The Chromium browser package (Snap version) in Ubuntu Software is missing VAAPI hardware decoding support. Ubuntu developer team is finally working on get the feature back!

As you may know, Ubuntu now includes the chromium web browser in the system repository as Snap package that runs in sandbox. However, the package is missing the graphics hardware acceleration since version 72 which was released a few years ago in 2019.

Some third-party PPAs are being maintained with Chromium packages, either due to lack of hardware acceleration or just because they don’t like Snap.

For Chromium fans who are OK with the Snap package, you can now help testing the new hwacc build that uses the graphics card for video playback.

Install Chromium from test repository:

1.) Firstly, backup your bookmark, password etc if you’re running Chromium as Snap.

2.) Press Ctrl + Alt + T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to remove chromium snap (if any) via command:

sudo snap remove chromium

3.) Next, install the testing build with hardware acceleration support by running command:

sudo snap install --channel candidate/hwacc chromium

Verify if hardware acceleration works:

The report page recommends to run the command below to launch chromium browser:

snap run chromium --disable-features=UseChromeOSDirectVideoDecoder --enable-features=VaapiVideoDecoder

Finally, start playing a video either by drag and dropping local file into browser window, or via video website.

And, go to about:media-internals in address bar. Click what it’s playing and find out the value of “kVideoDecoderName“.

It will be {Vaapi,VDA,Mojo}VideoDecoder if succeed, or {FFMpeg,Vpx}VideoDecoder when failed.

For Intel graphics, there’s also a command line tool to verify if GPU rendering is working.

• First, run command to install the intel-gpu-tools package:

  sudo apt install intel-gpu-tools

• The, use command to verify:

  sudo intel_gpu_top

In my case, the previous command did’t work in both i3-6006U and i5-10400 with integrated graphics card, but using the following command to launch Chromium works!

LIBVA_DRIVERS_PATH=/snap/chromium/current/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri/ chromium --use-gl=egl --enable-features=VaapiVideoDecoder,VaapiVideoEncoder --disable-features=UseChromeOSDirectVideoDecoder --ignore-gpu-blocklist --disable-gpu-driver-bug-workaround

How to Restore:

To remove the Chromium package, open terminal and run command:

sudo snap remove --purge chromium

And, install back the package (if you want) from stable channel either from Ubuntu Software or by running the command below in terminal:

sudo snap install chromium

Report in launchpad

Mozilla Firefox 102 is available to download now. See what’s new and how to install the browser package.

For Linux users, Firefox 102 now support Geoclue if available for geolocation. The release also added subtitles and captions display in Picture-in-Picture (pop-out video) for more websites, including HBO Max, Funimation, Dailymotion, Tubi, Disney+ Hotstar, and SonyLIV.

For those boring with the drop-down download panel, that automatically opens every time you start a download. User may now right-click on the download icon (before Hamburger menu button), and un-check “Show Panel When Download Begins” to disable it.

Firefox 102 is the new Extended Support Release (ESR) for enterprise and/or school use. The previous Firefox 91 ESR will end support on September 20, 2022.

Other changes in Firefox 102 include:

• Improve PDF reading in high contrast mode
• Filter style sheets in the Style Editor tab of our developer tools
• Support Content-Security-Policy (CSP) integration with WebAssembly.
• Mitigate query parameter tracking when navigating sites in ETP strict mode.
• Improved security by moving audio decoding into a separate process with stricter sandboxing.
• Various bug fixes and new policies

Download / Install Firefox 102:

Ubuntu will publish the new browser packages in its universe repositories. So, just keep your system up-to-date by installing updates (via Software Updater) regularly, you’ll get Firefox 102 automatically in next few days ago.

For Ubuntu 22.04 user prefer native .deb over the pre-installed Snap package, the Mozilla Team PPA has already build the package. So this how to tutorial to switch from Firefox Snap to Deb.

For the release note (not ready yet) as well as official Linux tarball, go to the link below:

Like Firefox, the Chromium web browser package in recent Ubuntu repository is just empty package that links to Snap version.

If you would like to install the classic .Deb version instead, here are 2 choices that work on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.

Option 1: Use Rob Savoury’s PPA

Rob Savoury is maintaining a collections of software packages in PPAs including Chromium browser. With this unofficial PPA, you may get the the latest Chromium packages in Ubuntu 22.04 and Ubuntu 20.04.

This could be the easiest way, however, only 64-bit modern PC/laptop is supported!

1.) Add the PPA

Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open a terminal window. When it opens, run the command below to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:savoury1/chromium

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.

2.) Install the browser package

After adding the PPA, you can install the browser package via commands:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install chromium-browser

How to Uninstall:

To remove the browser package, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove chromium-browser

And remove the Ubuntu PPA by launching “Software & Updates” and remove the source line from “Other Software” tab.

Remove Rob Savoury’s Chromium PPA

Option 2: Install Chromium from Ubuntu 18.04 Repository

Ubuntu 18.04 still provides the most recent Chromium .Deb package and keeps updating in its repository.

Until April 2023 (end of life date of Ubuntu 18.04), you may install the package from that repository in 64-bit and ARM64/ARMhf machines running Ubuntu 22.04.

However, the process is a little bit complicated due to change of the apt key policy. For choice, there’s a third-party PPA keeps a copy the packages for Ubuntu 20.04 and Ubuntu 22.04.

1.) Install Ubuntu 18.04 repository key:

Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run the command below get the bionic-updates repository key:

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 3B4FE6ACC0B21F32

Due to change of the apt-key policy, run the command below to move the key to “/usr/share/keyrings“.

sudo mv /etc/apt/trusted.gpg /usr/share/keyrings/bionic-updates.gpg

2.) Add Ubuntu 18.04 updates repository:

Next, run the command below in terminal to create and edit repository file:

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list.d/bionic-updates.list

When file opens, paste the single line below and save it.

deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/bionic-updates.gpg] http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates universe

3.) Setup package priority

It’s IMPORTANT to set package priority so ONLY chromium browser package is allowed to be installed from this repository!!

Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command below to create and edit a preference file:

sudo gedit /etc/apt/preferences.d/99bionic-updates

When the file opens, paste following lines to tell only allows chromium related packages and prevent all others!

# Prefer 'chromium-browser' package from Ubuntu 18.04 updates repository

Package: chromium-browser*
Pin: release a=bionic-updates
Pin-Priority: 501

# Prefer 'chromium-chromedriver' package from Ubuntu 18.04 updates repository

Package: chromium-chromedriver
Pin: release a=bionic-updates
Pin-Priority: 501

# Prefer 'chromium-codecs-ffmpeg' package from Ubuntu 18.04 updates repository

Package: chromium-codecs-ffmpeg*
Pin: release a=bionic-updates
Pin-Priority: 501

# Prevent all other packages from Ubuntu 18.04 repository

Package: *
Pin: release a=bionic-updates
Pin-Priority: -10

4.) Update & Install Chromium

Finally, run the apt update command to refresh package cache:

sudo apt update

And, install the browser package from Ubuntu 18.04 repository using command:

sudo apt install chromium-browser

How to Remove 18.04 Repository and Uninstall Chromium

Like the Rob Savoury’s PPA package, simply run the command below in terminal will remove the browser package:

sudo apt remove --autoremove chromium-browser

If you want to get rid of Ubuntu 18.04 repository, run the command below one by one in terminal:

• Remove the source file:

  sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/bionic-updates.list

• Remove the keyring:

  sudo rm /usr/share/keyrings/bionic-updates.gpg

• And clear the priority file:

  sudo rm /etc/apt/preferences.d/99bionic-updates

• Finally, refresh system package cache to apply changes:

  sudo apt update

Summary:

There are quite a few software sources to get the Chromium package in .Deb version. Here, the third-party Rob Savoury’s PPA could be the easiest way which however contains only 64-bit package. The old Ubuntu 18.04 repository is good choice for those need arm64/armhf package, though the support will end in April 2023.

This simple tutorial shows how to install the latest Firefox Extended Support Release (ESR) via PPA in Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 18.04 and Ubuntu 16.04.

Firefox ESR:

Mozilla Firefox has 2 release series: Rapid and ESR. The rapid release updates every month with new features, and it’s default in Ubuntu. Firefox ESR moves slowly. It receives major updates on average every 42 weeks, but includes security fixes and policy updates as need every month.

Firefox ESR is an official version that does not come with the latest features but has the latest security and stability fixes. It is useful for business or school use, or those who don’t want to update the browser quite regularly that might break specific extension/addon.

Install Firefox ESR via PPA:

Ubuntu Mozilla Team, the packaging team for Ubuntu’s official Firefox package, maintains a PPA repository that contains the latest Firefox ESR packages for all current Ubuntu releases.

1. Add the PPA

To add the PPA, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open a terminal window. When it opens, run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/ppa

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.

2. Refresh package cache:

Ubuntu 20.04 and higher will update the package cache automatically after adding PPA. Though, Ubuntu 16.04 and Ubuntu 18.04 need to manually run the command below to do it:

sudo apt update

3. Install Firefox ESR:

Finally, install the Firefox Extended Support Release via command:

sudo apt install firefox-esr

The ESR package won’t replace the system default Firefox package. So, you may have duplicated app icons afterwards.

Check the about page for Firefox edition and pin it into dock (left panel), or you may remove the rapid release if you don’t need it anymore.

How to Remove Firefox ESR:

To remove the Firefox package, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove firefox-esr

And run command to remove the Ubuntu PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:mozillateam/ppa

That’s all. Enjoy!

Mozilla Firefox 96.0 was released today. The new release focuses on performance and security improvements.

Firefox 96.0 significantly reduced the main-thread load, improved noise suppression and automatic gain control for better overall experience.

It now enforces the Cookie Policy: Same-Site=lax by default which helps defend against Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) attacks.

The release also fixed some issues, including video quality degradation issues on certain sites, issue where WebRTC downgrades screen sharing resolution, and video intermittently drops SSRC. As well, there are various security fixes.

And for developers, Firefox 96 adds WebP image encoder support for canvas.

Firefox Dark

How to Install Firefox 96 in Ubuntu Linux:

For Ubuntu 21.10+ using the pre-installed Firefox as Snap, it updates automatically and user should now have v96.0.

For those using the native .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 Linux package via portable tarball. Extract and run the executable file within the source will launch the web browser:

Mozilla Firefox web browser 95.0 was released today with security and performance improvements.

The release introduced new RLBox sandboxing technology that uses WebAssembly to isolate potentially-buggy code. And, it’s enabled by default on all platforms (desktop and mobile) to protect users from accidental defects as well as supply-chain attacks.

For Windows 10 and Windows 11, Firefox now is available in Microsoft Store for easy install. MacOS user now has less CPU usage during event processing, and less power usage when decoding video (e.g., streaming Netflix and Amazon Prime Video).

Firefox in Microsoft Store

Other changes in Firefox 95 include:

• Picture-in-Picture (pop out video) now has option to toggle buttons to left/right.
• Enable site isolation for all users to protect against side-channel attacks such as Spectre.
• Faster content process startup on macOS.
• Improved page load performance.
• Various bug-fixes.

How to Get Firefox 95 in Ubuntu Linux:

For Ubuntu 21.10 with the pre-installed Firefox as Snap, user should now has the latest release since it updates automatically. Other Ubuntu releases may search for and install it from Ubuntu Software (snapcraft.io/firefox).

For those prefer the classic DEB package (defaults in Ubuntu 21.04 & earlier), just wait and Ubuntu will publish the package in next few days. At that time, either use ‘Software Updater‘ or run command below will upgrade the Firefox package:

sudo apt upgrade

Mozilla also provides Linux tarball in its website. User may just extract it and click run the executable file to launch the web browser. Along with the release note, get it from the link below:

Vivaldi web browser released version 5.0 today with exciting new features.

The release makes it easy to change the app UI appearance via themes. Vivaldi comes with some themes with different colors, background image, blur, transparency and other settings. User may edit or create new theme easily with the built-in editor.

Vivaldi built-in themes & editor

And in ‘Themes’ setting page, it provides option to export theme into zip archive. So your friends may easily get the same Vivaldi appearance by opening the Zip archive in settings.

The browser now has built-in translation support powered by Lingvanex. By clicking on the icon from left panel, user may translate any text selection to the native language automatically by enabling ‘Auto-translate selected text’ option.

And according to the release note, only Vivaldi servers are involved, meaning you don’t have to share what you read with Big Tech’s ‘prying eyes’.

Other change in Vivaldi 5.0 include:

• Additional way of showing downloads.
• Provide rpm packages for ARM / ARM64.
• Two-Level Tab Stacks on mobile and tablets.
• Handle page actions as commands
• Add parameter to search with selection command: to specify search engine
• Add option to not show Calendar notifications.
• Add Oauth support for Office365/Outlook in built-in Mail.

How to get Vivaldi:

The official download page offers Linux DEB for both 64-bit PC and arm64 machines (e.g., Raspberry Pi).

Vivaldi also has an official apt repository, with it you can install the browser and get future updates through Software Updater utility.

Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut or by searching for terminal from application menu. When it opens, run following commands one by one:

1. Download and install the repository key:

wget -qO- https://repo.vivaldi.com/archive/linux_signing_key.pub | sudo apt-key add -

Typer user password when it prompts and hit Enter to continue.

2. Add Vivaldi repository via command:

sudo add-apt-repository 'deb https://repo.vivaldi.com/archive/deb/ stable main'

3. Finally check updates and install the web browser via command:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install vivaldi-stable

Or upgrade from an old version via Software Updater utility.