#fxos

Many of you know that I’m a tech-freak and I love to test new gadgets, phones or anything related with IT.

My primary phone since 2013 was always powered by Firefox OS. I started with Geeksphone Keon, Flame and recently switched to Sony Z3C device. You can read more about that here.

During that time I constantly got questions about the speed and responsiveness of Firefox OS on mobile. The best way to respond to that question is to give user the phone to try it. I’m also happy to demo Firefox OS to anyone interested (ping me if you are from Slovenia). Although I’m using Firefox OS device as my primary phone I’m constantly testing and exploring other mobile operating systems, devices and all kind of gadgets.

So how can we compare Firefox OS with Android?

Let’s be honest it’s hard to compare two phones with different hardware specifications and operating systems.

But what if we could compare two exactly the same phones with different operating systems?

Yes, that sounds much better! I’m using Sony Z3C device which you can buy with Android pre-installed. So let’s put both device side to side and compare them.

Firefox OS vs Android from Nino Vranešič on Vimeo.

Sony Xperia Z3C (black) running Android  5.1.1 and Sony Xperia Z3C (white) running Firefox OS 2.6. I’ve decided to compare booting and shutdown times as this is one of the most objective speed comparison.

So what do you think? Did I answer some of the question related about speed of Firefox OS on mobile devices?

Till next time ...

Firefox OS comes to an end on the smartphone business!!!

Mozilla announced early today that is shutting down FirefoxOS for smartphones.

“We are proud of the benefits Firefox OS added to the Web platform and will continue to experiment with the user experience across connected devices. We will build everything we do as a genuine open source project, focused on user experience first and build tools to enable the ecosystem to grow.

Firefox OS proved the flexibility of the Web, scaling from low-end smartphones all the way up to HD TVs. However, we weren’t able to offer the best user experience possible and so we will stop offering Firefox OS smartphones through carrier channels.

We’ll share more on our work and new experiments across connected devices soon.”

The company will likely to continue development of FirefoxOS targeting the other devices, such as TV’s, and the Internet of Things.

After two years, it’s time to say goodbye to the platform :( 

Introducing FirefoxOS 2.5 Add-Ons

FirefoxOS 2.5 Add-Ons package is composed of JavaScript, CSS and other assets, but it doesn’t run as a standalone app.

Add-ons on Firefox OS are even more powerful and it provides customization not only to the browser, but the whole phone experience, including tweaks to the homescreen and system apps.

The manifest is very simple, just like any other FxOS app. The “matches” field works like a filter to where the add-on will be loaded. Filters determines if an app is affected by the add-on.

{ “manifest_version”: 1, “name”: “Add-On Berries”, “description”: “FirefoxOS add-on”, “version”: “1.0”, “author”: “Quen-Quen Potter”, “content_scripts”: [{ “matches”: [“app://berries.berrycreative.ppg.br‎”], “css”: [“css/style.css”], “js”: [“js/fxos.js”] }], “icons”: { “96”: “/icons/96.png” “128”: “/icons/128.png” }

The manifest above matches only BerriesApp and the website.

Welcome to FirefoxOS 2.5 #FirefoxOS #FFOSclub #FxOS

FirefoxOS 2.5 opens up a range of new possibilities, especially for developers. Firefox OS 2.5 will be the most customizable, secure, locally relevant and empowering Firefox OS experience yet.

The introduction of Add-Ons will allow a customizable experience in a similar way to the Firefox browser. Packed just like an app, add-ons can power one app, several or all apps, including the system app itself.

The Pin the Web is a great addition as provide users to ‎grab websites and turn them into home screen icons. View Source of a website and private browsing tracking protection are amongst the great additions to this new version of FxOS.