Firefox 89 for desktop arrives with new Proton redesign & privacy boost

Version 89 of Firefox browser ships with a new interface, a more intuitive experience, and enhanced privacy

Mozilla released Firefox 89, the latest stable version of its web browser for desktop, which brings a new design with "Proton" interface and more security in private browsing.

FF 89 is available for Windows, macOS and Linux.

UI redesign with Proton features a simple, modern look and an intuitive user experience

A modern and simple appearance of Firefox 89 features a simplified toolbar, streamlined menu, removing unnecessary items to let users focus on what's important.

"Going into the Firefox redesign, our team studied how people interact with the browser, observing their patterns and behaviors. We listened to feedback and gathered ideas from regular people who just want to have an easier experience on the web. We obsessed over distractions, extra clicks and wasted time. The resulting new design is simple, modern and fast and delivers a beautiful experience to support what people do most in Firefox," Mozilla's M.J. Kelly writes in the blog post.

The "floating" tab design

A new look for tabs is one of the highlights. According to Mozilla, more than half of users have 4+ tabs open all the time. Redesigned tabs are now gently curved and float above the toolbar.

Updated prompts

Infobars, panels, and modals have a cleaner design and clearer language for a better web experience. Plus, reducing number of alerts and messages enable users to browse with fewer distractions.

Improvements for Mac users

For macOS users, this update features the elastic overscroll effect, a gentle bouncing animation will indicate that you reached the end of the page. Plus, support for smart zoom and native context menu including Dark Mode are added.

More privacy

The new update also fixes some security issues, moreover, the "Total Cookie Protection" is now default in private browsing windows to block cross-site cookie tracking.

Cookies can no longer be used to follow users from site to site and gather browsing history.

I was able to feel and realize the speedup of browsing and usability after using this new version for almost a week.

The mobile version of the app has also been updated with design elements such as icons and menu items to make it consistent with the desktop version.

In case you don't like the new Proton design for desktop, you can disable it with advanced settings, by typing "about: config" in the address bar and searching for protons and then setting true such as browser.proton.contextmenus.enabled to false.

Are things looking different in 2021?

This update will be the foundation for the future of Firefox and will be improved based on version 89. The next Firefox 90 has been released in beta, and the stable version will be released on June 29, 2021.

Though the global market share of the browser continues to decline, currently around 6-7%, I would like to pay attention to whether it will rebound or not.