Firefox 151 introduces Fire button for secret sessions, location selection for VPNs
Mozilla released the Firefox 151 update this week which brings some changes. One of these is the “Clear Private Session” button, which is shaped like a flame. This is specific to private browsing sessions. This clears the data of the current private session, and starts a new one. This helps protect your privacy. This is not a new concept, DuckDuckGo’s browser was the first to introduce a fire button to delete all browsing data in one-click a few years ago.
Firefox Home, which is the New Tab page, has a new layout, new wallpapers, etc. release notes The update is said to say that the new version also improves protection against fingerprinting in the standard Enhanced Tracking Protection. Mozilla says this reduces fingerprinting by about 14% on average, and by about 49% on macOS. If you work with PDFs, you’ll be happy to know that you can use Firefox to merge multiple documents into one. Linux users can now save a local backup of their Firefox profiles, and use it to restore them if necessary.
Firefox’s built-in VPN, which is still available to users, is now a new option in v151. Users can choose the location of the server they want to connect to: US, UK, France, Germany, and Canada. Mobile users can now manage AI controls in Firefox, allowing you to turn off specific features or all of them. Shake to Summarize now supports German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, and Italian in Firefox for iOS. The feature is also being rolled out for Android users who have set their language to English.
Mozilla also officially revealed the “Project Nova” redesign on its blog. We’ve previously reported about the UI changes, which include a rounded tab bar, address bar, updated icons, gradients, and a new color palette. Although the redesign has been criticized by some users, it may help attract new users who want to switch to Firefox. One interesting thing that Mozilla revealed is that it is bringing back Firefox’s compact mode, because users requested it.
Waterfox has a new default search engine
If you’re a Waterfox user, you may have noticed that Startpage is no longer the browser’s default search engine. It now uses 1.org, a charitable search engine, as its default search, at least temporarily. According to Alex KontosThe developer of Waterfox, this happened after Startpage asked him to remove it as the default search. Why? Because a lot of users had Adblock enabled, and search engines were actually losing money because of it.
Users can still set Startpage as their default search option from Waterfox’s settings if they wish. Go to Search Settings, and scroll down to Search Shortcuts. Click the Add button, give it a name and paste the following as the search URL. Alternatively, add a keyboard shortcut, and click Save Engine. You will now be able to select Startpage as an option from the drop-down menu.
Another interesting change that was introduced in Waterfox 6.6.13 is that the built-in ad blocker is now enabled by default. It is based on Brave’s open source adblock-rust library. You should note that by default, it will allow ads on the primary search engine due to the agreement that funds the browser.
But there is a simple solution, you can turn on Ad Blocker to block ads everywhere. Simply go to about:preferences#privacy and set search partner ads to “Do not allow on Waterfox search partners.” If you want to use a third-party alternative like uBlock Origin, you can choose to disable the built-in ad blocker entirely.
Google “evolves” its search bar
Google made some important announcements this week at Google I/O. An announcement drew attention to the search bar. Google is changing the way the search bar works. Believe it or not, this is the first time in 25 years that there has been a change in the way this box works. The Mountain View company is calling it the Intelligent Search Box, and you can probably guess why. It is powered by Gemini 3.5 flash model.
The search bar expands dynamically as you type, making room for longer and complex queries. Users can choose to switch to AI Overview or AI mode where you can attach text, images, files, videos, or even Chrome tabs as part of the search experience.
Google says The intelligent search box is available to users around the world, and it supports all the languages ​​that AI mode supports.
Sony can no longer release PlayStation single-player games on PC
Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreiber revealed this Sony will stop launching single-player games on PC. The news came from the head of PlayStation Studios business, Herman Hulst, who told his staff that only multiplayer games would be released on all platforms, while singleplayer games like Ghost of Yotei, Saros, and upcoming games like Marvel’s Wolverine and Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet would be released on PC. They will remain PS5 exclusives.
Naturally, PC gamers were disappointed by this news, and questioned why Sony released so few games on the PS5 in the first place, and then bothered to port them to PC, but has now given up. Microsoft’s upcoming Xbox will allow gamers to play PC games on the console as well, and that could shake up Sony’s strategy.
Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo have their own online game stores, where they not only sell first-party games but also distribute third-party games and earn good amount of money as commission fee for it. Now imagine if Xbox players were able to purchase games on Steam and play them on their console instead of purchasing from Sony’s store. That will eat up a good portion of its profits.
Spotify launches AI-generated remixes
Spotify has announced a partnership with Universal Music Group that will allow the streaming service to play AI-generated remixes and covers on its platform. This tool is not free to users. The Verge The report adds that premium customers can choose to include it as a paid add-on, which will allow them to create and create AI-generated versions of songs. Artists can opt out of the program, or participate in it to collect royalties.
Spotify fans were not very happy with this announcement, calling it so poor that no one asked for it. During this time, Netflix launches The Breakfast Club As its first daily live show.
