Firefox has been working on a big update for both its desktop and mobile browser these past few months. Version 57 of Firefox is slated to be released sometime in November and the biggest user facing change is its new user interface. This new UI has been dubbed Photon UI and it too will be pushed to both the desktop and mobile clients. With Mozilla using the Play Store for Firefox Nightly builds, the latest update it has received lets us get our hands on the new user interface.
The announcement came yesterday before lunch time and it’s something that a lot of fans have been waiting for. Firefox may have fallen out of the spotlight over recent years thanks to Chrome’s surge in popularity. Still, the open source web browser from Mozilla still has a dedicated fan base who still feels it’s the best option available. Mozilla has been working hard to improve its offerings too and the new Photon UI isn’t all that’s coming either.
This upcoming update to Firefox 57 will also include some of the first signs of their new rendering engine. Called Project Quantum, the goal here is for it to replace components of Gecko with code from the Servo engine. Servo is far from complete but Mozilla has been working to bring some of its best features to Gecko. There is still a lot of work to be done here before the full transition can be completed, but it’s a start and will bring some speed enhancements to the browser.
This big update to Firefox 57 has been confirmed to also remove support for legacy (XUL-based) add-ons. This is a big move for the company and it isn’t one that has been widely accepted. In April, it was reported that only 2,273 of Firefox’s current add-ons would work if Firefox 57 was released right then. For those who want to try out the new UI for Firefox, be sure to check out the Firefox Nightly branch in the Play Store as the new update is live right now.
Source: @FirefoxNightly
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