The popular desktop browser, Mozilla Firefox recently made significant adjustments and improvements in their Firefox Android. The improvements made for Firefox on Android was a decision based on the dilemma that they had which was to retains its compatibility with add-ons and other technology or to push through with improving the browser's performance. The company chose the latter.

After creating a prototype, the company plans to release the earlier version of the newly renovated Firefox for Android. Improvements for this browser include a new version of the "nightly" channel wherein Mozilla tests raw technology. In a span of six weeks, it would undergo a rapid-release cycle where the nightly version turns into Aurora, beta, and final-release channels.

There are several factors which influenced the company's decision to improve their browser on Android. One of which is the role of smartphones and tablets in the transformation of the computing industry. Smartphones and tablets are the gadgets that are leading this revolutionary change and right now, Firefox is not preinstalled to any of these devices. Another factor is that Android is the only way for the company to penetrate the mobile market since they are not able to go through Apple's iOS and Microsoft's Windows Phone. The next factor is Mozilla's goal which is to ensure an open Web through Firefox. Presently, Apple and Google browsers (based on the open-source Webkit project) are the ones dominating the scene in mobile browsing.

The new version of Firefox was initially for mobile release but it was announced that it was going to be released in tablets as well. In this case, Mozilla adapted Android's built-in technology in order to make Firefox workable in tablets and mobile phones. Before, Firefox start-up takes a long time because of the XUL interface (XML User Interface Language). Despite the fact that this works perfectly in computers, it does not work that way in mobile and tablet browsing.

Mark Finkle, a programmer for Mozilla detailed the native interface advantages of this model through his blog stating the following:

Startup -A native UI can be presented much faster than a XUL based UI, since it can happen in parallel with Gecko startup. This means startup times in fractions of a second, versus several seconds for a XUL UI on some phones.

Memory Use - We believe a native UI will use significantly less memory.

Responsiveness - A native UI has the potential for beautiful panning and zooming performance.

Though certain improvements have been implemented in Firefox, there are considerable issues that were observed. One of which is found in Firefox Sync which was supposed to share bookmarks, passwords, and open tabs across multiple versions of the browser. This function is not exactly in good working condition for this new release though Sync for Android is supposedly on its way for a December release. Another issue mentioned was that the current upgrade path drops saved passwords and browsing history.