clear way to disable background updates

[Zeroone]

I work with ubuntu, it's really annoying when firefox tells you (don't ask, tell you) that everything has stopped and you have to restart the browser, for a refresh, especially when you have multiple tabs open at work.
I am not running a manual update of ubuntu packages (I have it in manual mode) and firefox seems to do it without asking, there is also no clear way how to disable it.
I already tried some solutions from the internet: modifying the specific advanced configuration, creating a json of policies, etc.
but i think firefox should have a clear and obvious way to disable this.

[Anonymous]

One of the most significant annoyances I experience while using a web browser is when Firefox tells me it updated in the background and needs to restart. I have gone to "about:config" and toggled the auto update off but this issue continues to occur. The settings menu also doesn't have the option to disable anymore which is user-hostile design. I've hesitated going away from Firefox after using it for so many years but I am now abandoning this browser and moving to Brave.

[jscher2000]

I don't think there has been a setting for this in about:config for quite a while. Any old setting there isn't doing anything useful.

On Windows, the choice between updating automatically and asking you when to download and install an update is still on the Settings page. Use the tiny search box on the page to find update and Firefox should show you that section. Your choice is saved outside of the profile at the global level for all profiles on your computer.

On Linux, if you installed Firefox using a package manager instead of directly from mozilla.org, the package manager can override the internal scheduling at any time, so you need to manage updates through your package manager.

[Jon]

Hey @Zeroone, 

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

[jscher2000]

Firefox has an internal option on the Settings/Preferences page to "Check for updates but let you choose to install them". I've used that on Windows since the beginning.

Unfortunately, builds of Firefox customized for different package managers may make that feature inoperable. It is possible for Linux users to install directly from Mozilla, but I don't know whether Mozilla can influence how package managers work.

https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/#product-desktop-release 

[rahul257]

This is really a bad way to update, I was in middle of a transaction when all of a sudden Firefox hijacked my tab with message  for auto update and restart, leading to crashing my transaction. This need to be designed better.

[ds1]

I found a possible fix on Ubuntu by first running apt-mark showmanual | grep firefox and then executing apt-mark hold for every item. Will need some time to confirm if it works tho. I tried everything else, from about:config to setting policy of never updating. If this doesn't work, I'm switching to a different browser. When I test my apps in the browser it's completely unacceptable to be forced to restart without my control, losing all my debugging progress along the way.

[pzelchenko]

In the old Mozilla support newsgroups and support.mozilla.org they were called "problems." In Discourse they became "issues." I see in Connect they're now called "ideas." What's the next evolution, "pipedreams"?

I have what used to be called a "problem." The Firefox update nag screen has become a constant in my life. Some people are conservative and don’t want nearly constant (every three weeks!) automatic updates. We also don’t want a chunk of our screen real estate taken up by a nag screen every time we go enter Firefox, or every few hours, as the case may be. Yet there’s no convenient way to turn it off. Firefox developers have foreclosed on our options, relegating us to either having to click a “Dismiss” button every two hours or else submit to your demands. But it’s our computer and not yours! This dilemma violates at least one or two of your basic principles. Proposal to return to the good old days, when Firefox wasn’t as prone to nannying its 120 million users:

 

[ryno89]

bring back the option to disable automatic updates. I do not wish to update every single day, nor close out the annoying pop up ten times a day.

[jscher2000]

I suspect most users never see this update notification/reminder panel because they retain the default behavior of background updating. For those that choose the option of "Check for updates but let you choose to install them":

(1) The panel does not provide information about the content of the update.

Most people use this setting because they have been burned by unexpected/unwanted changes. They want to know what changed before agreeing, and if that is difficult to discover, they'll wait.

(2) Sometimes the panel appears sooner than expected.

By default, I think the panel reappears every 12-24 hours (per the `app.update.interval` preference). However, some users report that it appears sooner for unknown reasons.

Preference change

Except in aurora/beta/nightly, I would not notify more often than once a day (minimum `app.update.interval` of 86400).

Panel design

If it were my call, I would:

(A) Include a link to the full release notes for the notified version.

(B) Include a clear statement for quick reference along the lines of: "This update resolves a [Critical] security vulnerability" or "This update does not address any security vulnerabilities".

The severity badge would be determined by the maximum severity of a vulnerability cured in the notified version (Critical, High, Moderate, Low) -- taking into consideration cumulative patches back to the major version if the user isn't on the current major version.

(C) Allow snooze periods of 1 day, 2 days, and 3 days. Once Firefox is 8 weeks out-of-date, I would drop back to offering a maximum snooze of 1 day.

[deHarleg]

Froth….

[Anonymous]

I'm on 98.01 and I still have:

"Check for updates but let you choose to install them"

as an option.  I'd prefer to have the old "Never automatically check for updates" option (or however it was worded) so I don't keep getting hounded, but this is better than nothing.

Do you not have that option still?  If not, what version are you on?

[pzelchenko]

https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/ideas/give-us-back-the-freedom-to-obliterate-the-constant-quot-latest...

I posted the same. Seems like it's a trend. See recommendation.

[pzelchenko]

Some of that sounds reasonable, especially the categorization of differences between features that are niceties and ones that are dire emergencies. There's a difference, and many of us don't want to be swept up onto the bandwagon without being asked.

I think it's essential to leave it in the hands of the user to be able to turn off all automatic updating, and (most importantly) to never nag them, ever, if they don't want to be nagged. To have to dismiss an unwanted dialog every 24 hours, every two weeks, even every month is an offense. It's my computer. It's my browser. It's my decision. It's my life. If there's a rare life-and-death security patch every 10 months or so, I'd like to hear about it.  Other than that, I don't want automatic updates. That's the topic of my suggestion and I'll thank people not to distract us from it.

I think it's pretty certain that if you were to poll a significant sample of the millions of users who have turned off automatic background updating, you would get a similar sentiment.

[bh]

I just updated Firefox after being nagged YET AGAIN  -  and immediately got another update notification to v100Beta something else! GRRRR!

I also get a white screen after I dismiss the congratulatory notice about using the newest version, and try to get back to my home page. I then have exit 'unresponsive' Firefox, and restart....

I too request the nag screen to be removed, and the manual update facility restored. 

As a new contributor I do not seem to be able to give Kudos.

[pzelchenko]

I keep getting these update nags. Jonathan, I don't want them every 24 hours! And the default behavior of background updates happens to be the new default. That doesn't mean it has to be what all of us want.

This should be simple: Let us turn it off forever. If you want options for compromise, that's fine, but let us have a totally discoverable way (e.g., the mind-numbingly obvious way that I propose in my mockup above) to unequivocally turn it off!