The latest release of Firefox for Android is filled with new features, designed to work with the way you use your mobile device.

Search

Search is the most common reason people use a browser on mobile devices. To help make it easier to search using Firefox, we created the standalone Search application. We have put the features of Firefox’s search system into an activity that can more easily be accessed. You no longer need to launch the full browser to start a search.

When you want to start a search, use the new Firefox Widget from the Android home screen, or use the “swipe up” gesture on the Android home button, which is available on devices with software home buttons.

Once started, just start typing your search. You’ll see your search history, and get search suggestions as you type.

The search results are displayed in the same activity, but tapping on any of the results will load the page in Firefox.

Your search history is shared between the Search and Firefox applications. You have access to the same search engines as in Firefox itself. Switching search engines is easy.

Sharing

Another cool feature is the Sharing overlay. This feature grew out of the desire to make Firefox work with the way you use mobile devices. Instead of forcing you to switch away from applications when sharing, Firefox gives you a simple overlay with some sharing actions, without leaving the current application.

You can add the link to your bookmarks or reading list. You can also send the link to a different device, via Firefox Sync. Once the action is complete, you’re back in the application. If you want to open the link, you can tap the Firefox logo to open the link in Firefox itself.

Synced Tabs

Firefox Sync makes it easy to access your Firefox data across your different devices, including getting to the browser tabs you have open elsewhere. We have a new Synced Tabs panel available in the Home page that lets you easily access open tabs on other devices, making it simple to pick up where you left off.

Long-tap an item to easily add a bookmark or share to another application. You can expand/collapse the device lists to manage the view. You can even long-tap a device and hide it so you won’t see it again!

Improved Error Pages

No one is happy when an error page appears, but in the latest version of Firefox the error pages try to be a bit more helpful. The page will look for WiFi problems and also allow you to quickly search for a problematic address.