. You can always tell Android apps designed by iOS users and I would assume vice versa. It's the worst of both worlds. Anyway, #Mozilla decided one size fits all for #Firefox.
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