Firefox Mobile (Fennec) For Android's!

Firefox for Android should be coming out in the near future too (supports flash!)

No word on it yet

Keep everything you have crossed!

Firefox Mobile Available December - Posted 18th November 2009 at 5:03pm by Matt Dixon  Owners of Android and Symbian-based mobile handsets will be able to download the first full release of Firefox Mobile some time in December, according to official reports.

Our lucky friends over at WMExperts have been testing Firefox Mobile Alpha 3, but we haven't had much hope for Android to get the Fennec browser. That is, until a recent Q&A with Madhava Enros, the mobile UI lead for Mozilla, left slip that "there is investigation going on into making it work on Android."

Yes, we know it is not much to go off of. But at least it is better than a flat "no." This indeed can be great news for those of you hopeing for a Firefox mobile expierence on your Android devices.

  - There isn’t a ton of information to go along with this post, but we thought we’d sharing it with you anyhow. Mozilla’s Fennec mobile browser has been spotted running on both the Motorola DROID and HTC’s Nexus One (a.k.a. Google phone). The images come courtesy of Firefox for Mobile’s Facebook fan page.

The browser is looking like a work in progress, naturally — as it is, so we haven’t yet seen anything spectacular. In essence, the Fennec start page.

More as they come, and another shot is available after the break.

- An official and final version for Firefox  Mobile is only available for the Nokia N900, probably because it’s one of the most open-source devices in the world. Being tired of the Dolphin browser currently found on his Motorola Droid (actually, Milestone because he’s from Europe), MartinSchirr decided to port Mozilla’s Fennec browser on the Android-powered smartphone. Please note that this is still an early version and regular users should hold themselves from installing the app.

Martin even posted a couple of videos in order to show that it works. You can check the videos below and you’ll notice that the app runs almost as smooth as on the N900. I’ve got to say that Firefox Mobile for the Maemo 5-powered device is not among the fastest apps in the world, but it does have some extra features, albeit missing a few things that N900’s MicroB browser has. You should check the Android Forums right away if you want to install this alpha version of Firefox for Android, or you could wait a few months when a beta version is scheduled for release.

P.S. I wouldn’t hold my breath until this happens and I wouldn’t wait for Mozilla to officially port the browser to the Android community.

P.P.S Firefox for Android only works with phones featuring OpenGL ES 2.0 support.

- Firefox for Android is in its very early development stages, yet progress is being made, and those who are working on it have just announced a new step forward, in the form of nightly builds for the mobile browser. Currently, the solution is in a pre-alpha status, and works only on some devices, namely on Nexus One and Motorola DROID, requiring Google Android 2.0 or higher , OpenGL ES2.0, and an ARMv7 (Cortex) processor, but more devices are expected to be added into the equation soon.

“Our automated build machines have just started producing pre-alpha Fennec for Android builds with the latest changes from developers each night. We have similar builds for the desktop version of Firefox and for the N900 to let testers have a way of getting the latest changes to provide feedback and report bugs. There are many changes that go in to each build, causing quality to vary some from day to day, but we’re always working to improve and stabilize the builds,” a recent post on blog.pavlov.net states.

For the time being, the Firefox for Android builds that are pushed out are still pre-alpha, yet advancements are being made, and they should change in time. The developing team managed to make a series of exciting changes to the solution, and the next weeks should bring to the table something more concrete, it seems. The final version of the mobile browser is targeted to land before the end of the ongoing year, which means that the first beta flavors should arrive pretty soon.

While the browser has been tested only on Nexus One and DROID, others managed to install it on handsets like Droid Incredible (HTC Incredible), HTC Legend, Desire and Samsung Galaxy Spica too. “We currently only run on Android 2.0 and above, and some bugs could cause your phone to stop responding, requiring a reboot. If you have installed our earlier build, you will need to uninstall it before this one will install due to a change in the way the builds are signed. These builds do not auto-update yet, so you’ll have to manually grab a new build when you want to see the newest changes,” the blog post continues. Additional info on the latest advancements on Firefox for Android can be found here.