Firefox for Android does not support Material UI, has a low minimum API level, and generally seems lacking in features. Why is that?

Edit 1: also the downloading function is super unstable, I lost several files due to firefox starting the download then stopping and removing the download for no reason.

  • PM_ME_YOUR_CODE@sh.itjust.works
    45·
    7 months ago

    Supporting old api versions means the app is supported by more phones. International android versions can be quite old. While supporting old api versions may seem bad, it doesn’t mean that Firefox cannot take advantage of new api features too. The code can simply check if the new features are available and use them.

    Why do you care what the supported api version is?

    • sab@kbin.social
      8·
      7 months ago

      I think people can be running pretty old versions of Android everywhere, assuming they don’t change their phones every two years when support for their current device ends. They might still want to use an up-to-date web browser.

      There’s just no reason we shouldn’t expect 99% of new apps to run on older phones, and to hell with the entire industry for normalizing it.

      • taladar@sh.itjust.works
        2·
        7 months ago

        Well, there is a reason and that reason is lack of security support but that is not inherent to the old hardware.

      • kbal@fedia.io
        30·
        7 months ago

        The topmost answers there are basically explaining why it’s sometimes convenient for developers to drop support for old versions. I don’t see any of them making a case for the zany idea that “supporting old versions is bad.”