this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2023
30 points (89.5% liked)

Firefox

17424 readers
714 users here now

A place to discuss the news and latest developments on the open-source browser Firefox

founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I've got a brand new Pixel 8 and my battery isn't making it through the day. Android tells me Firefox is eating it up in the background. I just changed it to restricted battery use and I'll see if that helps.

I do not want to switch to Brave or Chrome, but this is intolerable. What are you favorite Firefox alternatives and why? Mull? Librewolf?

all 33 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 26 points 10 months ago (4 children)

I wouldn't trust a google phone telling you that a competitors browser is problematic

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

That is a good point, but if it's not Firefox like my pixel is telling me, then what else could it be on a brand new phone? (I know you can't answer this)

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago (2 children)

It is probably all the google telemetry and monitoring and wifi scanning to map your location for sale that is running in the background. I plan on getting a pixel 7a soon but will immediately wipe the google junk and load grapheneos. Apart from getting rid of all the spyware this also doubles the battery run times.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

But does Google pay and banking apps work ?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Banking, most likely (depending on the bank).

Google Pay/Wallet/whatever-it's-called-today, no.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Yeah I used to use lineage on OnePlus 5 I think. But safety net wouldn't allow my bank to work and obviously broke pay.

Unfortunately that's a deal breaker. Until there's another system to pay. Miband, ring , fingerprint whatever.

I need to keep Google for those things. I haven't used cash since 2018

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Was thinking about doing this also but not sure if its worth it as im already using lineage

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

If you value the extra privacy and security, then it's absolutely worth it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Yes but I dont have a pixel and I use mostly foss apps on my phone. The few nonfree apps are in a shelter sandbox (not sure how comparable this is to graphene's sandboxing).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

@mertn
This.

Google can't be trusted now.
@monty33

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago

@mertn @monty33 this is bullshit, lol.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago

Maybe Google does not, but I sometimes see Firefox Beta as the top process in FKM using a custom ROM rooted.

I love Firefox, I like that as it is not a system app it is easier to keep the data with tools like Swiftbackup along with multiple ROMs, taking my cookies logins etc saves lots of time, but it doesn't feel snappier than Chrome for me (I used Chrome with AdAway) hopefully things change in the future.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago

Honestly check the time on active/background. My power usage shows 6 minutes active and 24 minutes background right now and I know I have been using Firefox actively for more than 6 minutes.

That said, when I have had Firefox draining in the background it has usually been due to a website misbehaving. Reddit, for example, would drain a lot of power if I left a tab open. I imagine it has to do with trying to sync messages or something.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago

Been up since 8 and Firefox is currently using 24%. 2 hours and it's smashing battery.

Not sure if this is new after they upgraded to Android 14

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

@monty33 Try Firefox Focus for Android, way faster (way less features) than regular Firefox on Android. @firefox

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Personally... I wouldn't switch to something chrome based but you could take a look at bromite or ungoogled.

I doubt FF forks are going to solve the problem.

What's it doing all day? Does closing tabs make any difference?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

I have it set to close tabs after one day, so I'm not sure if it could be this. I don't generally have the same tabs open everyday.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

You can try Fennec from f-droid. It's what I use and has been good so far.

If you want to try chromium based browsers, theres something called thorium . The android version is okay (haven't used it much) but the desktop version is really good. Then there's also bromite

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Isn't bromite dead? The last commit was on jan 27. Cromite is a fork that is on the latest version of chromium.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Oh, I wasn't aware of that. Thanks for the info.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Cromite is the new fork

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Vanadium or cromite. Really no point in adding Firefox on top of chrome's webview.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

I use Firefox on desktop, and it's nice having history in one browser and swapping a tab from mobile to desktop

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Can't figure out how to install vanadium. Any suggestions on where to start?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

You can't unless you switch to GrapheneOS

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago
[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

What addons in use? Is "Studies" on?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Studies are off and only ublock origin

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

Cross platform browser led by one of the devs from Opera. Begun after Opera was bought by current operator. Feature rich, privacy focused. Responsive Dev team. Worth a look for sure.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago

DuckDuckGo seems decent.