Waterfox 56.1.0 web browser release information

Waterfox 56.1.0 was released on March 26, 2018. The new version of the web browser comes with security updates, reintroduced support for Mac OS 10.7, a Google Play Store presence for the browser's Android version, and a redesigned website.

Waterfox users can run a manual update check with a tap on the Alt-key, and the selection of Help > About Waterfox. The browser should pick up the new version and install it automatically.

The new release is available on the official project website as well, so, if you prefer to download it from there you can do that as well to run the installer after the download completes.

Waterfox 56.1.0

The new Waterfox 56.1.0 includes the security updates MFSA 2018-06 and MFSA 2018-06 which Mozilla released for Firefox 59.0 and Firefox 59.0.1 in March 2018. The release does not patch the security issue MFSA 2018-10 which Mozilla patched yesterday.

Probably the biggest change of Waterfox 56.1.0 is that Stylo is enabled by default now in the browser. Stylo, or Quantum CSS, was introduced in Firefox 57.0 by Mozilla to speed up the processing of style sheet files and data in the browser.

Waterfox users can refresh profiles on about:support in the new version of the browser. Refreshing resets preferences for the browser and installed add-ons, removes any custom themes, and removes related add-on metadata. It preserves add-ons, plugins and dictionaries.

A refresh may be useful if you run into issues when using the browser. While you could create a new profile instead to run tests using it, refreshing is easier but it may require that you modify the browser's configuration and add-on preferences afterward.

Waterfox uses the old preferences layout by default. Users who prefer the new layout introduced in Firefox some releases ago, may load about:config?filter=browser.preferences.useOldOrga nization in the browser's address bar and set the preference to false to activate it.

Other changes in Waterfox 56.0.1

• The cookie prompt has been removed as it requires more fixing to make it work properly.
• The discovery pane for add-ons has been removed.
• Punycode is shown by default to prevent phishing attacks using it.
• The Waterfox Android app is listed on Google Play. It shows up as unreleased, but you may download it from Google Play now. F-Droid store version is upcoming.
• Some media codecs have been updated.
• Fixed playback issues on Windows for media that used the WMF decoder.

Waterfox supports any Firefox add-on that supports Firefox 56.0 or earlier. You can install classic add-ons in the browser and WebExtensions, provided that they support Firefox 56.0 or earlier. WebExtensions that require new APIs introduced in Firefox 57 or later are not yet supported.

Alex Kontos, the lead developer of the project, plans to port Firefox 57 WebExtensions APIs in future releases to improve support.

Other upcoming changes include support for Mac OS X 10.6, the reintroduction of the cookie prompt, and integration of a classic add-ons catalogue on about:addons.