Firefox has undergone significant changes in 2024-2025. If you haven't kept up, here's what's actually new and worth knowing.
What Changed in Recent Firefox Versions
Firefox 131: Native Vertical Tabs (No Extension Required)
After years of users requesting it and using Tree Style Tab workarounds, Firefox 131 added native vertical tab sidebar.
Enable: Settings → Tabs → "Enable vertical tab sidebar"
The vertical sidebar:
- Shows tab titles (not just favicons like the horizontal bar at scale)
- Supports drag to reorder
- Persists panel state across restarts
- Can be used alongside the horizontal tab bar or combined with userChrome.css to hide the horizontal bar
Note: This is still relatively basic compared to Tree Style Tab's hierarchical organization. Tree Style Tab adds parent-child relationships that native vertical tabs don't have yet.
Firefox 131: Tab Groups
Native tab groups (similar to Chrome's). Group related tabs under a colored label. Collapse the group to save visual space.
How to use: Right-click a tab → "New Tab Group" or drag a tab over another to create a group. Click the group label to collapse/expand.
Firefox 122+: Passkeys Support
Full passkey (WebAuthn) support. Create passkeys on sites like GitHub, Google, Microsoft. Firefox stores them securely using the OS credential store (Keychain on Mac, Windows Hello on Windows).
Firefox 118+: ECH (Encrypted Client Hello)
Encrypts the SNI (Server Name Indication) in TLS handshakes. ISPs can no longer passively see which hostnames you're connecting to when visiting ECH-enabled sites.
Works automatically with DoH enabled. Cloudflare-hosted sites benefit immediately.
Firefox 122: Improved PDF Annotations
Highlights, freehand drawing, and sticky notes directly in the built-in PDF viewer. Annotations are saved in the PDF file when you save.
Firefox's Fission (Site Isolation) — Fully Enabled
Fission has been gradually rolling out since 2021 and is now enabled by default. Each origin gets its own process. This was the biggest security architecture change Firefox has made.
Combined with Total Cookie Protection (every site gets its own cookie jar), the cross-site tracking model of the ad industry is effectively broken for Firefox users on ETP Strict.
The Elephant in the Room: Market Share
Firefox's market share has continued declining (from ~35% in 2010 to under 3% now globally). This matters because:
- Less developer testing on Firefox
- Some sites optimize only for Chrome
- Less voice in web standards discussions
Why this matters for users: Occasionally you encounter Chrome-first sites. The Fission architecture and Gecko engine are essential for web standards diversity — if Firefox disappears, Chromium/Blink becomes the de facto standard for the web.
Firefox Extensions in 2025: MV3 Transition
Firefox adopted Manifest V3 (the new extension format) while keeping the blocking webRequest API that Google removed from Chrome's MV3.
This means:
- uBlock Origin on Firefox still has full advanced filtering capability
- On Chrome, uBlock's advanced mode is restricted
- If you use content blocking extensions, Firefox is the better platform
What Still Doesn't Work Well
Chromecast: No native browser-level casting. Use screen mirroring at the OS level.
PWA app-like experience: Firefox's PWA support is behind Chrome's. "Install to home screen" experiences are less polished.
Mobile (iOS): Firefox for iOS is more limited than Firefox for Android due to Apple's restriction on browser engines — all iOS browsers must use WebKit. Firefox for iOS is essentially Safari with Firefox's UI.
Some enterprise web apps: Apps optimized for Chrome (Google's own internal tools, some Microsoft 365 features) occasionally have quirks.
Should You Switch to Firefox in 2024?
For privacy-focused users: Yes. ETP Strict + uBlock Origin + DoH + ECH + Total Cookie Protection gives you meaningfully better privacy than Chrome.
For developers: Yes, for a secondary browser at minimum. Firefox DevTools are excellent; cross-browser testing in Firefox catches real bugs. The CSS Grid inspector is better than Chrome's.
For everyday users: Yes, if you care about supporting browser engine diversity. The user experience is very close to Chrome's for typical web browsing.
For mobile: Android yes; iOS less compelling due to WebKit restriction.
Firefox in 2025 is the result of years of architectural work — Fission, Total Cookie Protection, ECH — that addresses real privacy threats. The feature set is competitive, and the privacy defaults are better than Chrome. The declining market share is the main concern, but Firefox remains the only realistic alternative to the Chromium monoculture.
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