[commoner]

This is progress, but Mozilla needs to do more. Firefox for Android still lacks the ability to sideload add-ons, a feature that works on the desktop version of Firefox. This means Android users aren't able to install extensions outside addons.mozilla.org (AMO) unless they switch to a Firefox alternative that supports it, such as Iceraven[1] or SmartCookieWeb-Preview.[2]

For me, the most important add-on that has been removed from AMO is Bypass Paywalls Clean, which is the easiest way to bypass paywalls on popular news sites. In April of this year, a French website filed a DMCA copyright takedown notice, causing Mozilla to remove the extension from AMO.[3] The add-on developer (magnolia1234) did not want to challenge the DMCA notice, probably because it would require them to break anonymity and be subject to legal liability.[4]

Fortunately, in September, another developer (dbmiller) was willing to reupload the add-on to AMO as "Bypass Paywalls Clean (D)" with no changes.[5] The hope is that dbmiller will keep this add-on up to date with the source and challenge any DMCA notices filed against this new upload.

However, the fact remains that Bypass Paywalls Clean was unavailable on Firefox for Android for 5 months because the browser did not allow sideloading. In the announcement, Mozilla says their mission is to maintain "an open and accessible internet for all" and that extensions are meant to help users obtain "more personal agency out of their online experience". To achieve this mission and better distinguish Firefox from browsers that gate add-ons through app stores (Safari on iOS), Mozilla should allow users to enable sideloading on Firefox for Android as an option.

[1] Iceraven: https://github.com/fork-maintainers/iceraven-browser

[2] SmartCookieWeb-Preview: https://github.com/CookieJarApps/SmartCookieWeb-preview

[3] https://www.ghacks.net/2023/04/20/mozilla-removes-bypass-pay...

[4] https://gitlab.com/magnolia1234/bypass-paywalls-firefox-clea...

[5] Bypass Paywalls Clean (D): https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/bypass-paywal...

[account42]

Why didn't Mozilla challenge the DMCA request themselves? Seems to be more within their mission than other crap that they fund.

[DistractionRect]

AFAIK, it was available in nightly. You could curate your own add on list which you could then install on Firefox for Android Nightly, and I'm fairly certain you can still do that if you want something that isn't in this new, expanded list.

[jeffchien]

You can also directly sideload .xpi by tapping the Nightly logo in the About page a few times. I'm not sure when they added this back.

[commoner]

Wow, thanks for sharing. I just installed Firefox Nightly (v122.0a1) from the Play Store and sideloading does work again. After tapping the Nightly logo several times, an "Install add-on from file" option shows up in the settings. I can even install an unsigned add-on with "xpinstall.signatures.required" set to "false" in about:config. For the longest time, Nightly allowed users to set up the "Custom Add-on collections" workaround to install add-ons from addons.mozilla.org but not sideload add-ons directly, so this is a major improvement.

Edit: Nightly gained the ability to sideload add-ons 2 weeks ago from the pull request at https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/firefox-android/pull/4568. Also, a Mozilla employee has confirmed that sideloading is going to make it to the release channel of Firefox for Android!* Firefox is having an incredible month. It took time, but I'm extremely glad Mozilla is taking user feedback seriously.

* "We do want this feature in Release." https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/firefox-android/pull/4568#...

[iggldiggl]

Oh wow, finally, great. The inability to manually install add-ons was also a major annoyance for add-on development (at least for me), because without that you were restricted to temporary add-on installation via devtools, so you couldn't really seriously test drive your own add-ons for any extended period of time. (Or attempt tracking down some rare bug.)

[mdaniel]

I can confirm that sideloading .xpi does not work in Nightly (at least the one from the Play store -- I've never worked up the energy to build the apk from source and don't feel like using the F-Droid because reasons)

I even tried creating my own collection to include Violentmonkey and it didn't work but I don't this second recall why

[commoner]

Give it another try. The current version of Nightly (v122.0a1) from the Play Store has functional sideloading for me after I unlock the "secret menu" in the settings by going to "About Nightly" and tapping the Nightly icon several times.

Before Bypass Paywalls Clean (D) existed, I was able to install Violentmonkey on Firefox for Android through the add-on collections workaround to use the Bypass Paywalls Clean userscript. You need to enable desktop mode when assembling the add-on collection (or do it from a computer) for Violentmonkey to show up as an option in the search.

[mdaniel]

> Give it another try. The current version of Nightly (v122.0a1) from the Play Store has functional sideloading for me after I unlock the "secret menu" in the settings by going to "About Nightly" and tapping the Nightly icon several times.

uh-huh

> You need to enable desktop mode when assembling the add-on collection (or do it from a computer) for Violentmonkey to show up as an option in the search.

And people say "Firefox not popular, why?"

what a tire fire, for no damn good reason

[commoner]

I completely agree, Mozilla has made a ton of mistakes with Firefox for Android in the last few years. That's why I'm happy to see Mozilla finally follow through with their promise to expand add-ons for Android and pleasantly surprised that sideloading is about to be enabled in the stable channel of Firefox for Android.