Mobile/Platforms/Android

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Revision as of 17:50, 24 January 2011 by Mbrubeck (talk | contribs) (→‎System Requirements: Viewsonic gTablet, GPS bug)
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Firefox for Android

Firefox for Android is part of the Fennec project to bring the Firefox web browser to mobile devices. For more information about Fennec, see the Firefox Mobile web site.

  • Latest Version: Beta 3
  • Optimized for: Nexus One, other phones with ~1 GHz ARMv7 CPU and 800x480 display
  • System Requirements: Android 2.0 or higher, OpenGL ES2.0, 512 MB RAM

Status

Firefox for Android is in early development. Stay tuned and follow us on Twitter and Facebook to hear about new releases and other announcements. Or read our developer blogs to follow our progress.

We have not yet set a date for the first release of Firefox for Android, but we are tentatively planning for a release in early 2011. See Mobile/Planning/2.0 for more information.

Download Firefox 4 beta

Mobile-beta.png

Firefox 4 beta for Android is now available.

  1. Check the system requirements below. This beta is available for ARMv7 only, and requires Android 2.0 or higher.
  2. If you installed Firefox 4 beta 2, please uninstall beta 2 before installing the beta 3. This will erase your profile. (This is because of a one-time change; future updates will not require you to uninstall and reinstall Firefox.)
  3. Point your phone's web browser to firefox.com/m

If you have trouble installing Firefox from the Android Market link on that page, see this support article for help.

Download Fennec Nightly Builds

If you want to develop, test, or preview the next release of Firefox, you can download a nightly build. Nightly builds are named "Fennec." You can install the Fennec nightly build alongside the official Firefox beta or stable release.

  1. Download the nightly build directly onto your Android device by scanning the barcode below, or by entering the URL in the Android browser.
  2. Open the fennec.apk file when it finishes downloading.

You can also try out Fennec on other platforms, including on your Mac, Windows, or Linux PC.

ARMv7

Qrcode-fennec-nightly-android.png

For Android devices with ARMv7 (Cortex, Snapdragon, Hummingbird, Tegra) processors, like the Nexus One, Droid X, Incredible, Desire, EVO 4G, or Samsung Galaxy S. (See below for a longer list of phones.)

ARMv6 (experimental)

For devices with ARMv6 processors, like the HTC Hero, Legend, Droid Eris, Wildfire, or Samsung Moment. (See below for a longer list of phones.)

Qr-code-fennec-nightly-android-nothumb.png

Note: The ARMv6 build is new and not widely tested. Many older Android phones do not have enough RAM or storage to run current Fennec builds.

Known Issues

These are some of the bugs in the latest nightly builds. We are working on fixing them.

Installation and Add-ons:

  • New (2011-01-21): Upgrading from the January 20 nightly to current nightly builds is broken (bug 627695). You will need to uninstall your previous nightly build and then install the latest nightly. This will erase your profile.
  • Adobe Flash and other plugins are not supported yet.

Performance and stability:

  • Phones with overclocked CPUs may crash when running Fennec. (This is a problem only for users who have enabled overclocking using a custom kernel image.)
  • Fennec causes the Motorola Droid to freeze completely when loading certain web sites, or at other random times (bug 602252).
  • Fixed in nightly builds: Fennec causes the Nexus S to freeze completely when loading certain web sites or opening many tabs (bug 624652).
  • Fennec crashes at startup on the Acer Liquid and Liquid A1. (bug 606194). Note: Fennec works fine on the Acer Liquid E.
  • Fennec's JIT compiler is disabled on Samsung Galaxy S phones running Android 2.1 because of a bug in their 2.1 kernel, making Fennec slower than on other devices. Galaxy S phones already running Android 2.2 "Froyo" are not affected. (bug 601222, bug 603624).

User Interface:

  • Fixed in nightly builds: Text does not wrap to fit the screen after zooming in, as it does in the Android browser (bug 578179). Easy Reading is an experimental add-on to implement this feature: http://bit.ly/easy-reading
  • Copy and Paste do not yet work for text in web pages (bug 611741).

Keyboard:

  • The SHIFT and FN keys do not work on the HTC Desire Z with European keyboard layouts (bug 618352).

See also the complete list of open Android bugs and release blockers in Bugzilla.

System Requirements

Fennec requires Android 2.0 or later. Installation requires about 17 MB internal or SD card storage.

Release builds of Fennec require a phone with an ARMv7 processor. Compatible devices include:

  • HTC Desire
  • HTC Desire Z (T-Mobile G2)
  • HTC Desire HD
  • HTC Droid Incredible
  • HTC EVO 4G
  • HTC Glacier (T-Mobile myTouch 4G)
  • HTC Nexus One
  • LG Optimus Z
  • Motorola Bravo
  • Motorola Droid 2
  • Motorola Droid X
  • Samsung Galaxy S (i9000, Captivate, Fascinate, Vibrant, Epic 4G)
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab
  • Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

The following devices have compatible hardware, but have software problems running current versions of Fennec. These problems may be fixed in future releases:

  • Acer Liquid E - Fennec crashes on startup
  • Acer Liquid (Liquid A1) - Fennec crashes on startup (bug 606194)
  • Archos 101 Internet Tablet - Fennec freezes on startup (bug 621645)
  • Dell Streak - crash on startup
  • Motorola Droid (Milestone) - Fennec crashes/freezes while running (bug 602252)
  • Samsung Nexus S - Fennec crashes/freezes while running (bug 624652)
  • Viewsonic gTablet - Fennec will not install on devices without GPS (bug 621262, fixed in nightly builds)

These devices are not compatible with our ARMv7-optimized releases, but might be able to run the experimental ARMv6 nightly builds:

  • Android SDK emulator
  • Asus Garmin nuvifone A50
  • Augen GENTouch 78 Tablet
  • HTC Aria
  • HTC Dream (T-Mobile G1, Android Dev Phone 1)
  • HTC Droid Eris
  • HTC Espresso (T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide)
  • HTC Hero (T-Mobile G2 Touch)
  • HTC Legend
  • HTC Magic (T-Mobile myTouch 3G, T-Mobile G1 Touch)
  • HTC Tattoo
  • HTC Wildfire
  • Huawei Ideos U8150-B
  • Huawei U8230
  • LG Ally (Apex)
  • LG Optimus, Optimus M, Optimus T, Optimus S
  • Motorola Backflip
  • Motorola Citrus
  • Motorola Cliq (MB200)
  • Motorola Dext
  • Motorola Devour
  • Motorola i1
  • Pandigital Novel
  • Samsung i5500 Galaxy 5 (Corby)
  • Samsung i5700 Galaxy Portal (Spica)
  • Samsung i5800 Galaxy 3
  • Samsung i7500 Galaxy
  • Samsung Intercept
  • Samsung M900 Moment
  • Samsung Transform
  • Sanyo ZIO M6000
  • Sony Ericsson Xperia X8
  • Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini
  • Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro
  • Viewsonic ViewPad 7 Tablet
  • Vodafone 845
  • ZTE Blade

These devices are not compatible, at all, for the reason described.

  • LG GW620 (Android OS 1.5 version + CPU ARM6)

Support

If you need support for Firefox for mobile please see our dedicated Mobile Support site.

Feedback

If you have comments or ideas please post them in the Mobile Ideas Forum.

Development

See Mobile/Fennec/Android for build instructions, developer documentation, and more project status.

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