Almost two years after Mozilla launched Focus by Firefox, the rebranded new browser for iOS was just released as Firefox Focus. This is a browser designed to give iOS users a private experience by blocking ad trackers and erasing browsing history.
That’s good news for privacy advocates — and maybe business owners worried about compromising the security of their devices. It’s bad news for business site operators and marketers trying to gather as much data on their visitors and potential customers as possible.
According to Nick Nguyen, VP of product at Firefox, “This is a free, super simple, super-fast Web experience with no tabs, no menus, no pop-ups private browser for iOS.”
Focus blocks web analytics, social and advertising trackers as well as erasing your browsing history, including your passwords and cookies. And because it removes the trackers and ads, Firefox says users can expect better performance. Firefox has taken a stripped down approach for this browser, so it won’t clutter your device with unnecessary functions.
When you go to settings, the only thing you will see is an on or off button to block the data you want. This includes ad trackers, analytics trackers, social trackers, content trackers and web fonts. Once you adjust the settings, you can start browsing and when you are finished all the data is deleted.
If however you want to manually clear your browsing history, there is an erase button you can click before closing the browser.
The one downside for many users may be Mozilla’s choice of using Yahoo as a default browser, which can’t be changed in the current version. However, TechCrunch has reported future versions will have that option.
Content blockers now face applications that don’t allow their site to load or load correctly. Focus goes around this problem by opening the site in Apple’s Safari or Firefox.
With apps that track your web activity and follow you no matter where you go across devices and accounts, privacy may seem hard to come by. You can try Firefox Focus by going to the Apple App Store for a free download, here.
Image: Mozilla
This article, "New Firefox Focus Browser for iOS Erases Your Tracks Online" was first published on Small Business Trends
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