Firefox @lemmy.ml monty33 @lemmy.ml 1 yr. ago

Firefox Android Battery Drain - alternatives?

I've got a brand new Pixel 8 and my battery isn't making it through the day. Android tells me Firefox is eating it up in the background. I just changed it to restricted battery use and I'll see if that helps.

I do not want to switch to Brave or Chrome, but this is intolerable. What are you favorite Firefox alternatives and why? Mull? Librewolf?

32 comments

I wouldn't trust a google phone telling you that a competitors browser is problematic
- That is a good point, but if it's not Firefox like my pixel is telling me, then what else could it be on a brand new phone? (I know you can't answer this)
  
  It is probably all the google telemetry and monitoring and wifi scanning to map your location for sale that is running in the background. I plan on getting a pixel 7a soon but will immediately wipe the google junk and load grapheneos. Apart from getting rid of all the spyware this also doubles the battery run times.
- @mertn
  This.
  
  Google can't be trusted now.
  @monty33
- Maybe Google does not, but I sometimes see Firefox Beta as the top process in FKM using a custom ROM rooted.
  
  I love Firefox, I like that as it is not a system app it is easier to keep the data with tools like Swiftbackup along with multiple ROMs, taking my cookies logins etc saves lots of time, but it doesn't feel snappier than Chrome for me (I used Chrome with AdAway) hopefully things change in the future.
- @mertn @monty33 this is bullshit, lol.
Honestly check the time on active/background. My power usage shows 6 minutes active and 24 minutes background right now and I know I have been using Firefox actively for more than 6 minutes.

That said, when I have had Firefox draining in the background it has usually been due to a website misbehaving. Reddit, for example, would drain a lot of power if I left a tab open. I imagine it has to do with trying to sync messages or something.
I use both Mull and Brave and there is no difference between how much they drain battery. Try Mull, it wont make unnecessary network activity, like Firefox do with their spying telemetry. And restricting battery could make opposite effect.
Been up since 8 and Firefox is currently using 24%. 2 hours and it's smashing battery.

Not sure if this is new after they upgraded to Android 14
@monty33 Try Firefox Focus for Android, way faster (way less features) than regular Firefox on Android. @firefox
Personally... I wouldn't switch to something chrome based but you could take a look at bromite or ungoogled.

I doubt FF forks are going to solve the problem.

What's it doing all day? Does closing tabs make any difference?
- I have it set to close tabs after one day, so I'm not sure if it could be this. I don't generally have the same tabs open everyday.
You can try Fennec from f-droid. It's what I use and has been good so far.

If you want to try chromium based browsers, theres something called thorium . The android version is okay (haven't used it much) but the desktop version is really good. Then there's also bromite
- Isn't bromite dead? The last commit was on jan 27. Cromite is a fork that is on the latest version of chromium.
  
  Oh, I wasn't aware of that. Thanks for the info.
Vanadium or cromite. Really no point in adding Firefox on top of chrome's webview.
- I use Firefox on desktop, and it's nice having history in one browser and swapping a tab from mobile to desktop
- Can't figure out how to install vanadium. Any suggestions on where to start?
  
  You can't unless you switch to GrapheneOS
Vivaldi time.
- Tell me more!
  
  Cross platform browser led by one of the devs from Opera. Begun after Opera was bought by current operator. Feature rich, privacy focused. Responsive Dev team. Worth a look for sure.
What addons in use? Is "Studies" on?
- Studies are off and only ublock origin
DuckDuckGo seems decent.

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