Launch Firefox for Android TV / Google TV with Pre-Bundled uBlock Origin Lite

[maksimklimarchu]

The Smart TV browser market is severely underserved. Current TV browsers are unstable, full of telemetry, and completely fail at blocking modern, aggressive streaming ads. Mozilla has a golden opportunity to dominate the Android TV / Google TV ecosystem by releasing an official, TV-optimized version of Firefox.

​To minimize development overhead and ensure peak performance on low-end TV hardware, this solution proposes a highly streamlined architecture:

​Leverage Existing Android Codebase: Instead of developing a TV browser from scratch, Mozilla can adapt the existing Firefox for Android (GeckoView) interface, optimization, and rendering engine, updating it strictly for D-pad/Leanback remote control navigation.

​Out-of-the-Box uBlock Origin Lite Integration: Navigating extension stores with a TV remote is a UX nightmare, and a full-scale uBlock Origin could drain limited TV RAM. Pre-bundling uBlock Origin Lite out-of-the-box solves this. It utilizes highly efficient, low-overhead declarative filtering rules, requiring zero configuration from the user.

​Privacy and Performance First: A lightweight, open-source TV browser with native, zero-setup ad blocking will eliminate malicious streaming pop-ups, trackers, and video ads that paralyze current TV hardware.

[ADGrimes]

Amazon has sold millions of Fire TV devices over the past couple of years, and so I think this would be a worthwhile ecosystem to keep maintaining Firefox in. With Firefox no longer available, I believe the only browser available for users is the Amazon Silk browser.

[Jon]

Thanks for submitting an idea to the Mozilla Connect community! Your idea is now open to votes (aka kudos) and comments.

[KevinBrosnan]

Our previous browser on FireTV devices was based on the Android stock browser (WebView). We ended our support of that product in April of '21.

If we were to re-enter this market we would want to build something closer to our primary Firefox Android browser. Our evaluation of the FireTV devices showed that they are very resource constrained. Even the most modern FireTV devices more closely match phones from the mid 2010s when it comes to CPU and RAM. Amazon's only goal when building the device is to play back video at the designed rates such as 4k / 60 FPS or 720p / 24 FPS depending on the device. If at some point they ship FireTV devices that excel at general computing tasks such as web browsing we may reevaluate this position.

[littlecrow]

So I cannot use Firefox on a fire tablet?

Thank you

[Leone9654]

Hi why don't you put mozilla firefox back on firetv and an excellent browser I use it a lot please put it on firetv stick mozilla firefox

[Jon]

(Note: similar ideas have been merged into this thread)

[Leone9654]

hello, when you put firefox on firetv again, be quick to put it on amazon firetv

[joss712]

With the whole ditch cable and go digital wouldn't make sense with the huge number to bring back something like FireTV had before?

[Jimbo3466]

Amazon Fire TV

You need to get back on the FireStick! Please! Silk sucks!

[Jon]

(Note: similar ideas have been merged into this thread)

[joss712]

I should have worded it better in saying the Firestick streaming devices not Firetv. With the growing popularity of streaming to be able to add FireFox as the search to the Firestick to be compatible with pairing to the computer FireFox instead of being stuck with Google

[Jon]

Thanks for submitting an idea to the Mozilla Connect community! Your idea is now open to votes (aka kudos) and comments.

[Jon]

Potentially similar idea here: Bring back Firefox for Amazon Fire TV devices 

@joss712 if that's what you're asking for, we can merge the two threads together to keep the conversation focused in one space. Just let me know 😃

[joss712]

Yes it is and yes merge them please

[Jon]

(Note: similar ideas have been merged into this thread)