New Firefox For Android Beta Brings RSS Feeds & Autocomplete URL’s

firefox beta

Mozilla has published a new Firefox for Android 23 beta, which brings with it the ability to view RSS feeds from the web browser, the automatic hiding of the location bar, and a flatter but more Web-friendly redesigned logo.

Mozilla’s lead visual designer, Sean Martell, announced that the new logo has been designed with “SVG compatibility and color consistency in mind.

The new Firefox for Android beta doesn’t bring any major UI changes but does bring some interesting new features aimed at making it easier to surf the web from a mobile device.

The location bar now automatically hides when not in use, to free up some space on your device’s display. If you decide that you want to make it reappear, simply swipe down from the top of the screen and the bar will instantly come back.

The “awesome bar,” as Mozilla refers to it, now includes auto-complete for finishing URL’s as you type them. The purpose of this feature is to reduce the amount of time you spend typing in URL’s and search terms, enabling you to find the information you require in a shorter space of time.

The mobile browser now supports RSS feeds, however, for now you can only add a feed to your ‘My Yahoo’ account. If you wish to add a feed to your reader, simply hold on the location bar when visiting a website.

The full changelog for the updated beta includes:

  • New – Dynamic toolbar hides navigation bar when scrolling down page content
  • New – Basic support for subscribing to feeds (RSS/Atom) with long-tap in address bar
  • New – Add pages to reading list on devices incapable of accessing Reader Mode
  • New – Preliminary implementation of Firefox Health Report for Android (see FAQ)
  • New – Added a setting to let users display URLs in the title bar instead of page titles
  • New – Users can now specify a default search engine
  • New – Implemented switch-to-tab
  • New – Added hu and tr to Android multi-locale builds
  • New – Added Serif/Sans Serif font toggle to Reader Mode
  • New – Long press Reader Mode icon to add article to Reading List (try it!)
  • Changed – Awesomescreen remembers user entered search terms
  • Changed – CSP policies using the standard syntax and semantics will now be enforced
  • Developer – Write more accessible pages on touch interfaces with new ARIA role for key buttons
  • Developer – Added unprefixed requestAnimationFrame
  • Developer – HTML5 form control implemented
  • Developer – Dropped blink effect from text-decoration: blink; and completely removed <blink> element

If you would like to download or update your copy of the Firefox beta app, click the source link below.