Google Chrome for Android vs. Firefox for Android

Some of you might have been wondering: If Google makes the Android operating system and Google makes the Chrome Web browser, why don’t Android smartphones and tablets use Chrome? Instead, for awhile now they’ve just used a generic “browser” app, which requires third-party apps and workarounds to even share pages back and forth with your desktop or laptop Chrome browser.

Chrome for Android is finally here. The tablet interface even looks strikingly familiar to users of Chrome on the desktop. The thing is, it has some pretty strict requirements for which phones can and can’t use it and it’s not the only Android Web browser that’s based on a desktop one and can sync with it, either.

Here’s a look at how Chrome compares with the Android version of Firefox, another popular desktop Web browser. Just keep in mind both aren’t quite stable yet and might have bugs or performance issues.

System requirements

This is the part that you need to know first. Only certain phones can run each browser, and if yours isn’t among them you’re basically stuck with the stock browser (or alternatives like Opera and Dolphin).

Google Chrome has the highest system requirements because they aren’t based on your smartphone or tablet‘s hardware: They’re based on its operating system version. Only an Android device running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest version, can use the Chrome browser. So if you’re not using a Samsung Galaxy Nexus or Asus Transformer Prime — or another gadget that’s been upgraded or is seeing an upgrade soon — you won’t be able to use it.

Firefox doesn’t run on many low-end phones like the LG Optimus S. It “works on most Android devices,” though, and Mozilla has a list of phones and tablets it supports.

Features

The biggest feature promised by either browser is the ability to have the same bookmarks on all your devices, whether they’re a PC, Mac, tablet or smartphone. Not only do Chrome and Firefox bookmarks sync with their mobile versions, you can also look at the tabs you have open on your PC. So if you’re a Chrome or Firefox user on your home computer, there’s now a companion app for your Android smartphone or tablet.

Neither browser has support for Adobe Flash, especially now that Adobe’s no longer creating new versions of mobile Flash. Firefox does support extensions, like the popular Personas which lets you essentially choose a background for your web browser. Only a few dozen are available for it, however, compared to the hundreds on the desktop version. Firefox also lacks the ability to fit zoomed-in text to the screen width.

Chrome, meanwhile, lets you switch between tabs like they’re a deck of cards, and has a Link Preview feature which zooms in on links when they’re close together. This makes it easier to tap on the right one.

Price

Both browsers are free to download. With Chrome, however, your personal information is synced with your Google account, whereas Mozilla makes it clear that it cannot access your synced Firefox bookmarks even if it wanted to. The Firefox browser is also open-source, whereas only parts of Chrome are being open-sourced at some point in the future.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

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