[EVENT CLOSED] Thanks for joining our AMA with the Firefox Leadership Team!

[Jon]

Nov 14 UPDATE: Thanks to everyone who has submitted questions so far—keep them coming, the event starts in a few hours. In the meantime, meet the team of Mozilla employees that will be answering them.

Clockwise starting from the top left in the image, we are:

• Mike Conca, Director of Product, Platform
• Vicky Chin, VP, Engineering, Desktop, Mobile, and Pocket 
• Raja Jacob, Senior Director, Firefox User Experience 
• Devin Sandoz, Senior Director, Product Marketing, Firefox
• Bobby Holley, CTO, Firefox
• Carolyn O’Hara, Sr. Director, New Tab & Content Discovery
• Andrew Overholt, VP, Engineering, Platform 
• Tapan Kamdar, Sr. Director, Product Management, Search & AI

See you in the comments! 

_______________________________________________

Hi everyone,

The internet has changed a lot since 2004 when Firefox began as a community project. Today, Firefox remains at the forefront of championing privacy, open innovation and choice. And while the last 20 years have been transformative, the best is yet to come.

We’re thrilled to announce that the Firefox leadership team at Mozilla is joining us to host a very special AMA here on Mozilla Connect to celebrate Firefox’s 20th anniversary, and answer any questions you may have about what’s next for Firefox. 

As part of our anniversary celebrations, we’ve created a website page reflecting on what we’ve created together so far with videos highlighting Firefox’s evolution since 2004 and your favorite features. You’ll also find fan art and a hat tip to our incredible contributor community, who support Firefox users every step of the way.

This AMA is the continuation of a conversation we started on Reddit in June. We appreciate how actively engaged this community has been in helping us improve Mozilla products. This time around, we want to hear what’s most important to you about Firefox’s future. 

In the spirit of our birthday celebrations, we’ll also be gifting select participants in this thread with anniversary swag. Keep an eye on your Connect inbox (post-AMA) for a message from Mozilla staff.      

We are opening this thread up to replies starting today, November 8, and we’ll be joining you live with the Firefox leadership team on Thursday, November 14 from 18:00 - 20:00 UTC (time converter) to answer as many of your questions as we can. 

As always, we ask that you adhere to our Community Guidelines when posting. We also encourage you to show support for others by voting up your favorite comments using the thumbs up feature. 

See you on November 14th!

Event Details

Where: Right here! Questions and answers in the comment section ⬇️ 

When: Thursday, Nov 14, 18:00 - 20:00 UTC

Topic(s): Firefox 20th anniversary - reflecting on the past and looking ahead to the future

[tilwiti]

Thanks for the reply and managing The Fox, either way I'm sticking with you, although the ever bleeding out, slowly but surely, audience graph is making me a bit tense :C

[szc]

What is Mozilla doing / planning on doing to differentiate Firefox from the competition rather than just keeping up? Browsers like Arc are doing all sorts of wild and innovative things, while Firefox is only now getting tab groups.

From my perspective, I love that Firefox is open and legitimately customizable and I think that is one of its greatest strengths. For example, there is an entire community dedicated to custom CSS hacks for the title bar and tabs (it would be amazing if this stuff was more officially supported and less hacky btw :))

[dsandoz]

Thanks for the question @szc!  It's great to see new browsers like Zen and Arc questioning the default way of doing things, building quickly, and being unafraid of getting it wrong sometimes. It's especially neat to see Zen built with the Firefox engine, it reinforces why we care about open source.

I've been working a lot with the team shipping tab groups, the Sidebar, and other new UI features built for multi-tasking and modern web services. I'm testing tab groups now and love the Firefox experience I've built for myself in Nightly. It's coming!

I know that at times it's felt like Firefox is playing catch-up rather than jumping ahead, but we're working to change that. Especially in mobile, where browser usage is different and we can try some new things. They won't all work, but that's why we get feedback and build in public.

[tilwiti]

What do you think about the possibility of having builds like Nightly, but for UX? For example, for some really experimental ideas. That would probably be cool. Like VeryNightly (🦉).
I don't know, like round windows, tabs at the bottom... Anything extreme.

[dsandoz]

Really cool idea @tilwiti Midnightly 🙂

[tilwiti]

But really, cause people don't see the behind-the-scenes, it gives a false impression of stasis. I think showing even some mess would be cool.

[dsandoz]

Fully agree. I think we're taking a step in the right direction with Firefox Labs for beta feature opt-ins but can push it further.

[tilwiti]

yes, just allow them to be wilder, ask userChrome folks, they might live in this lab, I believe.

[tilwiti]

btw, I'm not kidding about the tabs at the bottom, those were my default settings on Vivaldi. Not very compatible with your tab format, but psssssst, this experiment might help keeping FF fresh for all four seasons.

[rodri]

First of all, congratulations for your 20 years, I've been using Firefox for a long time in my life (I'm 24 now) so we don't have much age difference with the little fox haha.

I’m curious about your plans to keep Firefox ahead of the competition in terms of privacy, customization, and performance. What are you doing to make sure Firefox stays on top on 2025?

love you guys, FIREFOX FOR EVER!

[SRMozilla]

Thank you, we love hearing from long time Firefox users! User privacy is importand to us and that's why we benchmark to the needs of our users vs competition. Keep an eye out for some exciting new privacy features we will be bringing to Firefox in 2025. To name a few, we are bringing Relay masks to protect your email address and identity, we are going to be launching a VPN extension to AMO, and we are always pushing the envelope on user tracking. More to come 😉

[plwt]

This AMA is a great way to mark 20 years - looking forward to the future, hopefully building on the past.

I have been really impressed with the updates to the sidebar as well as vertical tabs.  I am a little more on the fence with AI, but I do like how it is being implemented.

The new tab wallpapers are nice, but it feels that the ability to add your own is missing. I know there has been a hack for many years to be able to do this, but it feels like we are close to having this as a user facing feature. What is the timeline for this being included?

I also like Pocket and how I can get localised content on the new tab page in desktop. However, Pocket on new tab on mobile is for US only users. Feels like there is a relatively easy implementation here. How soon could we have localised Pocket content on the mobile new tab?

One last question - On Mobile (Android), Firefox Beta has its own icon - which is really cool - while on Desktop it does not.  Meanwhile Beta and Dev Edition (which has an awesome theme) land at the same time.  It feels that the Beta space needs some tidying up to better brand it and segment it - possibly as a "community edition" for people that like fair stability and an early look at new features.  Is the Beta space on the radar to be looked at?

Thank you for taking the time out to look at all of our questions, really appreciate it and hope we have not made it too daunting.

[cohara]

Thanks for nice words about some recent updates like sidebar and vertical tabs @plwt! It's great to hear you are enjoying them (and I'll say: same!).

It's also great to hear you are interested in custom wallpapers for new tab - we hear you on this. I agree it would be very cool to set your own background on both desktop and mobile and this is something we hear frequently from users. Please stay tuned 😉

And love that you find value in the content recommendations on new tab and mobile homepage - we are looking into ways that users can further customize them to their interests to make them even more relevant. You are right that recommendations on mobile are more limited than on desktop - they exist on mobile only for US and German users today - and as we are thinking more holistically about the best mobile homepage layouts, we're thinking about where article feeds have the most value for users. More to come here. Thank you again for writing in and for all of your support for Firefox!

[plwt]

Thank you.  The Pocket issue is very strange - surely just a matter of broadening the country codes to be the same as desktop?

Keen to hear your thoughts on the broader beta point raised - feels like an opportunity missed to join things up a bit.

[cohara]

It's a fair and good point. In my mind, it's less a question of what technical work might be involved to make it happen, and more whether it's the right thing to prioritize. And the broader point might be that what works on desktop doesn't always translate seamlessly to mobile, or to every market. But we are thinking a *lot* right now about the best experiences on the mobile homepages -- and how to best present content feeds - and where - is top of mind.

[joezulu]

cannot find how to stop renewal.

I have spent an hour looking for icon/link

[ThePillenwerfer]

If by "Renewal" you mean up-dates you won't find it because there isn't one.

For all their talk of "Freedom" Mozilla don't want us to exercise the freedom to decline up-dates.

[Cerulean]

Hey Joe, would you be up for sharing more on what you're looking for? I'm trying to understand what you might mean by stop renewal.

Perhaps it might be helpful to read some info from Firefox support on changing Firefox update settings. If that link wasn't helpful, please feel free to send me a message privately so we can keep this thread on-topic and related to the AMA 🙂

[cosmic_infinity]

Can we pewse have the og firefox logo back for a while? OwO

[dsandoz]

Love this request @cosmic_infinity! We've been playing around with logo customization as an idea, and vintage Firefox is an awesome option we can absolutely consider. Any other throwbacks you're missing?

[tilwiti]

Please make it possible to customize app logos. You released some cool Halloween logos, but we can't put them up without hacks...

[ws]

I broadly agree with @ThePillenwerfer above that I like Firefox pretty much as it is.  I also have appreciated the investment in Thunderbird over the last 18-24 months.  I see these as the core products of Mozilla; I haven't found genuine value in the others.  For example, why buy VPN service from Mozilla when I can buy it directly from Mullvad?

I think a bigger issue long-term is Mozilla's structure and funding.  If I were leading Mozilla, I would make the case for a rechartering of the foundation so that it could receive tax-deductible donations into designated accounts for funding (and only funding) Firefox and Thunderbird development, respectively.  They could also create other, similarly-designated accounts for other projects/products.  Yes, restricting the use of the funds in those accounts to specific purposes reduces the control Mozilla Foundation leadership has over those funds, but that's exactly the point.  Firefox and Thunderbird development are arguably the most important things Mozilla does ... so important, I would argue, that it should be considered a service to the public (i.e., charitable).  Other FOSS software projects have similar fundraising arrangements.  Yes, it might take some back and forth with the IRS, but I think it could (and should) be done.  I know 501(c)3 orgs that operate completely around a "designated account" model, and others that fund FOSS development.  Marrying the two seems like a no-brainer here.

Personally, I would also rename the corporations (Mozilla Corporation and MZLA Technologies Corporation) to Firefox Corporation and Thunderbird Corporation - and create similar corporations for other products.  This keeps them legally and administratively distinct; if Firefox or Thunderbird want to integrate fee-generating services into their software offerings, they would keep whatever funds they generate.  But the ability to supplement those fees with donation-funded revenue would open the door to grants and other charitable funding.

And, no, I'm sorry, but more advertising and AI just aren't going to cut it.  I'll just use Brave, Vivaldi, or a Firefox clone if you guys really want to go down that road.  Focus on your core products ... forget the fads and other distractions.

[lackey]

Question 1: In 2022, Mozilla stopped accepting cryptocurrency after critics pointed out the environmental destruction it caused. Today, large corporations are causing similarly disastrous levels of environmental harm with AI and data center proliferation. Will Mozilla address the environmental harm of AI in Firefox, which currently supports chatbots by several of these unethical organizations out of the box?

Question 2: in the race to stand out, many niche browsers have adopted ad blocking technology. Firefox is one of the few remaining browsers that has not reduced its adblocking functionality with strict limitations or adoption of Manifest V3. Will Mozilla consider taking a bold pro-adblock stance to to cement its role as a browser for people, not profit?

Question 3: Recently, Mozilla purchased the company FakeSpot. Today, FakeSpot has a privacy policy that explicitly says you will sell browsing history, geolocation, and compiled profiles to third party ad companies. The Mozilla Corporation's website claims all Mozilla products align with the principles of the Mozilla Manifesto. Does the Mozilla FakeSpot privacy policy line up with Mozilla's manifesto?

[ffffff]

In fairness, part of the issue with cryptocurrencies is that a significant share of their usage and surrounding culture are entrenched in illegal activities, scamming people, and speculative trading. On the other hand, despite their myriad issues, one could argue AI/LLMs help users more than crypto did. I still don't like seeing Firefox endorse ChatGPT.

[Cerulean]

1) I'd love to know if there are any plans to develop a more robust content filtering and adblocking extension as an official Firefox extension; one that is free of manifest v2 and v3 dependencies/controversy.

Perhaps a collaboration with Raymond Hill who develops uBlock Origin?

I feel like a deeply embedded set of content filtering/management tools would send a powerful message that Firefox is designed for user agency.

This feels like a wonderful way to further differentiate Firefox from it's so-called 'Brave' competitor and other Chromium-based browsers, who may end up becoming more vulnerable to the demise of manifest v2 and the compromises that v3 entails (I'm aware that Firefox isn't immune from these changes either, but the technical details are too much for this little entity to handle 🦊 - community, I'd be grateful for your input! 🧡)

2) Please share in practical English more about how you envision Anonym's role in Firefox's future.

The blog post by Mozilla Foundation President Mark Surman and the blog post by Mozilla Corporation CEO Laura Chambers both relate to Anonym and contain lots of lovely aspirational prose.

However, these blog posts offer precious little in the way of practical, actionable or snackable content for readers - be they Firefox users or not. I feel like the technology overview blog post would fly over the heads of many a reader - be they Firefox users or not. It's great that there's a Mozilla Connect thread about this topic. But - unlike Jon's desired goal for 'discussion' - there appears to be little in the way of discussion or meaningful input from Mozilla staff into the thread at all. Other than Jon's summary of posts made 18 days after the thread was created.

Certainly doesn't seem like there's any interest from Mozilla or Firefox employees to connect with the community and get involved in that thread.

I'm not sure how that is supposed to make prospective users and Firefox loyalists like myself feel.

I feel like a significant proportion of the Firefox userbase are concerned about current digital advertising standards, the rampant large-scale data breaches that have occured in recent years and the dystopian data monopoly that Googledontbeevil has on the world.

I also feel like a significant proportion of the userbase are concerned that Mozilla is moving to integrate Anonym's advertising technology into Firefox without having much - or any - idea of what that will mean for:

• in-product advertising
• how Mozilla plans to leverage Firefox users (both with accounts and without) or product activity to further its advertising strategy
• how any of this adtech will actually benefit Firefox users (both with accounts and without) and improve the Firefox user experience.

I ask these questions because I'm concerned about the health and future of Firefox.

Mozilla has undoubtedly spent lots of money betting on all kinds of things, from productivity , to the metaverse and fediverse, to LLM and AI tech.

These earlier bets seem to have done much to materially advance Mozilla or Firefox in any way.

Why should Firefox users trust that this adtech acqusition will be any different?

You know how difficult it is to convince digitally entrenched users to switch to another product or service. A browser choice is no different.

Aspirational blog posts aren't enough to make users (and prospective users) trust Firefox and Mozilla. We need actionable, practical information.

If you've read this far, thank you for taking the time to do so. Shoutout to the team who set up Mozilla Connect using Khoros. The platform has a very pleasant UX and lovely typography that's easy to read. Thank you!

[ThePillenwerfer]

I agree that Mozilla and its staff should learn to speak in plain English rather than corporate b/s — I want to vomit every time one of them is "Excited to share" something — and they should have a greater presence on this and the support forum.  There may be good, though non-obvious, reasons for changes that we don't like and if these were explained we'd be more likely to accept them.

As for advertising it doesn't worry me as I've got μBlock Origin and a PiHole.  I'm also capable of ignoring any that I do see.  If I watch live television I'm going to see adverts, if I go out I'll see bill-boards and adverts on the side of 'buses &c but if I were later asked to name the products I couldn't as they'll have just passed me by.  In the greater scheme of things how would you have internet services funded without adverting revenue?

I'm afraid I can't join in your praise for this site as it must be the worst forum I've ever used in terms of use.  Pinned threads are useful but do we need the same thing pinned at the top of every page and then repeated lower down the list?  The box I'm typing in is like a letter-box and could do with being twice the height, I can currently only see four lines of the preceding text. Put a picture in and it's even worse.

[Jon]

Jumping in here real quick to say thanks for all the great questions!

The AMA is TODAY [18:00-20:00 UTC], so feel free to keep those questions coming before we kick things off.

See ya soon 🙌

[Future]

Can anyone share how long does it take for these mobile android features to release

• Tab strips
• Tab grouping
• Profiles
• Advance media notifications
• Pdf edit

[Jon]

Welcome to our AMA with the Firefox leadership team 👋

We are now LIVE. Keep an eye out for answers to your questions—we’re hoping to get to as many as possible over the next two hours, and will follow up if we miss some.

[tilwiti]

yaaay

[_1_]

leider finde mein Frage nicht Liste, möchte aber anmerken, dass ich firefox seit mehreren Jahren benutze und sowohl die Funktionalität und die Unabhängigkeit hoch einschätze

Unfortunately I can't find my question in the list, but I would like to point out that I have been using Firefox for several years and I highly value both its functionality and independence

[tilwiti]

Sie können hier immer eine Frage stellen, am besten auf Englisch, aber Deutsch ist auch eine coole Sprache.

You can always ask a question here, preferably in English, but German is also a cool language.

[Jon]

Thanks for joining! Yes, please feel free to submit a new question.

[Juli1248]

First: Congratulations on 20 years, and thank you for your work. I'm really happy to have a good open-Source Browser.

But to my question: the number of Firefox users is declining. Do you think that one day you will have to stop developing Firefox because Firefox has too few users? And do you plan to do anything about it?

[dsandoz]

Thank your for your support @Juli1248! We care a whole lot about Firefox being around for a long, long time.

Firefox is up against a lot of preloaded browsers that use aggressive tactics to stay as the default for users. People who love Firefox introducing us to their friends and family is a big part of how new users find us and we stay vital to the internet. So please keep telling your friends.

That being said, things are moving in the right direction. We're seeing more and more people choose Firefox on mobile, and encouraging usage trends with Firefox for desktop.

Our plan to make sure Firefox stays relevant for the next 20 years: keep making the product better, especially on mobile where browser usage is shifting rapidly. And make it more obvious how Firefox is different from other browsers when you're using it.

[Anonymous]

I would like to inquire about the current status of keyboard shortcuts for Android tablets. This feature has been highly requested by users for several years, as evident from the Bugzilla report. However, there have been no recent updates on whether development has commenced. The absence of this crucial feature is causing Android and Samsung Dex users to consider alternative browsers.

[Mkn]

And it's great that auto-enabling picture-in-picture when switching to other tabs has been introduced!
And can we also introduce auto-enabling of picture-in-picture when minimizing and switching the browser window?
and also options to change the speed and quality of video in picture-in-picture?
Showing downloaded files in the download manager mini window when the browser is restarted or re-launched?
Circular download animation on tabs or a strip instead of dots?
Shortening the name of the Developer channel to the short name Dev.
And change the icons for stable, beta and esr, as these 3 channels use the same icons

[Synchro]

Hello! Happy anniversary! I am happy to use FF and I have a question. Why the same parts in desktop and mobile versions work differently? For example, shortcuts on the new tab page: their number on one screen, the ability to rearrange them etc
PS: Could you please change the logo in Androids's about:logo

[overholt]

about:logo having the wrong logo in Firefox for Android is tracked by https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1795117 but it looks like the team has given it a low priority.

[Synchro]

Thank you. I hoped that as it must be pretty easy to fix, this would be done faster, but now I see sometimes things don't work this way.