Firefox Focus for Android Hits 1 Million Downloads, Mozilla Celebrates with 3 New Features

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 21 Jul 2017

Firefox Focus for Android, the ad-blocking browser that Mozilla rolled out back in June, has reached a very important milestone: 1 million downloads. To celebrate this joyous occasion, Mozilla decided to update the browser and add 3 features that people had been asking for.

"Since the launch of Firefox Focus for Android less than a month ago, one million users have downloaded our fast, simple privacy browser app," announced Barbara Bermes, Senior Product Manager, Firefox Mobile Browsers. "Thank you for all your tremendous support for our Firefox Focus for Android app. This milestone marks a huge demand for users who want to be in the driver’s seat when it comes to their personal information and web browsing habits."

The 3 new features that Firefox Focus users had been asking for, the 3 new features that Mozilla rolled out for its ad-blocking browser are…

1. Full screen videos

What’s the point of lugging around a smartphone that has a huge screen if you can’t watch full screen videos on it? The good news is that Mozilla listened to the users and updated Firefox Focus for Android, making it possible to watch full screen videos on most sites. The bad news is that YouTube doesn’t make that list of "most sites."

As Barbara Bermes explained, "YouTube support is dependent on a bug fix from Google and we will roll it out as soon as this is fixed.”

2. Supports downloads

The updated Firefox Focus for Android can download files for offline use and it provides support for multiple types of files.

3. Updated notification actions

If you’ve already used Firefox Focus, then you know that the browser notifies you to erase your browsing history. This feature has been updated to also include the option to open Firefox Focus. You can now erase your browsing history and/or open Firefox Focus from the Notifications panel.



Firefox Focus is available for both Android and iOS. As mentioned above, Firefox Focus for Android was released about a month ago, in June 2017. Firefox Focus for iOS is a lot older than that, having been released in November 2016. And before that, back in December 2015, Mozilla played around with a free content blocker for Safari called Focus by Firefox.

If you’re not familiar with Firefox Focus, here’s the quick lowdown: it is a fast and privacy-oriented web browser that can block ads and trackers.

Firefox Focus – Main Features
  • Block ads – the browser blocks ads and many of the trackers that follow you around the web.
  • Browse faster – by blocking ads and other types of trackers, the browser uses less data and loads webpages faster.
  • Erase your sessions – tap the Erase button and the browser will erase all browsing information, including cookies, browsing history, and passwords.
  • Made by Mozilla – the company that believes everyone should have control over their lives online, and has been fighting for this since 1998.
  • Android only features – ad tracker counter that lets you see how many trackers have been blocked, the option to disable the tracker blocker when a website doesn’t load properly, notifications to erase your browsing history.


Go get Firefox Focus for Android from Google Play and Firefox Focus for iOS from Apple’s App Store.


In related news…

Firefox for iOS has recently been updated to version 8.0, introducing a new Night mode, a built-in QR code reader, a new tab experience that shows recently visited sites and highlights from previous visits, the option to automatically send a web page or tab to a synced desktop or mobile Firefox device, and features recommendations and hints.



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