When Fenix was initially released I installed Fennec F-Droid to keep support of a few add-ons I still use often for select websites and tasks. I updated to this new release without double-checking the changelog first, thinking it was safe. After I realized it’s actually Fenix I tried downgrading back to Fennec, which failed. I ended up uninstalling and reinstalling, losing all my settings. I really think there should be some type of warning at least, if possible. I could’ve exported my settings from unsupported addons before the upgrade wiped them.
I really appreciate all the work that’s been done with the project otherwise and keeping Fennec around a bit longer.
My experience exactly. I was going to downgrade, but I decided to move to iceraven since most addons I want are supported and it’s more secure to let a browser update. I mistakenly, based on the name, assumed that this project would always stay with Fennec & provide security updates while keeping the features we love.
Well, from the devs behind Fennec for F-droid. If a browser is forked, and is called Fennec, and continues to be called Fennec, I just figured the devs were continuing with Fennec and any future updates would be entirely written by those devs, rather than relying on any further code from Mozilla. Of course I know that Mozilla abandoned Fennec, but I figured a separate project called Fennec was headed up by people who would not abandon Fennec, and who would continue to update it by themselves, without relying on downstream Mozilla updates first. And certainly without randomly updating us all to Fenix and obliterating our addons without enough communication in a similar way to Mozilla.
Like, you can do whatever you want with your fork, it’s fine. I’m not complaining. I can just go use another fork. I just want you to know the impact this decision had on at least some of your users, because you seem to act like you have no awareness of that.
Understood. And that’s fine - all I want is a privacy-focussed browser that supports a very broad range of addons, so I don’t care if that’s Fennec or something else. And the only other thing I would expect is adequate communication when a major feature is removed during an update.
Sorry to have annoyed you I guess. I’m just being the voice of a typical user, and I’m sorry if hearing that makes you feel uncomfortable. You’re not wrong in any of the points you made, but user opinion & perception doesn’t wait for facts!
Lots of strong feelings here on the “make it a new name/package” vs. “keep it Fennec.” Can see some advantages to each (making it a new entry would let people have both at the same time to make their own decisions) whereas positioning it as an ‘update’ let’s settings get transferred over (at least the subset of settings that will get carried over). Not sure there is a right answer. But some thoughts to share:
a) if you have root and an app backup tool you should definitely backup app & data before this upgrade so that if you want to revert, you can
b) it’s disappointing that Mozilla doesn’t seem to maintain good changelogs for their browsers. Yes there’s a fancy v81 launch blurb, but in general they don’t seem to care about tracking inctremental changes in their browsers.
c) Lots of talk about security fixes here. I don’t know about you, but it’s the browser on my phone. It’s a barely used app and it certainly doesn’t get used for, e.g., banking, shopping, etc. Security is always going to be ahead on desktop browsers so if you are hyper-paranoid you should move some of your activities over there.
d) For 99% of what I do on my phone, Privacy browser (with javascript off) is a perfect option. Check it out if you are wanting true FOSS and a does-what-it-should app.
I hope it is clear that F-Droid is not responsible for updates that Mozilla provides. The 81 update had been planned for years so you had all the time to check the “Ignore all updates” checkbox in the client. I am also speaking as a typical non-dev user.
I was aware that Firefox was updating. Many users were not. I was not made aware that Fennec F-droid would ever become Fenix. The clue is in the name - Fennec. I switched to it thinking it would always be Fennec. The name implied a promise that addons wouldn’t be smothered by a rushed update to Fenix. I was wrong, and I acknowledge that. I just wish it had been different with this browser. I’m on my 4th browser in two months.
I have an issue with the bookmarks list, when I add a bookmark it’s added at the bottom of the list so I have to scroll all the way down to find it, whereas in fennec it would be at the top. Also is there no way to customize the new tab/ homepage so that it shows you your bookmarks and history?
