Why I Had To Switch Back To Chrome from Firefox

Everything I will be writing here will be ‘unpopular’ , ‘unliked’ and get a lot of criticism but I can not use something just because it’s the trend. In this article I will share my reasons why I had to leave Chrome on my PC / Cell and opted for Firefox, and why I am moving back to Chrome again.

Why I left Google Chrome in the first place

I have used google chrome since chrome came out in 2008 and it managed to keep it self ahead of the standards by offering us features which are actually required by end users. I rely heavily on its sync features, especially keeping the passwords ‘encrypted’ while syncing. Lately Chrome came in the limelight because of its Monoculture or monopoly of ‘Google Empire’ where everything we are doing is somehow connected or going through Google and how they push ads and target users. But my reasons were never these, If you use their services for free you need to know that there will be a price to pay. The most annoying reason which made me switch to Firefox from Chrome was the heavy system usage ,specially RAM to the point that I couldn’t take it anymore it would heat up my laptop and with few tabs (my average is 8-10 tabs) it would struggle with a 70%-80% RAM usage (I have 8GB Ram Laptop)

Why move to Firefox from Chrome

I knew that if I ever switched from Chrome it would be Firefox but the recent developments of Microsoft Edge are pretty decent and I had to ask my social media audience for the browser.

Once Firefox won , I ensured that they do have a multi-platform sync feature so that what I do on Android is synced with my Firefox account. I created my Firefox account synced it up started saving logins for most frequently used services ,installed Firefox on my Android and used it for over a month now, unfortunately the Firefox App for Android is not something I am very comfortable with and because of its Android App I will be ditching Firefox for now. Whenever Firefox can make a decent android App I might port again.

Bad Experiences with Firefox

Lets get on with the factors which made me realize Firefox is not ready for me yet. What I just said is mostly pertaining to the Android App of Firefox, Firefox for Windows is pretty decent and does solve the issue of heavy usage and it is undoubtedly faster once compared to Google Chrome. (Microsoft Edge is best with battery consumption but that doesn’t mean we opt for them – they steal without consent )

• Exposed Saved Logins – It’s common to leave our machines running for small breaks and a browser should have a mechanism that our login details are not easily accessible by everyone. If you open Firefox > Options > Privacy & Security > Logins and Passwords > Click Saved Logins and click Show Passwords on the pop-up , you will notice that it will show all the passwords without asking for any confirmation. Many will say that Firefox has an option of Integrated Master Password which you can enable and it will ask for that if you click on Show Passwords but the fact is that Master Password is ‘Disabled‘ by default. Clicking on Show Password would just reveal all the passwords which is another unnecessary feature it should be one at a time the way Chrome does it. Why not to use Login information of logged in user to show passwords the way Chrome does ?

  

• Switching Websites – Switching opened websites is a very cumbersome process on the android app of Firefox and it is not as convenient as it is on Chrome where we can just swipe on the address bar and it will open the next opened tab or the previous one if we swipe to the right. Firefox requires us to click on the opened tabs number and click on desired tab which always require me to adjust my hand a bit to reach the opened websites thumbnails on the top.

• Closing Tabs – Again the process of closing opened websites on Firefox is not natural you have to adjust your hand on the cell phone while on Chrome it is convenient just swipe either way you want. Such small irritants make the daily use difficult.

• Switching from Private/Incognito to Normal Browsing – To switch between Private browsing tabs to normal , in Firefox you will first click on opened tabs number followed by clicking the normal tab button and select your website, and repeat the same but this time you will click the private browsing mask icon and go to Private browsing. How it is done in Chrome ? Click on Opened Tab indicator and swipe partial right to see list of opened tabs and swipe partial left to see your opened incognito tabs. Simple ! the way it should be.
• Google Search on Firefox – My search engine of using is Google and Firefox for Android doesn’t provide the best experience especially with the Image search where no swipe action works for next image.
• Boxing Links – When you select a link on the Firefox app it would show a box on that link , at some places it would underline it. Remind me of the days when CSS wasn’t a thing for website.

  

• Tap and see Logged in Session – On Android app of Firefox if you click on Settings > Tools > Logins it will show all your saved sessions on the App and clicking the listed site will display pop-up which prompts ‘Show Password’ if you tap on that it will simply show the password without any authentication or verification, Even if you have enabled Master Password you will not be prompted to enter that here. On the other hand in Chrome when you tap to reveal password it will ask for your Android Pin or if you have enrolled your fingerprint it will ask for that which makes Chrome Saved sessions much more secure.
• Clumsy Download Manager – Firefox Downloads Manager (Settings > Tools > Download) in Android App doesn’t list the downloaded files in a very neat and easy to see way and there is no way to manually delete the complete list or even single downloaded item. Chrome again does it better allowing you share the downloaded content or even delete one or all from the list.
• Less Information while Downloading – While downloading content using the Firefox Android App it shows very limited information and that is the name of file being downloaded and a download bar. While Chrome shows File Size, Percentage Completed, Downloaded Size and estimated time when the download will complete.
  

Firefox vs Chrome – Your Take ?

It’s all about personal preferences but I think due to these small factors I would revert back to chrome for now , when Firefox Android app feels comfortable I might switch back. What do you like or dislike about Firefox ? and which browser do you prefer ? For me no Firefox for now