Firefox Beta 4 Now Available With Big Promises

[Dave12308]

bigger than the desktop? lol ... yet on a device where memory is at a premium?

Yeppers, desktop version of FF is currently at 11MB. Android version is ~14MB

Somewhat ridiculous if you ask me, I can't fathom why a mobile browser would be so large. Unless being a beta, it contains LOTS of debug code.

On second thought, even if that holds true, I STILL can't fathom why it's so large.

 

[bazar6]

If it's still not available for the Droid, because of the memory reasons, will it ever be? We can do app2sd, but I'm sure that won't help with the sluggishness. I'm not even going to bother; just like someone else already said, I gave up on FF for chrome on my desktop. And with all of the security flaws on the stock browser, I just stick to DolphinHD

 

[Jaxidian]

bigger than the desktop? lol ... yet on a device where memory is at a premium?

Yeppers, desktop version of FF is currently at 11MB. Android version is ~14MB

Somewhat ridiculous if you ask me, I can't fathom why a mobile browser would be so large. Unless being a beta, it contains LOTS of debug code.

On second thought, even if that holds true, I STILL can't fathom why it's so large.

Could contain not only debug code but also quite a few debugging modules that get thrown away for the final version.

Sent from my DROIDX using DroidForums App

 

[Blackhawk55]

I've been wondering about the status of FF for Android given the news of FF as the browser for the soon-to-be-released Atrix laptop docking solution.

Am I the only one that wonders why Google has not provided a Chrome browser for Android? Like others I left FF years ago on the PC for Chrome.

 

[KZIWarrior]

I was eagerly waiting for this... but I've since retired my Firefox browser on my PC for Chrome and I don't have the urge to install FF on my Droid anymore

Same here... I was reluctant to abandon FF but they have just continued in the wrong direction for so long.... even on my PC it's slower than EVERY other browser, on my laptop it's not even close (not to mention a 10-15 sec freeze every time it starts... way to screw up a great product Mozilla....

 

[Dave12308]

Am I the only one that wonders why Google has not provided a Chrome browser for Android? Like others I left FF years ago on the PC for Chrome.

The reason there is no Chrome browser for Android is due to the fact that the native Android browser is very similar to Chrome, however it is optimized for small screens. Google wants to keep them seperate, they were both developed as seperate projects and do not share a common code base; however they do have alot in common.

Both the native Android browser and Chrome are webkit based browsers, and both use the Chrome V8 javascript engine (as of Android 2.2). However, while the native browser is optimized for phone sized screens; Chrome adds support for things like a window manager and tabbed browsing support - things more suited for a desktop/laptop PC.

I guess one could look at the Android browser as a specialized version of Chrome for small screens.

 

[johnomaz]

It ran on my DX well enough after the first launch. I still like the built in browser. Its fast and easy. Hope the final release is better.

 

[CoFoltman84]

ran fine on my OG Droid. Can only think of 3 things that bother me: No flash support, Load time when you start the app, and the massive size of the download to install

 

[brando56894]

2 huge problems: no OG droid support and no flash.

 

[spiller37]

Does anyone else think this browser is a complete piece of ****? Navigating the menus is slow on my OG Droid. Faster than stock browser my f*cking a$$!!!

 

[spiller37]

this thing sucks. i couldn't even get to type a URL. it kept crashing.

I take it folks don't bother to read app descriptions anymore?

Because it clearly says that the Droid and Milestone are NOT supported. Probably because the damn program is so freaking big that they don't have enough RAM, I dunno. The APK is 3MB larger than the desktop version for some reason.

no most people don't read

bigger than the desktop? lol ... yet on a device where memory is at a premium?

No I didn't read, but the OG Droid is the largest single device user base. How can they leave us high and dry?

 

[bazar6]

Because that large user base will be deminishing rather quickly once peoples two year upgrades come up, and they move to a phone that has much better specs than the OG. I think its a good move; why develop for old technology?

Sent from my Droid using DroidForums App

 

[riko540]

It a lot faster than it used to be but the built in browser is still faster and doesn't take up anywheres close to the amount of memory that FireFox does. HTC Incredible.

sent from my pocket