For those who are sticking to Firefox ESR, the latest 115 release is now easy to install in all current Ubuntu releases via PPA.
Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release) is a slow moving release series target for organizations, including schools, universities, businesses. It has different release circle compare to the general Firefox series.
Mozilla keeps updating the ESR with stability, security fixes and policy updates every few weeks, and rolls out major updates on average every 42 weeks. See update differences between Firefox ESR and Rapid releases.
The latest version now is Firefox ESR 115.x, which was firstly released almost 2 months ago. It includes all the new features since Firefox 102. But of course lacks features in v116, 117, and next releases until they are included in next major ESR release. See the release note for details.
Like the rapid releases, you can download the latest Firefox ESR as portable tarball from the ftp page. However, PPA is a good choice with better Ubuntu integration and easily to keep it up-to-date. It’s also a good alternative for Ubuntu 22.04+ users who hate Snap packages.
Mozilla today announced the release of Firefox 112.0. See what’s new in this release!
For Ubuntu user using the Chromium browser that was installed as Snap package from system repository, Firefox 112 adds ability to import data from that browser. Though, the feature so far does not work in Firefox itself installed as Snap package.
When working with too many browser tabs, user can now click on the down arrow icon (‘⋁’) to open tab lists, and use middle mouse click on any tab to close it.
Also, the Ctrl+Shift+T re-open closed tab shortcut key, can now restore the previous session if there are no more closed tabs from the same session to re-open.
Right-clicking on password fields now shows an option to reveal the password.
Update EnableTrackingProtection policy to prevent from more cross-site tracking.
Enables overlay of software-decoded video on Intel GPUs in Windows
Disable the deprecated U2F Javascript API by default.
Various security fixes.
How to Install Firefox 112.0 in Ubuntu
For Ubuntu 22.04 and higher, that using the pre-installed Firefox as Snap package. You should now has updated to the new release. Just open browser, and check its version via the ‘About Firefox’ page.
For Ubuntu 20.04 and Ubuntu 18.04, just wait! The new release page will be made into system repository in next few days. Keep your system up-to-date will automatically update Firefox package to the latest.
For those who do NOT like the pre-installed Snap package, and old Ubuntu users who can’t wait, there’s also an Ubuntu PPA that contains the latest Firefox package, see this step by step guide how to install Firefox from that PPA.
The pre-installed Firefox Snap package in Ubuntu 22.04 & 22.10 now works again for native messaging support. Meaning user can now make it work with GSConnect, KeePassXC, Plasma extension, and/or installing Gnome Shell Extensions,
As you may know, Ubuntu switched to the Snap version of Firefox that runs in sandbox since 21.10. Which, however broke the feature to exchange messages with native applications.
Thanks to Flatpak team for working on a new WebExtensions XDG desktop portal and its integration in Firefox. The new native messaging feature is available for testing for a few months in beta channel. And, it’s made int stable channel just a few days ago.
Firefox as Snap
How to Get it
If you’re now using Firefox as Snap, just wait it will automatically update to the latest version with the new feature. Or, open terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard and run command:
sudo snap refresh firefox --stable
And install the XDG desktop portal package by running command in terminal. Also install chrome-gnome-shell if you want to use Firefox to install Gnome shell extensions.
For switching from Firefox .deb package back to Snap, just remove PPA priority file (if any) under ‘/etc/apt/preferences.d/’ directory, then run the command below in terminal:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install firefox
Finally launch Firefox, install or visit the page that need native message exchange. It will pop-up a dialog asks user to grant the permission.
Mozilla Firefox 101 was released today with minor new features and security fixes.
If you do video conferencing regularly with Firefox web browser, you may now use as many microphones as you want, at the same time. It allows to switch your microphones at any time, if your conferencing service provider enables this flexibility.
For non-configured MIME file types, Firefox 101 allows to assign a custom action upon download completion.
Allow sites to detect if user has requested web content present with a higher (or lower) contrast.
New inspector panel option ‘Click and drag to edit size values’.
WebDriver BiDi protocal.
Add support for large, small, dynamic viewport units and logical ones (*vi and *vb).
Various security fixes.
How to Get Firefox 101:
Ubuntu keeps updating the Firefox packages through its security & updates repository. Simply keep your system up-to-date, you’ll get this Firefox release soon in next few days.
For Ubuntu 22.04 user prefer .deb package, as well as the old Ubuntu 16.04, keep an eye on the MozillaTeam PPA.
Mozilla Firefox has reached its 100th release! It has been more than 17 years since the first 1.0 was released in 2004.
Firefox 100 now supports for displaying subtitles in the pop-out video (Picture-in-Picture mode) for YouTube, Prime Video, and Netflix videos. Also, it supports video captions on websites that use WebVTT (Web Video Text Track) format, like Coursera.org, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and many more.
For macOS 11 with HDR-compatible screens, users can now enjoy HDR video on YouTube out-of-the-box, though you have NOT to enable “optimize video streaming while on battery”.
For Windows, hardware accelerated AV1 video decoding is enabled for support GPUs, including Intel Gen 11+, AMD RDNA 2 Excluding Navi 24, GeForce 30. Though, AV1 Video Extension from the Microsoft Store is required.
Other changes in Firefox 100 include:
Detect and offer choice if Firefox does not match system language on first run.
Add multiple languages support for spell checking.
Enable video overlay to reduce power usage for Windows user with Intel GPU.
Support credit card autofill and capture in the United Kingdom.
Ignore less restricted referrer policies
Choose preferred color schemes for websites.
Support for profiling multiple java threads
Add Geckoview APIs
Get Firefox 100:
For the release note as well as download link, go to Mozilla web site:
Ubuntu 22.04 finally removed the .deb package for Firefox web browser from it’s repository! Here’s how to install it back.
As you may know, Firefox in Ubuntu repository since 22.04 is a Snap package that runs in sandbox. It’s easy to remove it. But when you try installing the deb package via apt, it just install the Snap version back!!
Like Chromium, the Firefox deb in Ubuntu 22.04 + repository is an empty package that links to the Mozilla’s official Snap.
And, if you want to install the latest Firefox using the classic .deb package format, there are 2 easy ways:
Mozilla Team PPA maintained by Ubuntu Team members.
Mozilla’s new apt repository maintained by Firefox developer team!
(Optional) Remove the pre-installed Firefox Snap
It’s OK to keep the default Snap package. But it will cause duplicated Firefox icons after installing Firefox in .deb package format.
NOTE: Export bookmarks and backup other important data before removing it!
To remove it, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. Then, run the command:
sudo snap remove firefox
Also, remove the empty Deb package by running command:
sudo apt remove firefox
Option 1: Install Firefox via “Mozilla Team” team PPA
The team described that it has assumed responsibility for Ubuntu’s official Firefox and Thunderbird packages.
And, the Firefox and Firefox ESR package maintainer for “Mozilla Team” team PPA, Rico Tzschichholz, is a well-known Ubuntu user who also maintains the official packages for LibreOffice, Plank dock, and unbound DNS server.
1. Add Mozilla Team PPA
In terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T), run the command below to add the PPA. Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/ppa
As the PPA description indicates, the PPA was previously created for Firefox ESR and Thunderbird. It now contains the latest Firefox too.
2. Set PPA priority:
The empty Firefox deb in Ubuntu’s official repository has version number 1:1snap1-0ubuntu2. It’s always higher than the PPA package version. Running package updates either via sudo apt upgrade or ‘Software Updater’ will automatically install the official one which redirects to Snap.
To workaround the issue, you have to set a higher PPA priority. To do so, run the command below in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):
sudo gedit /etc/apt/preferences.d/mozillateamppa
For Ubuntu 24.04, replace gedit in command with gnome-text-editor, or use nano that works in all the desktop environments.
The command creates and opens empty config file in Gedit text editor. When it opens, add the lines below and save it:
For nano text editor, press ctrl+s to save file, and ctrl+x to exit.
After saving the file, run sudo apt update command in terminal to apply changes.
sudo apt update
3. Install Firefox via apt
Tip: the commands in this step also installs Firefox for the old Ubuntu 16.04. Though sudo apt update need to be run first.
Finally, run the command below to install the latest Firefox package as deb:
sudo apt install firefox
Here -t 'o=LP-PPA-mozillateam' specifies to install Firefox from that PPA. It’s required until you set higher PPA package priority (see next step).
The -t 'o=LP-PPA-mozillateam' flag is no longer required after setup PPA priority.
For choice, you may install Firefox ESR instead. It’s another official Firefox package that moves slowly and targets for school or enterprise use.
sudo apt install firefox-esr
Option 2: Install Firefox via its official repository
Mozilla’s new apt repository contains 4 versions of Firefox packages: Firefox Stable, Firefox Beta, Firefox Development Edition, and Firefox Nightly. It’s a good choice for Ubuntu & Debian users.
1: Get Repository Key file
To add the new repository, you need to first download & install the key, so your system will trust the packages from it.
First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to make sure ‘/etc/apt/keyrings’ exist for storing the keys.
sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
Then, download & install the key by running the single command below in terminal:
wget -q https://packages.mozilla.org/apt/repo-signing-key.gpg -O- | sudo tee /etc/apt/keyrings/packages.mozilla.org.asc > /dev/null
After that, you can verify the new key file by listing the content of that directory via command ls /etc/apt/keyrings.
2: Add Mozilla’s apt repository
Also in a terminal window, run the single command below will create a config file and write the source repository.
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/packages.mozilla.org.asc] https://packages.mozilla.org/apt mozilla main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mozilla.list > /dev/null
When done, you may verify by running cat /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mozilla.list to print the source file content.
3. Set apt repository priority:
Also you need to set higher priority for Mozilla’s repository, so Ubuntu will install Firefox from it rather than the snap package.
To do so, run command to create & edit the config file:
sudo gedit /etc/apt/preferences.d/mozilla
Also, replace gedit with gnome-text-editor for Ubuntu 24.04, or use nano command line editor that works in most desktop environments.
When file opens, add following lines and save it (For nano, press ctrl+s to save, and ctrl+x to exit).
Finally, refresh your system package cache by running command in terminal:
sudo apt update
And, install Firefox from that repository via command:
sudo apt install firefox
You may also use firefox-beta, firefox-devedition, or firefox-nightly in last command to install other versions.
How to Restore Firefox Snap:
To restore the pre-installed Snap package, or uninstall the .deb package, first remove the repositories:
To remove the Mozilla Team PPA, launch ‘Software & Updates‘ utility and navigate to Other Software tab, finally remove the corresponding source line.
To remove the Mozilla apt repository, simply delete the source file, by running command in terminal:
sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mozilla.list
After that, either launch Software Updater to upgrade Firefox or use apt commands below. Both of which will automatically install back the pre-installed Snap package.
Mozilla Firefox web browser 97.0 was released a day ago with few new features and various bug-fixes.
The release does not include any exciting new features for Linux, but only adds new minimal overlay scrollbar support for Windows 11. As well, system font loading on macOS has been improved to make opening and switching to new tabs faster in certain situations.
Other changes in Firefox 97 include:
The 18 colorway themes introduced in Firefox 94 expires! Though, enabled colorway will persist in add-on manager forever.
Remove support for directly generating PostScript for printing on Linux. However, printing to PostScript printers still remains a supported option
Various security fixes and new policies implemented in Enterprise 97.
colorways has gone
How to Install Firefox 97 in Ubuntu Linux:
For Ubuntu 21.10+ using the pre-installed Firefox as Snap, it updates automatically and user should now have v97.0.
For those using the classic .deb version, the best choice is wait! The official Ubuntu build will be available in next few days. At that time, open “Software Updater” to upgrade the Firefox package.
Firefox website also provides official Linux package via a portable tarball. Extract and run the executable file within the tarball will launch the web browser without installation:
Mozilla Firefox web browser released version 94.0. Here’s what’s new.
On the first launch of Firefox 94, a dialog will pop-up allows you to choose between color schemes. By clicking on “Explore colorways“, it allows to choose between 6 color palettes with live preview. And each has ‘Soft’, ‘Balance’, and ‘Cold’ colors to choose from.
For those using Mesa driver >= 21, Firefox 94 now uses the Linux graphics stack EGL instead of GLX. This will increase WebGL performance and reduce resource consumption. Ubuntu 21.04 and Ubuntu 21.10 may have the benefit, though proprietary Nvidia driver is not supported at the moment.
The new Firefox introduced a “about:unloads” page, allows users to manually unload inactive tabs to release system resources. Though it can be disabled by settings “browser.tabs.unloadOnLowMemory” to false.
Firefox macOS now uses Apple’s low power mode for fullscreen video to extend battery life.
Firefox won’t prompt updates in Windows. Instead, it will download and install updates in background.
Introduced new Site Isolation security architecture.
Roll out Firefox Multi-Account Containers extension with Mozilla VPN integration
No longer warn when closing Firefox using a menu, button, or three-key command.
Support new Snap Layouts menus in Windows 11.
Reduced system resource usage and various security fixes.
Get Firefox 94:
For all current Ubuntu releases, including Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 21.04, and Ubuntu 21.10. It recommends to wait until the official Ubuntu builds released (check here).
It will be available to install in next few days through “Software Updater”:
For the portable Linux tarball as well as release note, go to mozilla website.
The “Software Updater” utility in Ubuntu MATE 21.10 tries to remove native Firefox package and install the SNAP version instead. If you’ve done that, here’s how to revert to Firefox DEB package and prevent the misbehavior.
As you may know, Ubuntu is switching Firefox from native DEB to the universal SNAP package. Ubuntu 21.10 now has Firefox SNAP out-of-the-box, while its flavors are still having the classic deb package.
However, in Ubuntu MATE 21.10 the “Software Updater” has a bug. It tries to remove pre-installed Firefox package by marking it as “Duplicate packages to be removed”.
Software Updater Tries to Install Firefox SNAP
If you clicked “Install Now” button without attention. The default Firefox web browser will be replaced with the SNAP app:
Revert to pre-installed Firefox DEB:
By going to the app “menu -> Help -> About Firefox” will tell if you’ve done that mistakenly.
The Firefox SNAP app
And, you may press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal, and run command to remove the Snap if installed:
sudo snap remove --purge firefox
Then install the native Firefox deb package by running command:
sudo apt install firefox
Prevent Software Updater from installing Firefox Snap:
Thanks to N0rbert, run the single command below in terminal to do the trick until the upstream fixed the bug.
sudo apt-mark manual firefox
The command will work on all Ubuntu flavors, though I found the issue only in Ubuntu MATE so far.
Mozilla Firefox 93.0 was officially released today. The release features AVIF image support and further security improvements.
The AV1 image format (AVIF) is an image file format for storing images or image sequences compressed with AV1 in the HEIF file format. It offers significant file size reduction compare to JPEG, PNG and WebP. Google Chrome added it support since version 85. By releasing v93.0, Firefox now has AVIF image support.
Some PDF files have interactive fields to fill in data. Since Firefox 83, the built-in PDF viewer supports filling fields such as text, check boxes, and radio buttons. In the new release, it adds more forms (XFA-based forms, used by multiple governments and banks) support.
Firefox PDF viewer filling forms
To protect against potentially malicious or unsafe downloads, Firefox now blocks insecure HTTP downloads on a secure HTTPs web page, and blocks downloads in sandboxed iframes, unless the iframe is explicitly annotated with the allow-downloads attribute. Though, an option is available to select download anyway.
Other changes in Firefox 93 include:
Automatically unload tabs on Windows, when system is running out of memory.
Prompt to finish installation for macOS users first time running Firefox from a mounted .dmg file.
Improved SmartBlock and new Referrer Tracking Protections.
Fixed working with Orca screen reader.
And various security fixes.
How to Get Firefox 93.0:
Ubuntu will build and publish the latest Firefox packages through the security & updates (main) repository in next few days (check the launchpad build page). The best choice is just wait and upgrade Firefox using “Software Updater” once available.
For the release note, as well as download link for the portable tarball that contains non-install executable file to launch Firefox, go to:
