Firefox 70 for Mac Brings Social Tracking Protection and Notable Performance Gains

Wednesday October 23, 2019 3:40 AM PDT by Tim Hardwick
Mozilla has launched Firefox 70 for macOS, which continues to enhance the browser's privacy features as well as bringing significant improvements to performance and power efficiency.

Recent versions of Firefox have included several extensions to the Mozilla's Enhanced Tracking Protection (ETP) system, and this release is no different. ETP now features social tracking protection, which blocks cross-site tracking cookies from sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Firefox 70 also introduces a Privacy Protections report, which offers a summary of the trackers Firefox has blocked. So if you think the blocking is too strict (if a website doesn't work properly, for example) you can check the report and customize the protection accordingly.

In addition, there are improvements to Firefox Lockwise, the browser's digital identity and password management tool. Lockwise now lets you create, update, and delete logins and passwords to sync across all your devices. Meanwhile, integrated breach alerts from Firefox Monitor notify you if saved logins and passwords have been compromised in online data breaches, and Monitor is also now capable of complex password generation.

Thanks to improvements to the browser's core engine components, Firefox 70 users can also expect a significant reduction in power consumption (Mozilla quote improved power usage by three times or more for many use cases), along with faster page loads by as much as 22 percent, and reduced resource use for video by up to 37 percent.

Mozilla's full changelog can be found here. If you're already a Firefox user, you should receive an automatic upgrade after restarting the browser. For everyone else, Firefox 70 is available for macOS as a free download directly from the Mozilla website.

Tags: Mozilla, Firefox
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Nozuka
4 weeks ago
And also this graph should have been in the news post. Everbody loves graphs ;)


[URL unfurl="true"]https://mozillagfx.wordpress.com/2019/10/22/dramatically-reduced-power-usage-in-firefox-70-on-macos-with-core-animation/[/URL]
Rating: 11 Votes
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Nozuka
4 weeks ago
Been back to firefox for about a year now (maybe a bit longer) and i'm very happy with it.
Don't feel like giving Google any more data than necessary...

Also in love with the container feature. Helps alot when you need to use the same website with different accounts
Rating: 6 Votes
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Lozza013
4 weeks ago
Always used Firefox. Has never let me down. I do notice the speed improvements.
Rating: 5 Votes
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69Mustang
4 weeks ago


And also this graph should have been in the news post. Everbody loves graphs ;)


[URL unfurl="true"]https://mozillagfx.wordpress.com/2019/10/22/dramatically-reduced-power-usage-in-firefox-70-on-macos-with-core-animation/[/URL]

If you like graphs, you'll love Data Is Beautiful. WARNING!! Data Is Beautiful can be an extreme time suck. A thread about Firefox is a perfect place for an introduction. I'mma just leave this here.
[MEDIA=youtube]Zc9Oy_zdEwc[/MEDIA]
Rating: 4 Votes
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StellarVixen
4 weeks ago
The Fox strikes back. Amazing.

Now that Chrome has neutered ad trackers, I see more people switching to Firefox.

The icon has changed. Update it.
Rating: 4 Votes
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martyjmclean
4 weeks ago
Firefox has been my main Windows browser since the early 00s, and my alternate-when-Safari-doesn't-work browser for just as long and it's finally fixed all the gripes I had with it!
Rating: 4 Votes
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adrianlondon
4 weeks ago

Does Firefox have any worthy advantages, encouraging people to switch over? Or is it aimed more at people who use multiple platforms and want to have everything synchronised across their different devices?

At the moment, I only have Apple devices. I swapped from Safari for two main reasons: cookie management and reloading on swiping back/forth in forums.

I didn't like it at first, as it took some getting used to. Not being able to use keychain annoyed me for a while until I discovered Bitwarden. (I now use Bitwarden across all my Mac apps and devices, and am moving away from keychain.) Cookie management is great. I have the browser set to delete all cookies, apart from certain sites I set up as exceptions, when I close the browser. I also use the Containers facility to keep certain nosey websites (such as Facebook, Youtube, Linkedin) locked in their own little worlds.

It's highly customisable, and I've probably spent hours editing "userChrome.css" to get everything looking just the way I want. I'm also a fan of uBlock Origin, which no longer works on Safari.

I'm sure there are other advantages, but I've been using it almost 100% for two years, only reverting to Safari when I'm testing something, so I've forgotten a lot of the small advantages (and disadvantages no doubt).
Rating: 3 Votes
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n-evo
4 weeks ago


Firefox suffered from a "single codebase across multiple platforms" problem for years. To adopt pure macOS (or Mac OS X) tech would have been a deviation. Firefox has improved drastically the past couple of years to look and feel more like a *native* Mac app.

That "native" macOS look is nail deep really and feels like they tried to Aquafy a Windows or Linux app by slapping some macOS-ish interface elements on the main window. Contextual menus, animations, roll out windows and what not all look and feel off. Firefox offers just about zero integration with macOS services like spelling and text substitutions which is really annoying. I also really dislike they use Dutch lingo straight from Windows instead of using the right macOS terminology.

I tried to give Firefox another chance but trashed it after noticing all this.
Rating: 2 Votes
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coolfactor
4 weeks ago


They employed CoreAnimation API after 13 years. Am I too demanding to expect it sooner?


Firefox suffered from a "single codebase across multiple platforms" problem for years. To adopt pure macOS (or Mac OS X) tech would have been a deviation. Firefox has improved drastically the past couple of years to look and feel more like a *native* Mac app.
Rating: 2 Votes
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StellarVixen
4 weeks ago


Thoughts on this Vs Brave?

Brave uses Chromium.


I do not know how deep does that rabbit hole goes, so I am not interested in anything based on it.
Rating: 1 Votes
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