Mozilla Firefox Fenix Preview For Android Hits Public Beta, Faster And Completely Revamped

The new browser is being dubbed the Firefox Preview in its early development state (it was developed under the codename Fenix) and is up to twice as fast as the preceding versions of Firefox for Android. The GeckoView engine, which is optimized for mobile, is said to allow for speedy feature updates from Mozilla, and it nabs some of the same privacy-centric features from the desktop Firefox browser to keep all of your data safe.

"Firefox Preview is the first step in building a better mobile browser: one that’s faster, more secure and more independent than any mobile Firefox browser before it," writes the Firefox team. "It will combine the speed, privacy, control, and easy-to-use features you have come to expect from Firefox."

 

Mozilla has built-in Tracking Protection for the Firefox Preview, which helps protect your privacy, and the company promises that it will never sell your data for profit. Mozilla's commitment to privacy and security is one of the big reasons for users to opt for it over Chrome. In addition, there's a new feature called Collections that allows you to save, share and organize groups of websites.

"While all other major Android browsers today are based on Blink and therefore reflective of Google’s decisions about mobile, Firefox’s GeckoView engine ensures us and our users independence," the Firefox team continues. 

Mozilla is making this early test version of the Firefox Preview available via the Google Play Store (you can download it by clicking the following link). You can expect to experience a few hiccups here and there, but performance so far seems to be pretty good for an early preview. The company hopes to push the final release of the next mobile version of Firefox later this year.