Firefox dying at just 10% marketshare

[tompkin]

Yeh FF has gotten too bloated over the years, I think one of its other main issues is the lack of mobile support, I've been using Chrome for ages now and one of the reasons is that i can sync everything between iphone ipad and PC, just makes the experience smoother.

 

I will say chrome does seem to use a lot more memory these days than it used to, I'd like to see them get that back under control.

This is exactly my feeling. Chrome is bloated and I would like to use Firefox but when I tried to use the Firefox browser on Android it was just a kludge. Slow and prone to crash. Just unusable. Chrome syncs great, so Chrome it is for me. . 

[Dashel]

I'm back on FF as my secondary, Chromium was just too much flux.

 

I hope its not too late to regulate Google and its hell spawn back to such market share.

[+Zagadka Subscriber²]

I hope its not too late to regulate Google and its hell spawn back to such market share.

/me looks at the current state of Edge and laments

[firey]

*shrug* I use chrome as my goto browser and have since 2008.. yea it can get slow if I do too much with it.. but I find it does what I want and does it well.

[slam_speech]

This is kind of interesting.  If you look at Stat Counter it is at 16%-17% and it has remained largely consistant throughout the past year with only minor drops.  However, on Net Applications it is showing a definitive drop.

 

So, Stat Counter measures the amount of traffic to a site, while Net Applications measures the number of unique visitors.

 

IMO, it is possible for both of them to be right.  Even though all visitors per browser are only counted once per day, it doesn't count how many times that person used which browser to visit that site.  So, a person visits site C once a day in Browser A, while they visit the same site 7 times a day in Browser B.  In Net App, both browsers would both be counted as one visit.  However, in SC, Browser B would be counted with 7 visits while Browser A will only be counted as one visit.

 

This is where people get confused as to which browser is actually the most popular.  If you look at both charts it can easily be explained why IE has 55% one NA and ~21% on SC.

 

1.  IE users tend to use the Internet than Chrome users--on average.

2.  There are many places (offices, schools, etc.) where IE is the only option.  Most likely, many people only do light browsing on a public or work computer (checking their email, looking at a news site, etc).  At home, where they do most of their Internet surfing, they use Firefox and Chrome.

 

Anyways, back to Firefox....

 

Stat Counter has shown very little decline, if any, over the past year for Firefox.  However, Net Applications has shown a much more profound decline.  So, are Firefox users using the web more?  Because Net Applications is showing that less people are using Firefox, however, Stat Counter is saying that Firefox USAGE remains largely the same.

 

It could be, that many Firefox users use Ad/Tracking blockers more frenquently than in other browsers and turn them off on sites they visit often.  (I remember reading about 85% of all Firefox users actually use extensions vs only 30% on Chrome.)  It could be that privacy extension usage is up, also.

 

But, I think a better possibility is, many workplaces and schools now allow Chrome.  Firefox isn't as popular with enterprises and schools as Chrome or IE is.  So, someone who uses Firefox on their home computer might only have the option of using IE or Chrome when they are at work or on a public computer.  Even though their primary browser is Firefox at home.

 

TL;DR  Net Applications only counts unique visitors while Stats Counter counts usage.  Firefox is at 16% with little decline on SC while at 10% on NA.  In many workplaces, IE and (sometimes) Chrome are the only options.  Firefox users use Ad/Tracking blockers more often accounting for the under count.

[(Account no longer active)]

Market share based on visits to Google (search) would give the most accuracy (Google should release the stats and settle this for good). Happy Firefox user here. It (surprisingly) gives best all-round performance on my systems. Been using it since version 0.1.

[slam_speech]

I am skeptical of analytics data. (Read my last post)  However, even if they "only" have a 10% marketshare.  Opera has survived almost 20 years on a ~1% (2% on a good day) market share.  There will always be core users that love Firefox.  It's flexibility and customizablity are unmatched in the browser world.  People who value this will stick to Firefox in one form or another.

 

While I don't think this is a cause for concern, I do see things that are driving people away.  It can largely summed up into one thing: Mozilla not having it's priorities straight and trying to imitate other browsers.

 

Personally, I don't mind most of the changes.  I am a Pocket user and I actually do like Austrailis.  Other features that I don't care for I just turn off (like ads...I have only seen them show up when I clear history or do a fresh install anyways.)  It usually takes 1-2 clicks of the mouse to ward away most annoyances.  Yes, they are annoying, but are they enough to make switch another browser? Nope.

 

However, this does make me question their priorities.  Electrolysis (multi-process) has been in the central branch since 2009.  You had to build it but it was there.  They have had it in Nightly for almost a year now.  This project could have been done years ago, but they didn't see it as a priority. 

They have: a browser engine (Servo) that can knock the socks off anything on the market (it is in a very unoptimized, btw), a method of rending Flash natively with no plugins.  These are the kind of things they should be putting most of their efforts to.

 

They need to improve sync and improve their mobile platform.  Their upcoming IOS app needs a compelling feature to get people to use it.  Maybe Shumway or strong privacy controls.

 

While Firefox remains my favorite browser--I think they can do better.

[A Real American!]

I think FireFox has to go. Its just dying and dying; not only in terms of market shares but also its user base is decreasing. Only old fashioned and outdated people use it now.

[lolneowin]

I would use FireFox if they ever integrated Flash. I hate having to install it separately and deal with the update notifications.

 

Nobody wants to deal with installing plugins like Flash. It should just work like Chrome.

[DeusProto]

I'll still use it even if its at 0.001% market share.

 

It has a more extensive extension API than Chrome's garbage minimalist one that doesn't let extensions manipulate the tab bar for example (tree style tabs as an ACTUAL tab bar and not a crappy frame to the side).

 

Google continues to deprecate useful features left and right. For example, tabs use to have a "Group by domain / Group by opener" context menu item. GONE.

It also use to let you have a columnized tab bar. GONE.

What will they take away next wily-nily?

 

Google nannies you - whether you like it or not - and including the 'Dev' version. It forcefully uninstalls extensions you're using that they banned from the Chrome store (bye bye YouTube video downloaders! Or extensions you made yourself for YOUR OWN USE that violate the Chrome store EULA!) And the only recourse is to use group policy editor. But even then CHROME WILL NAG YOU every time you start it to disable them. Yes, even the so-called 'Dev' channel build now does this. A build intended for POWER USERS and DEVELOPERS.

 

Whenever people try to balk at these changes, deprecations, and paltry extension API constructively on the official Google Groups discussion, developers are either silent or they patronizingly pat you on the head "Here's a cookie, go back to bed, we know what is best for you."

 

I'll give Vivaldi a good faith try when a more stable version surfaces. Might switch to it if its as good or better than Firefox in this regard. 

 

I personally use Cyberfox which is compiled to use AVX-256 instead of SSE2 or even MMX like most software, I want the greatest instruction sets on my CPU used, not ones from last decade.

[Alwaysonacoffebreak]

I'll still use it even if its at 0.001% market share.

 

It has a more extensive extension API than Chrome's garbage minimalist one that doesn't let extensions manipulate the tab bar for example (tree style tabs as an ACTUAL tab bar and not a crappy frame to the side).

 

Google continues to deprecate useful features left and right. For example, tabs use to have a "Group by domain / Group by opener" context menu item. GONE.

It also use to let you have a columnized tab bar. GONE.

What will they take away next wily-nily?

 

Google nannies you - whether you like it or not - and including the 'Dev' version. It forcefully uninstalls extensions you're using that they banned from the Chrome store (bye bye YouTube video downloaders! Or extensions you made yourself for YOUR OWN USE that violate the Chrome store EULA!) And the only recourse is to use group policy editor. But even then CHROME WILL NAG YOU every time you start it to disable them. Yes, even the so-called 'Dev' channel build now does this. A build intended for POWER USERS and DEVELOPERS.

 

Whenever people try to balk at these changes, deprecations, and paltry extension API constructively on the official Google Groups discussion, developers are either silent or they patronizingly pat you on the head "Here's a cookie, go back to bed, we know what is best for you."

 

I'll give Vivaldi a good faith try when a more stable version surfaces. Might switch to it if its as good or better than Firefox in this regard. 

 

I personally use Cyberfox which is compiled to use AVX-256 instead of SSE2 or even MMX like most software, I want the greatest instruction sets on my CPU used, not ones from last decade.

 

I got two big gripes with Vivaldi, first it looks ugly to me. And secondly, I can't use my ID card reader with it for what ever reason.

[Boo Berry]

I would use FireFox if they ever integrated Flash. I hate having to install it separately and deal with the update notifications.

 

Nobody wants to deal with installing plugins like Flash. It should just work like Chrome.

Better yet, let plugins like Flash and Java die and be replaced by HTML5 as it SHOULD BE. If only websites would wake up and adopt HTML5 at a faster pace.

[slam_speech]

Better yet, let plugins like Flash and Java die and be replaced by HTML5 as it SHOULD BE. If only websites would wake up and adopt HTML5 at a faster pace.

Hopefully, Shumway will be out soon.  Then we wouldn't have to worry about daft websites and plugins.

[T3X4S]

OK I have a question.

I use Firefox @ work on both my workstation and my work laptop.   Firefox's Sync is the only thing that keeps one sane in my department due to all the passwords, and pages we have to frequent, utilities we use that run better on FF, etc.

As far as bookmarks, passwords, browsing history, etc - is chrome's version as seamless as FF ?

I have been using FF for years, but the problems withflash crapping out every build (cant play YouTube vids) and my auto youtube HD addon no longer works 100% because of a change in FF - I would switch permanently over to Chrome... Just wish I could take my Noia 2.0 icons with me

[T3X4S]

I think FireFox has to go. Its just dying and dying; not only in terms of market shares but also its user base is decreasing. Only old fashioned and outdated people use it now.

Most of your posts are nonsensical crap - I  am just wondering if you are trolling, or are really as juvenile as your posts suggest. 

Please tell me, Mr I only use/do something if it is popular or trending Hipster, tell me where you get your info.

I'd love to know how a browser choice relates to old-fashioned or "outdated people" as your post claims.

 

Hopefully, Shumway will be out soon.  Then we wouldn't have to worry about daft websites and plugins.

I see that Shumway is out for FF on GitHub.  What is it and were you meaning Shumway for chrome ?

 

[Boo Berry]

Shumway is limited to Firefox, whereas Flash should die for all modern browsers in favor of HTML5.

[slam_speech]

Most of your posts are nonsensical crap - I  am just wondering if you are trolling, or are really as juvenile as your posts suggest. 

Please tell me, Mr I only use/do something if it is popular or trending Hipster, tell me where you get your info.

I'd love to know how a browser choice relates to old-fashioned or "outdated people" as your post claims.

 

I see that Shumway is out for FF on GitHub.  What is it and were you meaning Shumway for chrome ?

 

It isn't fully finished, but it actually converts Flash content into an HTML5 canvas with no plugin needed.  It would be great to integrate into mobile.

 

I saw you were having problems with Flash crashing on Youtube.  This might help: http://www.ghacks.net/2014/02/05/simple-solutions-fix-flash-crashes-using-firefox/