Firefox 122 is out: here is what is new

Mozilla Firefox 122.0 is the latest Stable version of the open source web browser. The new browser version fixes several security issues and makes a few changes to the browser's functionality and core.

The official Firefox 122.0 and Firefox 115.7 ESR release date is January 23, 2024.  Development editions of Firefox receive updates to new versions at the same time.

Firefox Beta and Developer editions move to version 123.0 and Firefox Nightly to version 124. The Android version follows the same schedule as the stable version; it is also updated to version 122.0.

Executive Summary

• Firefox 122.0 and Firefox 115.7 ESR address several security issues in the web browser.
• Firefox supports the creation and using of passkeys on macOS, but only in iCloud Keychain. The browser will also suggest passkeys in form autofill dialogs on all platforms.
• A new .deb package is now available for Ubuntu, Debian and Linux Mint users.
• Firefox on older AMD CPU machines may cause thumbnails to render incorrectly. There is a suggested fix.

Firefox 122.0 download and update

Firefox 122.0 and Firefox 115.7 ESR are pushed to user devices using the built-in updating functionality of the browser.

Note: our review of the update is published before the official release. The updates will become later on the day of publication.

Once Mozilla gives the official go for the release, Firefox users may check for updates manually to install the update right away. This is done in the following way

Just select Menu > Help > About Firefox to run a check for updates. Updates found may be installed directly from the page.

Here are the official download locations:

• Firefox Stable download
• Firefox Beta download
• Nightly download
• Firefox ESR download
• Firefox for Android on Google Play

Firefox 122.0 major changes

Address bar suggestions changes

Firefox may now show images and text descriptions of search results. The feature needs to be supported by the selected search engine.

The second suggest related change returns MDN Web Docs article suggestions when users of the browser search for web development related information.

Other changes and fixes

• Firefox taints filters that "use currentColor as an input" to improve user privacy. Use of the filter blocks reading the filter output from canvas.
• Firefox Translations received a fix that deals with issues that could make the content of a page disappear when translated, or break interactive widgets.
• The macOS version of Firefox supports passkeys now, provided that iCloud Keychain is used. It supports the creation and using of passkeys.
• Web browser compatibility in regards to line breaking is improved, as it now matches the Unicode Standard. East Asian and South East Asian users of Firefox benefit from improved word selections when double-clicking on words.

Developer changes

• <hr> elements are now allowed as children of <select> elements. This improves the "readability of select lists with many options" according to Mozilla.
• The CSS offset-position property is now supported by default. Several methods to define a CSS offset-path are now supported by default.
• The CSS ray() function is now supported by default.
• Ownership of memory may now be transferred from one ArrayBuffer to another using ArrayBuffer.prototype.transfer() and ArrayBuffer.prototype.transferToFixedLength().
• Support for data: URLs was removed in SVG <use> elements and via SVGUseElement interface to prevent XSS attacks.
• Firefox supports the LargestContentfulPaint API now.
• The HTMLSelectElement.showPicker() method is now supported.
• The fallback URL parser for unknown schemes was changed to DefaultURI.
• Added support for the Screen Wake Lock API. This API may be used to prevent devices from dimming or locking the screen.
• Scripts can now store cacheAPI data in Private Browsing mode. This helps the user experience in private browsing mode according to Mozilla.
• Uneven Level Protection Forward Error Correction (ULPFEC) is enabled by default. WebRTC services may use it to improve video quality.

Firefox 122 ships with several experimental features, all disabled by default. These are:

• Declarative shadow DOM (dom.webcomponents.shadowdom.declarative.enabled)
• Popover API (dom.element.popover.enabled)
• Clipboard read and write (dom.events.asyncClipboard.readText and dom.events.asyncClipboard.clipboardItem)
• Intl.Segmenter (unknown)

The features need to be enabled using about:config.

Enterprise changes

Firefox 122 includes just two Enterprise changes:

• The FirefoxHome policy was updated as the Snippets option is deprecated.
• The Preferences policy was updated to allow setting alerts.* preferences.

Security updates / fixes

Mozilla fixed 15 unique security issues in the Firefox web browser. The aggregate severity rating is high.

Outlook

Firefox 123 and Firefox ESR 115.8 will be released on February 20, 2024.

Firefox extension reviews and news

• Streaming Enhanced promises to skip advertisement on popular streaming platforms automatically. It supports Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video and some other services already.

Recent Firefox news and tips

• Ashwin wrote a tutorial on managing the site list in Firefox Containers.
• Is 2024 the year that Firefox is going to increase its market share for the first time in a long while?
• Mozilla is working on a local AI, which it calls Memory Cache.

Additional information / resources

• Firefox 122 release notes
• Firefox 122 for Developers
• Firefox 122 for Enterprise
• Firefox Security Advisories
• Firefox Release Schedule

Closing Words

Firefox 122 is the first major release of 2024. It is a smaller release, at least in regards when it comes to major feature additions. Some users will like the new suggest feature that adds more information to search engine suggestions.

Now You: have you tried Firefox recently?