Mozilla is a highly popular browser these days, and it’s widely known that you use your favorite browser on everything including your Android device, right? In the beginning, Mozilla Firefox was only available for those who had Android 2.2 or higher. I know, sad news hey? This has all ended today! Mozilla has released “Firefox for Android 17!” Let the Mozilla fans rejoice! This great upgrade now let’s those who not only love Android, but Mozilla as well, use the browser on their ARMv6 phones or older. GREAT NEWS!
Why did Mozilla finally come to this decision? They stated:
“Roughly half of the nearly 500 million Android phones in use today run on ARMv6 architecture.”
Wow! I’m pretty sure we all knew that a while ago, so why the realization now?! Originally the version was only available via “Firefox for Android beta channel.” This allowed users to test and play with it and work out any bugs. The following phones were the some of the devices able to use this testing opportunity:
- Samsung Galaxy Pro
- HTC Status
- LG Optimus Q
- Motorola XT531
- Motorola Fire XT
The new version of Firefox 17 now require all ARMv6 phones to have:
- 800MHz Processors (Minimum)
- 512MB RAM (Minimum)
Those are some pretty low specs that should open up the door for Firefox lovers on older devices. One of the many reasons so many love Mozilla Firefox is the “non-profit status” they hold. It is what they call, “an important step toward making the open web free to all.” This also enables Mozilla to do more “interesting online experiments.” I’m not sure what that means, but I will trust it’s for a good cause.
With the Firefox 17 update, there are other features as well. These include:
- New accessibility features
- TalkBack Android Screen Reader Support
- Firefox Web App support
- Explore by Touch Jellybean Support
- Hardware and Software support for decoding video on both Android 4 and 4.1
I really am hoping this enables those who are not able to update as quickly as some, truly enjoy the browser they love. Technology is always advancing, and it’s always good to see companies at least throwing those people the support they need and deserve.
Sources: Tech Crunch