Fully support Web USB and Web Serial

[ali1234]

Web-based IDEs like Arduino and Github Codespaces are now commonplace. They are hobbled in Firefox due to an inability to access development boards without installing extra system software, which rather defeats the purpose of having an IDE that runs in your browser. This is not the case on Chrome, where Web USB and Web Serial can be used. (Clarification: they *could* be used on Chrome, but often are not because developers don't want to maintain two separate codebases.)

I will preempt the response I have received every previous time I brought up this topic: Web USB and Web Serial present no more of a security risk than web camera or location data, and Firefox already has a permissions system to protect those. On the other hand, the software you have to install to make Arduino IDE work in Firefox starts a webserver that shares your serial port over a websocket, just so that your browser can connect to it. It isn't clear if there are any protections at all on that websocket.

I will also note than the current prevalence of web-based development environments is in part due to Mozilla's insistence that everything should be able to run in the browser, along with projects like Firefox OS.

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Web_Serial_API

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/USB

[zoonman]

We already have Linux for people who spends their time fixing everything.

We don't need this in the browser.

Browser should have an compact theme as it was before.

[Agentvirtuel]

Of course

Compact mode workaround in Firefox
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/compact-mode-workaround-firefox
+
userChrome.css

/* Use Normal top and bottom padding for compact */
#PlacesToolbarItems .bookmark-item {
padding-top: 0px!important;
padding-bottom: 0px!important;
}

/***Tighten up drop-down/context/popup menu spacing ***/

menupopup > menuitem, menupopup > menu {
padding-block: 2px !important;
}
:root {
--arrowpanel-menuitem-padding: 2px 8px !important;
}

Also works under Linux

Other
A similar discussion here https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/ideas/advanced-firefox-themes-engine/idc-p/48455

[zoonman]

 I am talking about fixing this issue:

 I am not looking for ugly workarounds.

[Agentvirtuel]

Hello

Another possibility, without using Compact mode workaround in Firefox

/* Use Normal top and bottom padding for compact */
#PlacesToolbarItems .bookmark-item {
padding-top: 0px!important;
padding-bottom: 0px!important;
}

/***Tighten up drop-down/context/popup menu spacing ***/

menupopup > menuitem, menupopup > menu {
padding-block: 2px !important;
}
:root {
--arrowpanel-menuitem-padding: 2px 8px !important;
}

/* ---Tabs/Tab Bar height--- */
:root {
 --tab-min-height: 20px !important;
}

Add Tabs/Tab Bar heigh to userChrome.css
And, as an example, 20px is reduced, then it's up to you to decide, at your convenience

https://www.youtube.com/embed/yecDrZXjl1U

Other information
Firefox advanced customization and configuration options
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/firefox-advanced-customization-and-configuration
This also applies to Thunderbird. Please refer to Thunderbird's article
userChrome.css and .js and userContent are unsupported
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/userchromecss-js-usercontent-unsupported

Open source is cool, because it's fun!
https://www.reddit.com/r/FirefoxCSS

---

@zoonman wrote:
Market share of Firefox during last 10 years folded from 30% down to 3%. Just think about it - you have lost a third of the market! .

https://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=3115110

I use Android on my smartphone, and Google Chrome is the default.
Android? market share worldwide

What percentage of Android users worldwide use Firefox?
Why aren't they using Firefox? Is it because Google Chrome is the default, and, well, it works, so why look elsewhere?

With the help of Responsive Design Mode
https://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/devtools-user/responsive_design_mode/index.html
If I modify the User-Agent? does it count in the statistics?

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/95.0.4638.54 Safari/537.36

https://ipleak.net

Clarification
Bookmarks in Firefox
In my screenshot, you can't see the star in the address bar
It's normal, for reason, I use a userChrome.css code
#star-button-box {display:none!important;}
https://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=3114663

[domints]

Guys, could you please stay on topic of WebUSB/WebSerial? I couldn’t care less about your styling issues, yet I get lots of e-mails about it. I don’t want to unsubscribe in case something about actual topic comes.

[Tyeth]

It's no different than enabling access to the microphone/camera on a per-site basis.

A flaw would be tragic, but not impossible.

User accepts the risk/liability in the license & terms + conditions by using the software, i.e. operating system + browser combo (surely you read all of it right, including used 3rd-party libraries' terms+licenses?).

[k2here]

i am visiting this back after almost a year in 2024 and am feeling like i should not be having any hope of this being implemented , till date keeping mozilla firefox updated yet seeing this message breaks all my optimism. In short mozilla is not giving us this have to live with two browsers (namely evil chrome browser) just for flashing my esps or tuya devices. unlike others i am not using arduino but using esp devices but with same handicap. no ability to flash / install.

If there is any experimentla or beta version or any workaround apart from having extra browsers, anybody has found out please share.

[iw2evk]

add webserial to firefox

Hi all ,

I suggest to add to firefox a webserial capability for use with arduino on line programmer or others eeprom programmers.

example : https://whosmatt.github.io/uvmod/

Thanks

Roberto iw2evk

Milan

[xmris]

Can someone please remind firefox devs this is 2024 not 2000, there are IDEs on the web esp for IOT

btw there is a 3rd party webserial extension https://github.com/kuba2k2/firefox-webserial but this is not not a native solution YMMV.

thanks

[Nebula-System]

i really need this for things like flashing my Flipper Zero with custom firmware. frankly it's a must have in the modern day. i've been trying to get the extension Here by kuba2k2 to work, but it's having issues. Mozilla devs need to get on this, and i agree with what others have said: make it need to be enabled in about:config for security purposes just to prevent issues. this is 2 years old and needs to be acted on.

[ThijsFTW]

The ZSA Moonlander software (keyboard software for flashing etc) needs WebUSB/WebSerial support.

I find it mind boggling this isn't supported in a modern browser in 2024...!

[BouncingBanana]

Firefox will never be taken seriously without WebUSB support. It is nonsensical to refuse to support a _well established_ browser functionality that is used extensively (and without the sky falling, I might add). This remind me of when Mozilla's director opposed the development of a mobile browser - this is equally asinine.

Firefox will implement this, or it will die. It is is simple as that. More and more devices are being made without drivers relying on WebUSB instead - as it is in fact MUCH safer than installing a driver.

To not implement something because "if we make a mistake there could be security risks.." is going to keep Firefox niche - but that niche is going to shrink when the browser lack a HUGE chunk of functionality.

This is absurd and needs to change. I don't get it.

[Jon]

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

[eli_liam]

As a software developer I've been repping Firefox for years to everyone I know, each time having to explain what makes Firefox better than Chrome, but this issue is my biggest hangup. I can't believe that Mozilla won't even let us make our own choice on if this is "secure" or not via making it opt-in through an about:config flag or something alike. It genuinely feels like Mozilla is being more intrusive than Google when it comes to making these decisions for us, which is the opposite of their whole philosophy.

Mozilla, for the last time, listen to your community which has stood by you from the beginning, let us make this choice, and at the very least please just give us the ability to enable this "scary," "insecure," and "intrusive" feature if we so choose.

[Nebula-System]

i agree, it's really becoming hypocrisy at this point. i'm gonna send this thread to a support email or whatever turns out there isn't one. ask them to escalate this and give it kudos, and share with others on here, and i encourage everyone else here to do the same. at least this way we'll hopefully get a final answer soon, either it's in development, or it's off to something like brave or vivaldi for the lot of us.