Firefox web browser

[SKYMAN513]

Hi all

At the moment on my s7 edge I was using the Samsung browser with the advantage of using the biometrics to log in to sites

However for me personally that browser is good but on most forums apart from this one.

The sites I use the most seem to struggle with web pages,as you have to scroll round the page to read it.

Where as on this site you can scrol up and down with ease.

So I started using chrome,

now for mobiles it is really good but it does use a lot of resources and I have researched it and the experts agree as said.

So it got me thinking (watch out)

On my last device (s5) I had Firefox installed but as it was my first smartphone I was unsure what it was, so I left it alone.

But now I know it's a browser but not installed. I have read that its classed as a third party app 

So does that mean if I give it a go 

1 am I voiding my warranty 

2 does any one have an info on wether it's worth giving it a go 

3 is optimised for mobile browser

4 is there any other browser worth trying 

That safe

Sorry I know I'm asking a lot here 

Thanks in advance and for reading

[63johnw · Accepted solution]

Hi @SKYMAN513. No you won't be voiding your warranty, it's just the same as downloading another app to your phone.

Some browsers have settings which allow them to be optimised for mobile or use desktop sites, not sure about Firefox, I use chrome all the time as I have found that suits my needs. 

There is no harm downloading it and giving it a go. You can easily uninstall if it's not for you.

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi @SKYMAN513

I'm interested to learn your having some issues with the Stock Samsung Browser.

I use that on my s8 as it allows use of Ad Block content blockers too, and I use this Community Forum quite a bit - in case you haven't noticed lol - with no issues. 

There are lots of browsers to choose from. 

Opera.

Opera Mini. 

Dolphin etc so it's a case of finding one suitable for your wants and needs. 

Chrome is good but I agree it is a resource hog.

There is Chrome Beta but bear in mind it's Beta Status. 

As for invalidating your Manufacturing Warranty as @63johnw has answered it won't. There are things a person can do to invalidate it but not by downloading an app from the PlayStore. 

[SKYMAN513]

I was having problems. With passwords and the times when you had to change passwords were I couldn't use the  fingerprint scanner I had to get into the folder to get the password and more often than not it would say it is not available at the moment try again later 

Also some sites I was  using  i was having to scroll left and right as well as the normal up and down but to be honest once I had set it in its place it would stay there 

It as been that long since I used it I can not remember all the reasons I went back to chrome

But as I read a lot of your posts that was the main reason I used the SAMSUNG  browser 

After a while  of using it and then I did use the

Ad blockers myself and I'm not sure wether it was some thing I read or something happened that made me go back to chrome 

But I have just recalled there was two ad blockers so I used them both as it says you can use more than 1 

So as I was unsure which one to use I used them both so wether that caused a problem in hindsight I'm not sure

I'm actually going to give it another go actually as there as been a couple of updates since I last used it 

As an example I use the UK justice forum and  on there you can customise the site experience with different themes allowing you to chose a dark one which for us Samsung users it is a great battery saving feature using dark themes  as you know 

[BandOfBrothers]

I would suggest to be a little wary of using multiple ad blockers together as they can clash and use more of the phones resources @SKYMAN513

I just use the one with the Samsung Browser. 

It's certainly a conundrum that a piece of software works fine on one phone but then for another has conflicts !

The browser worked fine on my previous Samsung Galaxy s7 edge on Marshmallow and Nougat and works fine on the s8. 

Passwords entry has always worked on both phones and with my s8 I log into the Vodafone Community Forum using the iris scanner !

Samsung Pass is useful. 

> Samsung Galaxyapps/Samsung-Pass.

I know your aware on how to clear caches / cookies of an app and the cache of the phones system so won't drone on about how that can help

Something does seem off on how the pages are rendering on your phone.

[SKYMAN513]

I agree it's fantastic that you can save passwords as the password we use today need to be pretty big and varied and as at times you have to sign in again and on multiple sites and I always have to take the forgot password nightmare 

I'm going to have to give it a try because it does make browsing a lot.more of a  relaxed experience using your finger to sign in 

And the point you raised about using 2 can caused conflict issues

That could of been the season why I had problems using it,

I can't remember the exact reason  why I won't back to chrome 

[hrym]

I use Firefox across all my devices and have my bookmarks set to sync, which is very useful.   I allow mobile devices to remember some logins, but have sync set to exclude these so that they're not remembered on a remote server over which I have no control (FF hasn't been hacked afaik, but Opera was).

Firefox has a useful feature that allows you to have it clear cache and cookies when you quit (that's a menu option, not just hitting the back button), which means that you can log out of all sites just by exiting the app*.  It's very flexible, though some of the settings take some digging on the mobile version and I always have to hunt around when I'm setting up a new device :smileysad:

As @BandOfBrothers says, it's just another app and won't affect your warranty in any way.   I've also found the Samsung browser a bit unwieldy, fwiw.

* Closing the desktop version can also clear your history, but that's a separate action on the app, for no obvious reason.

[SKYMAN513]

Yes I'm going to look into the Firefox browser,

As much as I love chrome it's just takes a lot more data,

The Samsung browser is brilliant in the way you can your finger print to login but it does have a few down sides,

Amazingly as it's a Samsung product but it doesn't seem to be as optimised for the sites that I have visited,

We're I find my self having to scroll left and right as well as the obvious.

I'm now curious as to why you can not use your fingerprint to log in on chrome or Google 

I'm presuming it's a security conflict

Unless it's just so you use there browser 

But that does seem a long shot 

[hrym]

You still get the odd site that's not FF-friendly, but they're few & far between and, for those, we have Chrome.  I don't have a fingerprint reader on my HTC, so I don't have any experience of using it.  Do you mean that you can use it to log in to sites in the browser?   That would be incredibly handy and very secure (much more so than having the browser remember the details).

Sometimes, I think it's possible to get over-obsessed by security (and I'm massively aware of it at all times...).   Just having a PIN lock on the device seems like enough for most purposes.   If someone really wants to get at your data, they'll find a way - it's just a matter of slowing down drive-by opportunists.

[SKYMAN513]

Hi BANDOFBROTHERS your already probably on top of this one but I'll post any how.

Samsung have just sent me notification that there browser as an update available.

And it from what it says it seems to address issues that were present.

So I'm going to give that another go

And in the notes of which there are more than a normal update it touts the disconnectme app from the play store which protects you from third party cookies more and offers more privacy.

Also it seems there is a boatload of new usefull features