Firefox browser for Android will support installing desktop extensions in the future

Though contemporary browsers invariably offer both desktop and mobile versions, the mobile iterations are often bereft of comprehensive extension capabilities. Some mobile browsers can accommodate specific extensions, such as ad-blocking, but in general, these are few and far between. However, according to sources from Hacker News and Liliputing, Mozilla is planning to enable the free installation of all desktop extensions on its Firefox Android browser. While a specific announcement date is yet to be determined, Mozilla intends to unveil this novel feature in September and officially launch it by year’s end. As described in Mozilla’s official blog, Firefox will become the only mainstream Android browser to support an open extension ecosystem.

Indeed, since 2020, users of the Firefox Android version have been able to install a selection of recommended extensions. Over the past three years, Mozilla has been diligently laying the groundwork for an infrastructure to support an open extension ecosystem for Firefox on Android.

While the release is slated for September, a substantial amount of work still awaits both browser and extension developers. Mozilla’s Scott DeVaney has stated that multi-process support will be introduced in the Nightly version of Firefox for Android. Consequently, extensions will no longer have to be hosted within Firefox’s primary user interface process. This alteration has been made with consideration of Android’s frequent termination of resource-intensive processes. Simultaneously, to mitigate the risk of inadvertent extension termination, Firefox’s developers have also introduced a non-persistent event page architecture, which provides greater resilience in the face of process termination. They have encouraged extension developers to transition to this architecture posthaste, to bolster the stability of their products on Firefox for Android.