Mozilla Firefox 128 has been released with several notable enhancements aimed at improving user experience and privacy. This update introduces a more streamlined approach to data cleaning, featuring a unified dialog that simplifies the process of clearing browsing history, media cache, site permissions, and cookies. Users can now access a consistent set of options across different menus and view the size of data to be cleared, making it easier to manage and free up disk space.
Another significant addition is the ability to translate only selected text within a web page, which is now accessible via the right-click context menu. This feature allows users to translate specific snippets of text without having to translate the entire page, offering greater control and efficiency. Additionally, Firefox 128 includes trending searches in the address bar for users in the US and Canada, providing insight into popular search queries which could influence browsing behavior.
The update also enhances privacy features with the inclusion of the experimental Privacy Preserving Attribution API, which aims to offer an alternative to traditional user tracking methods. Users concerned about this feature have the option to disable it through the Privacy and Security settings. Furthermore, Firefox 128 now proxies DNS by default when using SOCKS v5, renders more text file types inline, and supports playing protected content from streaming services like Netflix while in Private Browsing mode.
Looking ahead, Firefox plans to introduce new customization features, such as a weather widget for the New Tab page and expanded options for tab wallpapers. Although these features were not fully integrated into the current release, users can enable them through configuration settings. The update also addresses a specific bug affecting Ubuntu users with tab hover previews, ensuring better functionality and consistency across the browser’s various features.
