Likewise. The main thing I change is enforcing separate address bar and search box. It takes a lot of configuring to make the address bar stop being "smart" (i.e. never send things I type there to a search engine even if they're not valid URLs), and I can't even remember what options I used to fix it.
This. Since Firefox claims to be a privacy-first browser, it should, by default, use the Arkenfox settings (report spoofed values for language, screen size, fonts, and many other attributes that aid fingerprinting), and include uBlock Origin out of the box.
But it should go even further; the ultimate goal should be for all Firefox users to basically look the same from the point of view of third parties and put an end to tracking in the modern Web.
> report spoofed values for language, screen size, fonts, and many other attributes that aid fingerprinting
How much do these break functionality? If I spoof language, am I going to start seeing websites in German? If I spoof screen size, am I going to get weirdly zoomed websites?
Of all the unnecessary AI integrations; firefox is the one I am least concerned or annoyed about. I will however be disabling anything AI related they introduce.
In the parallel universe where Firefox defaults to ai features being off, there's a snarky comment like yours about why it isn't on by default.
It is really tiring to hear this stuff. People (rightfully) complained there was no switch. One was added. In Chrome, you can't turn off Google's ai unless you install a third party extension that hasn't yet been blocked by Google. Not a lot of companies allow disabling their garbage, but FF does.
I am tired of turning features off. At this point I just want a boring browser that handles html/css/js, bookmarks, tabs (should sleep inactive tabs), plugins (for my chosen password manager and ad blocker), and page zoom. Those are the only features I actually use regularly.
That's it, I would be willing to make a one time purchase for that, no subscriptions... Ok, I could maybe be convinced for a subscription if it was a low yearly one.
Sure, I just want the core browser stuff and plugins, security/privacy kinda goes with that.
It feels like browsers are like old IDEs where everything is bundled in. I think it would be much better it they were more like modern code editors where people can make their own custom IDE by installing the plugins they want.
I'm worried that this will require yet another config change on top of the already-ridiculous pile. (A listing was discussed 3 months ago at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45696752 )
That's the third-best design they could have. Second-best would be having a toggle to turn on AI. Best would be going back to building a browser and leaving out the AI entirely, or putting it in some other product that they only consider funding after they get back to 50% market share for the browser.
This is a good start, but there is still no way to remove what is sure to be tremendous bloat caused by these features. I would prefer if we could opt to install (or not install) them to begin with.
Most modern translation tools are language models and this was true even before the LLM chatbot explosion. The difference is they were trained on smaller (and less dubiously sourced) datasets and the output that was trained for was translations directly rather than conversations.
The real question is whether this sets a precedent for how browsers should handle feature creep in general. Browsers have quietly accumulated telemetry, sponsored content, pocket integrations, VPN upsells — AI is just the latest.
What I like about Mozilla's approach here is the single toggle for all current and future AI. That's a genuine concession to user agency rather than the usual whack-a-mole of about:config flags. If every new feature category got this treatment (a clear, discoverable off switch), browsers would be in a much better place trust-wise.
The deeper issue is that Mozilla needs revenue diversification beyond the Google search deal, and AI features are their bet on that. So the incentive to make the toggle hard to find or slowly degrade the non-AI experience will always be there. I'd love to see them prove that wrong.
They can't afford to, or they would have. With ads in the browser, telemetry that doesn't really switch off, etc. etc. their brand value has really fallen.
If accurate, this strikes me as something like malicious compliance.
> Translations, which help you browse the web in your preferred language.
Machine translation can be useful when you want to get the gist of something in a language you don't know.
> Alt text in PDFs, which add accessibility descriptions to images in PDF pages.
OCR? Okay...
> AI-enhanced tab grouping, which suggests related tabs and group names.
What is this feature even trying to do? It sounds like ill-defined trash.
> Link previews, which show key points before you open a link.
Or I could just click the link.
> AI chatbot in the sidebar, which lets you use your chosen chatbot as you browse, including options like Anthropic Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini and Le Chat Mistral.
This is the thing that most people are probably complaining about. Lumping the other features in with it is a distraction.
I keep meaning to make a guide "how to make firefox not suck" but I never get around to it.
It's a great browser, but I always forget the default settings are super stupid. Myself and power users all have it customized to the hilt.
It takes some serious work to get a new new FireFox install working nicely.
The only things I do with a new copy of Firefox is install uBlock Origin and Privacy Badger and it works quite nicely.
Likewise. The main thing I change is enforcing separate address bar and search box. It takes a lot of configuring to make the address bar stop being "smart" (i.e. never send things I type there to a search engine even if they're not valid URLs), and I can't even remember what options I used to fix it.
This. Since Firefox claims to be a privacy-first browser, it should, by default, use the Arkenfox settings (report spoofed values for language, screen size, fonts, and many other attributes that aid fingerprinting), and include uBlock Origin out of the box.
But it should go even further; the ultimate goal should be for all Firefox users to basically look the same from the point of view of third parties and put an end to tracking in the modern Web.
> report spoofed values for language, screen size, fonts, and many other attributes that aid fingerprinting
How much do these break functionality? If I spoof language, am I going to start seeing websites in German? If I spoof screen size, am I going to get weirdly zoomed websites?
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Could you mention some of these settings? I moved to Firefox from being a Chrome user and interested to know improvements
Of all the unnecessary AI integrations; firefox is the one I am least concerned or annoyed about. I will however be disabling anything AI related they introduce.
Why are there controls to turn off AI features, but no controls to turn on AI features?
In the parallel universe where Firefox defaults to ai features being off, there's a snarky comment like yours about why it isn't on by default.
It is really tiring to hear this stuff. People (rightfully) complained there was no switch. One was added. In Chrome, you can't turn off Google's ai unless you install a third party extension that hasn't yet been blocked by Google. Not a lot of companies allow disabling their garbage, but FF does.
Can't we be happy with this nice switch?
Because Firefox users have been clamoring for the ability to turn them off rather than the opposite.
I think you misunderstand. Firefox users have wanted this to be opt-in or explicit-choice rather than opt-out.
The implication is that all future AI features will be opt-out.
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I think they're asking why it has to be opt-out rather than opt-in.
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Those are helpfully enabled by default, you can put your feet up, Moz has you covered.
I am tired of turning features off. At this point I just want a boring browser that handles html/css/js, bookmarks, tabs (should sleep inactive tabs), plugins (for my chosen password manager and ad blocker), and page zoom. Those are the only features I actually use regularly.
That's it, I would be willing to make a one time purchase for that, no subscriptions... Ok, I could maybe be convinced for a subscription if it was a low yearly one.
Don't forget an obfuscation layer to spoof things like canvas fingerprinting, installed fonts, etc. I'd pay for that.
Sure, I just want the core browser stuff and plugins, security/privacy kinda goes with that.
It feels like browsers are like old IDEs where everything is bundled in. I think it would be much better it they were more like modern code editors where people can make their own custom IDE by installing the plugins they want.
1 reply →
I'm worried that this will require yet another config change on top of the already-ridiculous pile. (A listing was discussed 3 months ago at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45696752 )
If you click through you can see that the new feature includes a single toggle to turn off all current and future AI.
That's the third-best design they could have. Second-best would be having a toggle to turn on AI. Best would be going back to building a browser and leaving out the AI entirely, or putting it in some other product that they only consider funding after they get back to 50% market share for the browser.
1 reply →
Waterfox is best way to get sane defaults.
Official announcement: https://blog.mozilla.org/en/firefox/ai-controls/
This is a good start, but there is still no way to remove what is sure to be tremendous bloat caused by these features. I would prefer if we could opt to install (or not install) them to begin with.
Too little, too late. Switched to Brave and haven’t been happier. Firefox lost the plot years ago.
Brave comes with its own branded "Leo"[1] AI assistant built into the browser lol
[1] https://brave.com/leo/
Every time brave gets walked out as some good alternative I cant get past the vc / crypto coin / brave-reward holding garbage.
Maybe they're ok now but they had some really gross mistakes (?).
Wasn’t their translations project “pre AI”? That’s not running an LLM is it?
Most modern translation tools are language models and this was true even before the LLM chatbot explosion. The difference is they were trained on smaller (and less dubiously sourced) datasets and the output that was trained for was translations directly rather than conversations.
Well, I'm looking forward to the new AI features and I use the AI sidebar regularly. Thanks Mozilla
The real question is whether this sets a precedent for how browsers should handle feature creep in general. Browsers have quietly accumulated telemetry, sponsored content, pocket integrations, VPN upsells — AI is just the latest.
What I like about Mozilla's approach here is the single toggle for all current and future AI. That's a genuine concession to user agency rather than the usual whack-a-mole of about:config flags. If every new feature category got this treatment (a clear, discoverable off switch), browsers would be in a much better place trust-wise.
The deeper issue is that Mozilla needs revenue diversification beyond the Google search deal, and AI features are their bet on that. So the incentive to make the toggle hard to find or slowly degrade the non-AI experience will always be there. I'd love to see them prove that wrong.
> the single toggle for all current and future AI. That's a genuine concession to user agency rather than the usual whack-a-mole of about:config flags
My thought exactly! I'm grateful that Mozilla isn't hiding the features behind dark config UI patterns.
They can't afford to, or they would have. With ads in the browser, telemetry that doesn't really switch off, etc. etc. their brand value has really fallen.
I'd say browsers are a pretty good way of delivering models that run locally.
Currently, this tech is a sleeper because consumer hardware is not there yet.
Extensions, even websites, could benefit a lot from offering small models on demand and powering client-side features with them.
That is very different from a browser that embeds AI access through an API, and totally acceptable.
That control would be LibreWolf, turns off the rest of the bad things too
If accurate, this strikes me as something like malicious compliance.
> Translations, which help you browse the web in your preferred language.
Machine translation can be useful when you want to get the gist of something in a language you don't know.
> Alt text in PDFs, which add accessibility descriptions to images in PDF pages.
OCR? Okay...
> AI-enhanced tab grouping, which suggests related tabs and group names.
What is this feature even trying to do? It sounds like ill-defined trash.
> Link previews, which show key points before you open a link.
Or I could just click the link.
> AI chatbot in the sidebar, which lets you use your chosen chatbot as you browse, including options like Anthropic Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini and Le Chat Mistral.
This is the thing that most people are probably complaining about. Lumping the other features in with it is a distraction.
> The AI features can be disabled entirely or individually, so users can pick and choose what they want to use
It sounds like you would want to switch off two of them and leave two of them on, no? How is that malicious compliance?
The master AI switch is for people that have moral issues with all AI, so they want all future features turned off.
Soon: "Oopsie woopsie, we changed your expressed preferences... care to try again?"
This is expected behavior in Microsoft products, but has Firefox ever done anything like this?
[dupe] Source: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46858492)
justthebrowser.com
I would like to see them provide -AI-free builds ... just to be sure.
too late I already stopped using it
too late.
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