The new Firefox for Android app is faster and sleeker than its previous version. In a few words, it actually works. That was not always the case with previous Firefox for Android builds that were difficult to navigate. It is designed to look and feel like an Android application and has a new home screen page, buttons and easy to use features like Firefox sync, add-ons, tabbed browsing and bookmarks. In preliminary testing, the app is more responsive, pinches and zooms faster and generally looks cleaner. Outside of optimization, Mozilla is pointing the way that mobile browsers could and should go in the near future.

Mozilla also has the IndexDB API that gives developers local database storage to make Web apps, websites and restart-less add-ons. The API can also help developers make some application functionality available offline and can increase performance and reduce data usage.

The IndexDB API signals a trend in mobile that companies like Mozilla and Amazon are starting to take advantage of - the offline app. Amazon's new Kindle Cloud Reader, while still a bit buggy, caches the app and its data so it can be used without an Internet connection. This could dynamically change how mobile Web apps are used by developers and consumers and, along with HTML5, is the next evolution of mobile development.

Image: The Firefox Fennec also known as Firefox Mobile

According to a blog post announcing the beta release, Mozilla says it has made two big changes from the alpha version, namely with Electrolysis and Layers. The former splits the browser into two processes: one for the user interface and one to render the web content. The Layers architecture helps in performance and in graphic areas such as scrolling, zooming, and animations.

And while these features will give the browser much appeal, Firefox 4 will also have to shine in terms of speed and performance for folks to make it their designated mobile browser.

Update: As one of our commenters pointed out, Dolphin Browser HD for Android also supports add-ons.

Focus on Speed

Besides these new and improved features, the Mozilla team notes that the main focus of this release is increased performance and responsiveness. The Fennec team managed to achieve this by splitting up the processes that render the browser interface and the Web content. Thanks to this, the browser interface will remain responsive, even while it is rendering a complex page or running CPU intensive JavaScript.

A Long and Rocky Road

The earliest preview versions of Fennec for Android appeared earlier this year, but back then, Mozilla's Vladimir Vukićević noted that the Android version of the app was still "pre-alpha" and was not ready for public consumption. Now, Mozilla seems to be far more confident about the state of Fennec on Android, though Mozilla notes that it has been optimized for the Nexus One and your experience on other devices may differ.

Mobile remains one of Mozilla's weakest areas. With the recent release of Firefox Home for the iPhone  and today's alpha release of Fennec, however, it looks like Mozilla is slowly getting back on track.

But before you rush out to install Fennec now, be warned: this download is "pre-alpha," which means you should expect to see some bugs, kinks and other issues.

• It has only been tested on the Motorola Droid and the Nexus One. (In other words, other Android users are in for an unknown set of issues).
• Bugs might cause your phone to stop responding, requiring a reboot.
• Memory usage of this build isn't great - the Fennec developers have not done a lot of optimization yet. This could cause some problems with large pages, especially on low memory devices like the Droid.
• You'll see the app exit and re-launch on first start, as well as on add-on installs; this is a quirk of the install process and it's being worked on.
• You can't open links from other apps using Fennec; the next build will address this.
• This build requires Android 2.0 or above, and likely an OpenGL ES 2.0 capable device.
• This build must be installed to internal memory, not to a SD card.

That said, the current pre-alpha release of Fennec does have some interesting features, most notably, the Weave integration mentioned above. The experimental version of Weave installs as a Fennec add-on and then you'll need to restart the browser before it will work - just like Firefox on the desktop.

However, once installed, the add-on lets you synchronize all your mobile activity back to Firefox on your desktop. (If it works for you, that is. Some people have had issues).

Fennec also offers a combined search and address bar, much like Google's Chrome web browser does. And it comes with integrated search engines like Google (the default), plus site-specific engines like Amazon, Twitter and YouTube.

If you're test-driving Fennec, you may want to also download a utility called "White Killer," which helps you force-stop an unresponsive Android app. Otherwise, you'll likely need to do the following when you run into issues: go into Android Settings, select "Applications," then "Manage Applications," select "Fennec," then tap "Force Stop."

To download Fennec directly to your Android phone, go here: http://bit.ly/fennec-android.

German developer Martin Schirr's version of Fennec is ideal for Droid users because it requires a hardware-based keyboard. Without support for touch input or multi-touch, it won't work on all flavors of the Google Android mobile operating system.

It's also a hefty download - 41 MB in size. And it freezes upon first boot. Plus, it's slow and prone to crashes and bugs. But that's what pre-alpha means - especially a pre-alpha that wasn't released by the Mozilla organization itself.

So what can you do with the Android version of Fennec? Well, you can test out its features, like tabbed browsing, tab synchronization between desktop and mobile and browser add-ons. Right now, there aren't too many add-ons available, but given the stage of development, that's not surprising.

Fennec: Slow to Launch?

We first heard of Mozilla's plans to bring Fennec to Android back in June of last year when Google announced a change in how software can run on Android. After the release of a new Android NDK that used C/C++ programming languages - the same as Firefox - Mozilla began to consider the possibilities of bringing the Fennec browser to the Google-branded mobile platform.

In October, Mozilla CEO John Lilly re-confirmed the organization's plans to build an Android version, while touting its many features like support for "Javascript, CSS, Flash, SVG, video and audio." It would be "the first mobile browser to support add-ons," he said.

Now it's nearly 9 months later and there's still not a usable version of the browser for Android devices - just pre-alpha builds like this. Should we be concerned? Should Mozilla?

While waiting for a real version of Fennec, the popularity of Webkit-based browsers continues to grow, Opera gains mobile ground (especially on feature phones), and last month, Microsoft announced a new mobile OS launching by year-end, Windows Phone 7 Series. This OS will include an updated version of Internet Explorer Mobile that offers multi-touch gesture support and tabbed browsing, among other features.

Mozilla is expected to release a working build of Fennec around the same time, but depending on the exact launch dates, they may not get to claim "first" anymore - at least among the top web browsers out there. (Third-party apps already deliver tabbed browsing on various mobile devices). That being said, support for Mozilla is still strong. And once functional, it may have a lot more to offer than its competitors.

In the meantime, intrepid Android geeks will be definitely be interested in giving this new fan-compiled Fennec build a look. However, general Android users should probably stay away for now - this version is by no means meant for daily use.

Here is the first screenshot of Firefox running on Android (in an emulator):

Currently, the Android version is still missing a number of core features and Vukićević still has to work out quite a few bugs (the keyboard doesn't work, for example). Now that the team has managed to create a working prototype, however, Vukićević expects the development process to speed up significantly.

Mozilla is Taking Aim at the Mobile Browser Market

Firefox is clearly working at creating a stronger presence on mobile platforms like Maemo, Windows Mobile, and Android. For now, however, Opera still has a stronger presence in the mobile market, with apps for Windows Mobile, Android and virtually every other major mobile platform. Mozilla is still a step behind here, but hopefully we will soon see a lot more competition in the mobile browser market. Mozilla doesn't currently have any plans to develop a browser for the BlackBerry, Symbian or iPhone platforms.

[via Android Central]

In the mobile market, Fennec goes up against Opera Mobile and Skyfire, which are available on a wide variety of platforms. The most important competitor, however, is probably Safari, though Apple only makes its browser available on its own phones. Safari may not be available on a large number of different phones, but it has set the bar pretty high when it comes to the user experience that users now expect from a mobile browser. With the Awesome bar and Weave bookmark synchronization, Firefox, however, will offer a number of features that Safari doesn't currently offer. Fennec will also offer support for plugins.

Om Malik looked at an early version of Fennec on the Nokia N900 and thinks that the browser "is perhaps its single biggest standout feature" on the device.

Mozilla on the iPhone

Earlier last week, a number of rumors about a Mozilla app for the iPhone also started to make the rounds, though it remains unclear what this app would look like. Apple, after all, isn't likely to allow a full Firefox-based browser on the iPhone.

Recently, Mozilla released Fennec 3, the third beta version of the company's open-source touch mobile browser. In January 2008, ReadWriteWeb compared Opera Mini to the promises of the much anticipated Firefox mobile browser. A year later, Mozilla fans are still waiting and Opera Mini users continue to enjoy synced bookmarks and notes, skinning features, relatively fast downloads and increased video capabilities. From more than 1500 votes within the GetJar community, Opera Mini 4.2 has earned an 8.1 out of 10 user rating. But it will be interesting to see if die-hard Mozilla fans will sing the praises of Fennec.

To read GetJar's Opera Mini reviews or to download the app, visit the community's browser page. Or if you've got a Nokia N810 Internet Tablet and would like to test Fennec, download it here.

According to a report from CNET, Mozilla is considering the possibilities. "I think our community would be interested in doing it, because Android will be appearing on more smartphones with the capabilities to provide a good browsing experience," said Jay Sullivan, Mozilla's vice president of mobile.

The only question now is whether or not Fennec will ever have a shot at becoming a popular mobile browser. Although development is moving along at a reasonable pace, it's certainly had its setbacks along the way...and it's nowhere near a version 1.0 yet. Meanwhile, WebKit is taking the lead when it comes to browsers on many of today's hottest smartphone platforms. The open-source WebKit code currently powers a lot of the newest browsers on the market including the one that ships on Android, iPhone's Safari browser, and the browser on the Palm Pre. Where does that leave Fennec? Apparently, it leaves it competing against Opera, which already has a solid foothold on the other mobile platforms lacking a decent mobile browser - Opera even became the top mobile browser recently.

Hopefully with the new NDK from Google, Fennec will be able to make its way onto at least one of the top smarthphone platforms out there. But we wonder: will anyone care when it arrives?

This is where Fennec, Mozilla's new mobile browser, comes in. In this post we look at Fennec's progress (it recently delivered its first beta) and Chris Beard gives us his thoughts on Fennec's strategy.

We've been tracking the progress of Fennec since its first prototype in April 2008, to the launch of the pre-alpha version in February this year, and the recent launch of the first beta in mid-March. The first extension for Fennec also arrived on the scene in November 2008 - URL Fixer, an add-on that corrects typos in the address bar. The development of Fennec hasn't been without its problems - we reported on some glaring bugs soon after the pre-alpha launch. However the release of the beta this month shows that solid progress is being made.

How Fennec Aims to Get Users

Fennec aims to bring the Firefox browsing experience to the mobile phone, including the ecosystem of add-ons that are probably the biggest reason for using Firefox on the PC. However one immediate problem that Fennec is going to face is actually getting on mobile devices in the first place. For example Apple's Safari browser is the default browser on the iPhone and most users of the iPhone are more than happy with the default. So is Mozilla actively working to make Fennec a default browser on other devices? Beard said that, yes, Mozilla is looking for OEM deals with the likes of Nokia, Windows Mobile and Symbian. As of now, Fennec is only available on the Nokia N810.

However, even without those deals, Beard said that one big advantage of Fennec is that it's easy to install. He said that Fennec aims to bring the "the full Web" experience to the mobile platform, including Firefox's famed add-on platform. So Fennec isn't supposed to be a mini or micro version of the Web for mobile. Beard said that Mozilla is anticipating the increase in power of mobile devices, so they think the full web experience is within reach on mobile. For example, he mentioned getting the "Awesome bar" into mobile (the feature where you start to type in URLs in the browser bar and Firefox auto-completes them).

The User Experience

Although Fennec aims to duplicate much of Firefox's functionality, it has to do some things differently. For example instead of using your mouse to navigate, in Fennec you can have touchscreen interaction - or cursor keys for non-touchscreen handsets. For more on the UI, check out Fennec in action in this screencast by Madhava Enros, the lead user interface designer for Fennec:

Fennec is still in beta and only available on Nokia N810 right now, but there are other developments happening in Mozilla which lead us to believe that Fennec is being positioned as a key complement to Firefox. For example Mozilla's sync app Weave, which we will discuss more of in the next post in this series, now has an extension for Fennec that allows you to sync data from your desktop to Fennec. This ability to sync data between devices could ultimately prove to be a killer feature for Fennec. Update: a commenter pointed out that Opera already does sync. While this is true, the fact is that Firefox has a much larger percentage of the browser market. So the potential impact of syncing between Firefox and Fennec is much greater than for Opera.

The Competition

But despite its sync and add-ons, Fennec faces some stiff competition in the mobile web browser market. Other than Safari on the market-leading (for mobile web in the US at least) iPhone, Opera has consistently been an innovator on mobile phones and it was one of our top 10 Mobile Web products of 2008. Opera's mobile browser is already being shipped on millions of handsets from major mobile manufacturers including HTC, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, T-Mobile, and more. Opera is also available for different types of mobile operating systems like Symbian, Windows Mobile, Blackberry, and Linux, making it the alternative browser of choice for many handset owners.

We also rather like Skyfire, a relatively new entrant to the mobile browser market which has already gained many fans. Let's not forget too that Google Chrome is already present on Android phones.

So it's going to be very tough for Fennec, even with the reputation and functionality of Firefox behind it, to make headway in this competitive market. Now let us know in the comments which mobile browser you currently use - and why.

In PCMag tests, the Fennec browser was installed on two devices. On each one, the browser had to be launched twice in order for it to run. But upon start up, only the checkerboard pattern displayed, not the expected introductory screen with instructions. By scrolling up and left, you could reach the address bar, but entering in URLs only returned errors. By kick-starting the phone's modem by first launching Opera, it was possible to get the title bar of various web pages to appear - but still no page would display. Other Fennec testers experienced the same issues.

Wrote PCMag.com's columnist Sascha Segan, "If this is a milestone, it's marking a pit stop. Better luck next time, Mozilla folks."

What Happened?

According to Mozilla Mobile team member, Mark Finkle, the problem appears to be memory-related. He notes that Windows Mobile devices have some restrictions around memory use and that's what his team is now trying to work around. However, it sounds like the team still hasn't yet nailed down the exact problem which is causing the bug. On his blog, he writes "when we figure out the true cause...we'll be sure to blog the details." (When?)

Checking in on the bug's status, it's still listed as "Assigned to: Nobody." But we're taking that to mean (we hope) that the entire Fennec team is working on addressing this showstopper of an issue.

Says one commenter on Bugzilla, the problem happens immediately following an allocation failure in gfxImageSurface, but no one else has chimed in to confirm his statement yet.

The Mobile Web: the Next Browser Battleground

Interestingly enough, while Mozilla's attempt at the mobile web was crashing and burning, another mobile browser, Skyfire, was releasing a landmark version of their browser, too. Skyfire version 0.9 for Windows Mobile and Symbian, a browser which already supports Flash 10, Silverlight, and Ajax, introduced a new "social" version of their software on February 12th.

In the latest update, Skyfire offers a Friendfeed-like start portal which delivers news from RSS sources as well as updates from Facebook and Twitter. It's pre-configured with feeds from Digg, ESPN, Google News, Hulu, YouTube and Yahoo! News, but those can be easily customized.

In addition to relative newcomer Skyfire, some of the most popular browsers for the mobile web comes from Opera, whose mobile software is currently installed on millions of devices worldwide. 

Although Skyfire and Opera may not have the brand-name recognition that Mozilla enjoys (well, perhaps Opera does), it's clear that when it comes to mobile web browsers, innovation can happen anywhere, from any company. What dominates on the desktop will not necessarily be what dominates on our mobiles, and for mobile web users, that could be a good thing.

Installing The Fennec Extension

Shortly after Finke created the mobile-ready version of URL Fixer, the addons.mozilla.org web site was updated to include support for the Fennec browser. When Fennec users visit the site, it will recognize that they're coming from the mobile browser and will offer direct installation via an "Add to Fennec" button.

After a required browser restart, users will see the new extension available from the Fennec Add-ons Manager, where it's also possible to access preferences and disable or enable add-ons.

Mobile Add-Ons Are Fennec's Killer Feature

The idea of being able to use add-ons in a mobile browser is definitely going to be a huge selling point for the Fennec browser when it goes to launch as it will be the first to support third-party extensions. It opens up a world of possibilities that take advantage of the new platform, too. Is it possible we'll see add-ons that allow you to interact with your phone's functions itself like "click-to-all" or "copy to my contacts"? That may depend on the mobile phone itself and how locked down it is. Still, we imagine that developers will soon be thinking of all sorts of unique add-ons that work best in a mobilized environment.

What sort of add-ons would you want to see in a mobile browser? Let us know in the comments.

Screenshots courtesy of Madhava Enros and Mark Finkle