UPDATED 00:36 EDT / NOVEMBER 18 2016

APPS

Mozilla launches Firefox Focus, a private browser app for iPhone and iPad users

Mozilla Corp. has released a new browser for iPhone and iPad users called Firefox Focus that provides users with a private browsing experience. By default, Firefox Focus will block ad trackers from following you around the web, in addition, it will erase your browsing history, passwords and cookies.

Firefox Focus offers a simple user experience with no tabs, menus or pop-ups. In the app’s Settings menu, you can enable which trackers you want to block, including ad trackers, analytics trackers, social trackers and other content trackers and web fonts. Users could experience a performance boost on many of the sites they visit, according to Mozilla.

If a site won’t load because it’s dependent on tracking, Firefox Focus will give you the option to open the site in either Firefox or Safari. When you have completed a search, you can erase it by tapping the “Erase” button.

The default search engine for Firefox Focus is set to Yahoo Search in the U.S. This seems like an odd choice for an app focused on privacy considering Yahoo Inc.’s massive data hack, which could affect as many as 3 billion accounts. At this stage, it is not possible to change the search engine, but Mozilla told TechCrunch that web browser options will arrive in future releases of Firefox Focus. If you are outside of the U.S. you may have a different default search engine other than Yahoo.  

Firefox already has tracking protection built into its private tabs on personal computers and mobile devices powered by Android. However, due to limits imposed by Apple, Mozilla was unable to add the same features to Firefox for iOS, therefore Firefox Focus was introduced, according to Nick Nguyen, vice president of product at Firefox.

The Firefox Focus app is available for download from the App Store.

Image via Firefox

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