Mozilla today officially launched Firefox 23 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. Improvements include the addition of a share button, mixed content blocker, and network monitor on the desktop side.
Before we dive into all the details, it’s worth noting Firefox 23 comes with a new logo:
The new desktop version was available on the organization’s FTP servers last night, but that was just the initial release of the installers. Firefox 23 has now officially been released over on Firefox.com and all existing users should be able to upgrade to it automatically. As always, the Android version is trickling out slowly on Google Play.
Desktop
The biggest addition is no doubt the new share button and panel for the browser’s Social API. In short, developers can let users share content with friends in one click (Facebook users, for example, can use it to share content directly from Firefox, regardless of where they are on the Web).
Here it is in action:
Next up is the mixed content blocker, which prevents non-secure (HTTP) content on a website from being read or modified by attackers by blocking the non-secure content from being compromised. In case you’re wondering, mixed content occurs when a webpage containing a combination of both secure (HTTPS) and non-secure (HTTP) content is delivered over a secure data channel to the browser. Here’s how it looks in action (more details are available here):
Also in this release, developers can finally use the new Network Monitor. It breaks down individual website components, highlighting how long it takes for each to load. More details are here.
There are naturally other Firefox 23 features worth noting; here’s the official changelog:
- NEW: Mixed content blocking enabled to protects users from man-in-the-middle attacks and eavesdroppers on HTTPS pages (learn more).
- NEW: Options panel created for Web Developer Toolbox.
- CHANGED: “Enable JavaScript” preference checkbox has been removed and user-set values will be reset to the default.
- CHANGED: Updated Firefox Logo.
- CHANGED: Improved about:memory’s functional UI.
- CHANGED: Simplified interface for notifications of plugin installation.
- CHANGED: Enabled DXVA2 on Windows Vista+ to accelerate H.264 video decoding.
- CHANGED: Users can now switch to a new search provider across the entire browser.
- CHANGED: CSP policies using the standard syntax and semantics will now be enforced.
- CHANGED: input type=’file’ rendering improvements (see bug 838675).
- CHANGED: Replace fixed-ratio audio resampler in webrtc.org capture code with Speex resampler and eliminate pseudo-44000Hz rate.
- CHANGED: “Load images automatically” and Always show the tab bar” checkboxes removed from preferences and reset to defaults.
- DEVELOPER: HTML5 input type=”range” form control implemented.
- DEVELOPER: Write more accessible pages on touch interfaces with new ARIA role for key buttons.
- DEVELOPER: Social share functionality.
- DEVELOPER: Added unprefixed requestAnimationFrame.
- DEVELOPER: Implemented a global browser console.
- DEVELOPER: Dropped blink effect from text-decoration: blink; and completely removed <blink> element
- DEVELOPER: New feature in toolbox: Network Monitor.
- FIXED: Various security fixes.
If you’re a Web developer, you should probably check out Firefox 23 for developers.
Android
Firefox for Android also includes the new logo, but it has a slew of its new features specific to Google’s mobile platform as well. The biggest addition is a new personalized page called the Awesome Screen, which also completes your URL as-you-type.
The “Switch to Tab” option lets you find and switch to any open tab from your Awesome Screen without opening duplicate tabs. Just like Chrome for Android, Firefox now hides its navigation bar when scrolling down (you can pull it down from the top of the screen when you need it).
The new version also includes basic support for subscribing to RSS feeds with a long-tap in the address bar. Lastly, Firefox for Android also now lets you change your default search provider from the Firefox add-ons manager.
Here’s the full Firefox 23 for Android changelog:
- NEW: Dynamic toolbar hides navigation bar when scrolling down page content.
- NEW: Basic support for subscribing to feeds (RSS/Atom) with long-tap in address bar.
- NEW: Add pages to reading list on devices incapable of accessing Reader Mode.
- NEW: Preliminary implementation of Firefox Health Report for Android (see FAQ).
- NEW: Added a setting to let users display URLs in the title bar instead of page titles.
- NEW: Users can now specify a default search engine.
- NEW: Implemented switch-to-tab.
- NEW: Added hu and tr to Android multi-locale builds.
- NEW: Added Serif/Sans Serif font toggle to Reader Mode.
- NEW: Long press Reader Mode icon to add article to Reading List (try it!).
- CHANGED: Awesomescreen remembers user entered search terms.
- CHANGED: CSP policies using the standard syntax and semantics will now be enforced.
- DEVELOPER: Write more accessible pages on touch interfaces with new ARIA role for key buttons.
- DEVELOPER: Added unprefixed requestAnimationFrame.
- DEVELOPER: HTML5 input type=”range” form control implemented.
- DEVELOPER: Dropped blink effect from text-decoration: blink; and completely removed <blink> element.
- FIXED:Various security fixes.
If you’re having difficulty keeping track of all these updates, don’t worry. Firefox 24 will be out in September.
Top Image Credit: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images
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