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Mozilla released Firefox 85 this week, adding protections against so-called supercookies. But it also takes a step back from Progressive Web Apps (PWAs), which makes this browser much less interesting and useful.
“At Mozilla, we believe you have the right to privacy,” the Firefox 85 announcement message notes. “You shouldn’t be tracked online. Whether you’re checking your bank balance, looking for the best doctor, or shopping for shoes, unscrupulous tracking companies shouldn’t be able to keep up with you as you browse the web. For this reason, we are constantly working to strengthen Firefox against online tracking of our users. “
On that note, Firefox 85 now protects users from supercookies, which Mozilla says is “a type of tracker that can stay hidden in your browser and track you online, even after clearing cookies.” By isolating supercookies, Firefox prevents them from tracking your web browsing from site to site. It also includes small improvements to bookmarks and password management.
Unfortunately, Mozilla separately – and much more quietly – stopped work on the Site-Specific Browser (SSB) feature that I highlighted a few weeks ago. This feature allowed users to use Firefox to build apps on the local PC from PWA and other web apps, similar to features provided in Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and other Chromium-based web browsers.
“The SSB function has never been available except through a [preference] and has several known bugs, ”says Mozilla’s Dave Townsend in a Bugzilla issue tracker. “In addition, user research revealed little to no perceived benefit for the feature and therefore there are no plans to further develop it at this time. Since the feature is costing us time in terms of sorting out bugs and keeping it sends the wrong signal that it is a supported feature, we’ll be removing it from Firefox. “
As you might expect, Townsend received a lot of user feedback in the post, and I will stress that there is no way to gauge user benefits or interests unless you make this comment. functionality easily detectable in the browser. But regardless, Mozilla is moving away from a key tenet of modern web applications, and in doing so, they become unnecessary.
“There is currently no plan for PWA support in Firefox,” Townsend finally dropped in response to a complaint.
Well, there it is. Likewise, there are currently no plans to recommend or use Firefox again.
Tagged Progressive Web Apps, PWA
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