Skip to main content

Mozilla launches Firefox 49 with better Reader Mode, offline viewing for Android

firefox 55 adds webvr support
Kārlis Dambrāns/Flickr
Following a delay announced last week, Mozilla has now released Firefox 49, which makes some improvements to Reader Mode, brings offline viewing to Android, and kills off Firefox Hello.

Firefox 49 was originally slated for release last week but a number of last-minute bugs affecting the loading of GIFs from Giphy and a slow browser script put the release on hold.

Recommended Videos

On the desktop version, there have been several adjustments and improvements to Reader Mode. Users can now change the fonts on the page, change the width and line spacing, adjust the lightness or darkness on the theme, and use a narrator function to read content aloud. The latter is particularly helpful for users with vision impairments that pose an obstacle to their reading abilities.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Firefox 49 also marks Mozilla’s next step toward bringing multi-process support to the masses. The feature has been a work in progress for a couple of years and was slowly introduced to a small proportion of users with Firefox 48. However, it hasn’t been a total success so far with responsiveness and freezing being a serious issue.

The latest edition, though, shows an improvement in the overall responsiveness of the feature — an over 400-percent improvement, Mozilla claims — and the firm says it plans to roll multi-process support out to all users by the middle of next year.

Firefox Hello is finally been given the chop, too. It was announced in July that Mozilla would be retiring the feature, and now it’s gone for good. Mozilla as a result has recommended a couple of alternative video chat add-ons.

On the mobile front, Mozilla has made some improvements to the Android version. It now allows for wider offline reading of previously loaded pages when you’re in airplane mode or have an unstable connection. But this can depend on the specs of your device, according to vice president of Firefox product Nick Nguyen.

Jonathan Keane
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jonathan is a freelance technology journalist living in Dublin, Ireland. He's previously written for publications and sites…
1Password vs. NordPass: which password manager is best in 2025?
1Password and NordPass reviews appear beside one another on a PC monitor.

1Password and NordPass are among the most popular and best password managers available. Both offer significant improvements over the built-in solutions you get from Microsoft, Apple, and Google, making it hard to choose between them.

I've reviewed the latest versions of 1Password and NordPass in 2025 and can share some insights into the differences and compare prices to help you discover which offers the best value for you.
Specs

Read more
This iBuyPower gaming PC with RTX 4060 is under $1,000 — for now
The iBUYPOWER Trace 7 Mesh gaming desktop on a white background.

Gaming PC deals worth buying still usually cost more than $1,000 after the discounts, but here's an offer from Best Buy that's available for a more affordable price. The iBuyPower Trace 7 Mesh, which is originally sold for $1,300, is down to just $900 following a $400 discount. We're not sure how much time is remaining before this bargain ends, so if you're interested in this gaming desktop, you need to push forward with your purchase immediately if you want to secure the savings.

Why you should buy the iBuyPower Trace 7 Mesh gaming PC
The iBuyPower Trace 7 Mesh is a relatively affordable gaming PC, but it doesn't sacrifice much in terms of performance. It runs on the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 processor and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060, which is in our list of the best graphics cards as our recommendation for 1080p gaming. It has 16GB of RAM, which is the best place to start for a gaming PC, according to our guide on how much RAM do you need. With these components, you won't have trouble playing the best PC games, though you'll have to go with medium settings for the more demanding titles.

Read more
Google gives memory superpowers to Gemini for more natural chats
Google Gemini running on an Android phone.

Google is finally bringing a crucial new feature to Gemini that will solve a key pain point of interacting with its AI chatbot. The company is enabling a memory feature which allows Gemini to pull up details from a past conversation.

“Whether you’re asking a question about something you’ve already discussed, or asking Gemini to summarize a previous conversation, Gemini now uses information from relevant chats to craft a response,” says a Google update.

Read more