Firefox Focus is a

free and open-source Free and open-source software (FOSS) is software available under a Software license, license that grants users the right to use, modify, and distribute the software modified or not to everyone free of charge. FOSS is an inclusive umbrella term ...

privacy-focused mobile browser by

Mozilla Mozilla is a free software community founded in 1998 by members of Netscape. The Mozilla community uses, develops, publishes and supports Mozilla products, thereby promoting free software and open standards. The community is supported institution ...

, based on

Firefox Mozilla Firefox, or simply Firefox, is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. It uses the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements curr ...

. It is available for Android and

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

smartphones and tablets. Its predecessor, Focus by Firefox, was released in December 2015 as a tracker-blocking application which worked only in conjunction with the

Safari A safari (; originally ) is an overland journey to observe wildlife, wild animals, especially in East Africa. The so-called big five game, "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, African leopard, leopard, rhinoceros, African elephant, elep ...

mobile browser on iOS. It was developed into a minimalist

web browser A web browser, often shortened to browser, is an application for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's scr ...

in 2016 but retained this background blocking functionality. The Android version of the browser was first released in June 2017 and was downloaded over one million times in the first month. As of January 2017, it was available in 27 languages. The version released for German-speaking countries has telemetry disabled and is named Firefox Klar to avoid ambiguity with the German news magazine ''

FOCUS Focus (: foci or focuses) may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in East Australia Film *Focus (2001 film), ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based on the Arthur Miller novel *Focus (2015 ...

''.

Tracking protection

Firefox Focus is designed to block online trackers, including third-party advertising, with the end goal of both improving browsing speed and protecting users' privacy. Content blocking is achieved using the Disconnect block lists. The blocking of third-party trackers (except "other content trackers") is enabled by default. In the other Firefox browsers, users have to enable the tracking protection feature inside the browser preferences manually. Users can also view types of trackers on a page by tapping on the shield icon next to the URL bar. A panel will pop-up and shows what kind of trackers are on that page: ad trackers, analytics trackers, social trackers or content trackers. On December 20, 2018, Mozilla announced that Firefox Focus now checks all URLs against the Google Safe Browsing service to help prevent people from accessing fraudulent sites. On iOS devices, Firefox Focus uses the WebKit engine as required by Apple for all browsers on the

App Store An app store, also called an app marketplace or app catalog, is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not i ...

. On Android, it used the Blink engine in version 6.x and earlier, and it has used GeckoView since version 7.0.

Functions and integrations

Firefox Focus can be set as content-blocker in the Safari web browser options. After activating the Safari integration in the Firefox Focus settings, it will disable trackers automatically in the background when browsing using the Safari browser. Pressing the trash icon while browsing will delete all session data, and return to the start screen (i.e. display the customisable search bar). Up to 4 favourite links (called Shortcuts) can be set on the home screen of the device. Firefox Focus contains an option called

telemetry Telemetry is the in situ collection of measurements or other data at remote points and their automatic transmission to receiving equipment (telecommunication) for monitoring. The word is derived from the Greek roots ''tele'', 'far off', an ...

. By activating it, users can allow Mozilla to collect and receive non personal-identifiable information to improve Firefox. Due to privacy concerns, telemetry of Firefox Klar is disabled by default. Beginning July 2018, Firefox Focus was preinstalled on the

BlackBerry Key2 The BlackBerry Key2 (stylized as BlackBerry KEY²) is a touchscreen-based Android smartphone with a portrait-oriented, fixed (not sliding) integrated hardware keyboard that is manufactured by TCL Corporation under the brand name of BlackBerry M ...

Android smartphone as part of the application ''Locker''. October 15, 2018, Mozilla announced that Firefox Focus is being updated with a new search feature and visual design. That means the browser will conceptually tell users about its features and options. Opening multiple tabs in Firefox Focus is available on Android.

Minimum device requirements

Apple mobile devices

There are some minimum hardware requirements to remove tracking contents. The mechanism needs hardware that can handle the extra load of content blocking so it only works on 64-bit devices running

iOS 9 iOS 9 is the ninth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 8. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 8, 2015, and was released on September 16, ...

and above including: * iPhone 5s and newer * iPad Air and newer * iPad mini 2 and newer * iPod touch from the 6th generation * Apple Vision Pro As of November 2024, iOS 15.0 or later is required to download Firefox Focus on the

Android mobile devices

Android version 5.0 or higher is required to download Firefox Focus from the

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store, Play Store, or sometimes the Android Store (and was formerly Android Market), is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certifie ...

store and use it on Android.

Gallery

File:Firefox Focus hamburger menu.png, Find in Page File:Firefox Focus Privacy and security screenshot.png, Block cookies File:Firefox Focus - Settings screen.png, Settings

References

External links

*
Firefox Focus for iOS
on the

Firefox Focus for Android
on

Firefox Klar for Android
on

F-Droid F-Droid is a free and open source app store and software repository for Android (operating system), Android, serving a similar function to the Google Play store. The main repository, hosted by the project, contains only free software, free and o ...

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