Mozilla releases Firefox 58 for PC and Android devices: It is now faster and better

Mozilla Firefox 58 is the first major release since November 2017.

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Mozilla has just announced the launch of a new version of its popular web browser Firefox. Dubbed as Firefox 58 this new version continues to bring unique as well improved "Quantum" features that were introduced in Firefox 57 back in November. So building upon the improvements delivered by Firefox 57 today's release is the first major release since November. Interestingly, it is a smaller update as far as the UI is concerned.

 
Mozilla releases Firefox 58 for PC and Android devices

"With this release, we're building on the great foundation provided by our all-new Firefox Quantum browser. We're optimizing the performance gains we released in 57 by improving the way we render graphics and cache JavaScript. We also made functional and privacy improvements to Firefox Screenshots. On Firefox for Android, we've added support for Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) so you can add websites to your home screen and use them like native apps," Mozilla has said it its blog.

 

In any case, Firefox 58 delivers multithreading in the page rendering, JavaScript Startup Bytecode Cache (JSBC) for improving startup time and Tracking Protection. Specific new additions include background tab throttling, a WebAssembly Streaming Compiler, and Off-Main-Thread Painting (OMTP) for a "significantly better" rendering process and to provide fast and smooth page loading. However, the full details are available on the Firefox blog.

Mozilla has also worked on how the way CSS fonts are displayed for shorter loading times, there's a new Promise feature to reduce redundant code, and functional and privacy improvements have been added to Firefox Screenshots.

The changelog also mentions Tracking Protection that the browser has been offering in its Private Browsing mode for a long time now. "Users can enable Tracking Protection at all times," the company has stated. This mode actively blocks analytics trackers and ads, among other things. With Firefox 58, users can have this option enabled even in the normal browsing mode.

To turn on Tracking Protection, users can open their "Preferences" and click on "Privacy & Security." Scroll down to "Tracking Protection," and click on "Always." It will now be enabled.

Additionally, the new Firefox 58 also brings in features for mobile devices. Mozilla has revised its bookmarking feature to help users quickly get to the sites they want to visit. Instead of a dialog box, users will get a full screen where they can easily organize and see their folders, create new ones, and move their bookmarks in their respective folders.

The company has also improved Firefox for Android to better support PWAs, a specific type of website that can appear as a mobile app on smartphones.

Firefox 58 for PC and Android are available for download from the Mozilla website. Existing Firefox users should be able to upgrade to Firefox 58 automatically when they launch or restart the browser.

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