Mozilla"s Firefox Focus browser is getting an array of improvements with a new update announced today. The privacy-centric browser has been expanding its feature set since the initial release, and today"s release brings it a little closer to what you would expect from a regular browser.
This is mainly because Mozilla is adding search suggestions to the browser"s search bar, a commonplace feature in just about every major browser. The team has a good reason for not implementing this before, however, as many users may not want to share their search history with their search engine providers. Because of that, and given that the Mozilla has focused on privacy with this browser, search suggestions are disabled by default and you"ll have to go to the app"s settings to enable them.
Android users have another big change in the pipeline with this release, though its impact won"t be noticed right away. Mozilla is adopting its own GeckoView engine in Focus, its first appearance in any of the Firefox mobile apps. While the change won"t be meaningful for now, it will allow the team to implement the speed improvements enabled by its Quantum engine as well as new ways to further protect the privacy of its users.
On the other hand, those who prefer Apple"s devices can look forward to the integration with Siri shortcuts, a new feature introduced in iOS 12. This will allow users to create a sequence of actions that includes opening a specific website, the app itself, or erasing the user"s private data in the background.
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Both operating systems will see an updated design language, which aims to fall in line with the latest major updates to each OS, Android 9 Pie and iOS 12. This includes new icons, a reworked settings menu, and a new look for the URL bar. If you"d like to try out the latest version of Firefox Focus on iOS, you can get it from the App Store, while the Android version is available on the Play Store.