Firefox users have had the ability to install extensions as part of the Recommended Extensions program since late 2020. This curated collection, comprising just over 100 extensions, brought many of the most popular ones to Android users. Over the past three years, Mozilla has been diligently strengthening the infrastructure necessary to support an open extension ecosystem on Firefox for Android.
With an upcoming update, the full catalogue of extensions will finally be accessible to users. However, there is still some behind-the-scenes work that needs to be completed before this can happen. Developers will need to make adjustments to their extensions, but Mozilla assures that the process is relatively quick and straightforward.
Scott Devaney from Mozilla explains that a significant change has recently been incorporated into Firefox Nightly on Android, which will initiate the transition. Multi-process support has been introduced, allowing Firefox extensions to run independently of the main Firefox process on Android.
Also Read: How to use Google Chrome Extensions on Android mobile browsers
According to Scott, this measure will prevent unexpected shutdowns of resource-intensive extensions on Android. Mozilla continues to diligently develop new resources to assist developers in delivering stable and optimized extensions.
Devaney acknowledges the anticipated high demand for more extensions on Firefox for Android, considering customization and extensibility have always been integral to the Firefox browsing experience. It can be expected that Mozilla’s extensive user base will eagerly install their favourite extensions once the update is available.
I should note that Mozilla won’t be the first Android browser with full desktop extensions support. Kiwi a Chromium based Android browser, has had full extensions support foe quite a while now. This makes it a worthy alternative if you’re hooked on Chromium and want to use some of your desktop extensions.
