Firefox For iOS Release Nears As Mozilla Starts Seeking Beta Testers

The web browser of choice for millions of people around the world will soon be launching on iOS. Mozilla has started recruiting beta testers for Firefox for iOS. It has been working on this project for quite some time and naturally Firefox fans have been anxiously to see this browser up and running on iOS. The start of beta testing shows that the company has come a long way since it started work on the iOS iteration, and may soon gear up for a public release.

Mozilla has sent out a survey to potential beta testers, it tells them that Firefox for iOS beta requires iOS 8 or higher. It also points out that since they’ll get a beta build the browser may throw up bugs and maybe even “break at times,” but that’s to be expected from any beta version.

The company held out for a long time because Apple wouldn’t allow the company to use its own web engine on the iOS platform. In December last year Mozilla finally decided to change its mind when it announced that it was in early stages of testing a new browser which will bring a “Firefox-like” experience for iOS devices.

For those who appreciate the technical details, Firefox for iOS will simply be a UI slapped on top of WebKit and the Nitro JavaScript engine. It won’t be using Mozilla’s web engine but users may still get features like bookmark syncing, Firefox accounts and much more.

Mozilla has not yet provided a timeframe in which we can expect Firefox for iOS to be released.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: Firefox for iOS, Mozilla, web browser