Apple iPad users who love Firefox will soon start to enjoy the benefits of the Mozilla Firefox browser, as the Mozilla Product Design Strategy Team was reported to have been working on a prototype.
More like a watered down version of Firefox, the team says the iPad browser, nicknamed “Junior,” will feature icons for bookmarks, multiple accounts and a plus symbol to access recently-visited pages. It will also include the URL bar.
The browser will not have the complete set of Mozilla features that desktop users are used to having, including tabbed browsing and other fancy add-ons.
Junior will offer users a full-screen experience. The ‘Back’ button and plus symbol will feature predominantly. Tapping on the plus symbol allows users to view recent pages, access their list of bookmarks or their unified search/URL bar at the bottom. Typing a search query automatically populates a favorites section, making it convenient to remain in the home screen interface.
According to Mozilla’s Alex Limi, the company wanted to make something entirely new. The idea was to “reinvent the browser for a new form factor.” While no official announcement has been made regarding when “Junior” will come out, it is expected that iPad Firefox users will finally have a reason to continue using the browser.
“There are a lot of reasons we should be on iOS even though we can’t bring our rendering engine there,” Limi admitted. Clearly, Junior is a case of a browser born out of necessity.
While iPad users can already use the pre-packaged Safari Web browser from Apple, they also have the ability to download browsers like Skyfire, Atomic, Mercury, Opera Mini and Dolphin. The coming of “Junior” will give users one more option from the list of available third-party alternatives.
Android Smartphones and tablets already have a mobile version of the browser.
Edited by Braden Becker
