New Firefox Preview update brings new tab manager, auto-hiding toolbar and bugs

Firefox Preview, Mozilla’s completely rebuilt browser for Android, is getting another update with additional features, including a new tab manager and more.

Previously called Fenix, Preview is an exciting new browser from Mozilla with a unique look and excellent performance. Currently, Mozilla is working to finalize the revamp before replacing its old Firefox for Android browser.

The new 5.2 release rolling out from the Play Store includes a few changes that will bring Preview closer to replacing Firefox. The most significant of those is the new auto-hiding bottom toolbar. Preview sports a unique bottom toolbar for accessing tabs and the address bar. If you use a big phone, this bottom layout makes everything much easier to reach.

Now, the bar will slide off the screen when you start scrolling, which gives your whole screen over to displaying the website. It’s not a massive change, but from a user experience standpoint, it’s quite nice.

Left: Firefox Preview’s new tab manager. Right: The old tab manager page (it’s still available as the new tab page).

Another significant change with Firefox Preview 5.2 is the introduction of a new tab manager. Previously, tapping the tab button in the bottom bar sent users back to the main page, which showed a list of open tabs, your ‘Collections’ and favourite sites. Now, it opens a separate list of open tabs and includes a floating action button (FAB) for opening a new tab. Users can also access private tabs from the new manager, making it much easier to switch between open tabs.

Other small changes and an annoying bug

Finally, Firefox Preview includes a new voice input option for search and a pull-to-refresh gesture. However, that gesture only works in the browsing history view and not on websites.

Unfortunately, the 5.2 release is not without its bugs. Android Police notes that if you set Preview as your default browser, it can open links from other apps in ‘custom’ tabs, just like Chrome. However, these customs tabs currently have a bug that shows a chunk of blank space at the top of the screen. If you’re the type to find this extremely annoying, you may want to avoid this update until Firefox fixes it.

Of course, bugs like this shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. Firefox Preview is Mozilla’s testing ground of sorts for the revamped browser. If you’re looking for a similar, but more stable browsing experience, you should download the Firefox Beta app. It currently offers the same UI as Preview, but without some of the newer features.

Firefox Preview version 5.2 is available for free from the Play Store.

Source: Android Police

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