Mozilla released Firefox 116 at the start of August, with an updated Picture-in-Picture player, improved Raspberry Pi support, and other helpful improvements. Firefox 116 will start rolling out later today, with built-in local translation, improvements for Mac and Android, and much more.
Like most Firefox and Chrome updates, there are no groundbreaking changes that will completely change how you use the web, but there are many small improvements that add up to a great update. Firefox on Mac has new settings to change how controls and links are handled when pressing the Tab key, Firefox for Android now supports pasting images into supported fields, auto-fill for credit cards works in more regions, and YouTube video lists work with screen readers again.
Mozilla is also working on automated translation of web content, using its own own local translation technology instead of cloud-based options like Google Translate. That makes it more private, since the contents of the text never leaves your computer. The technology has been in testing for years as an add-on, developed in collaboration with Bergamot, using funding from the European Union. It looked like the translation feature would be fully integrated into Firefox with this update, especially since Firefox 117 Beta included it, but now a support page says the feature will be available “starting in Firefox version 118.” It might start rolling out to some people before then, but if not, you can just install the Firefox Translate add-on.
Firefox 117 also adds a new setting that blocks websites from overriding the context/right-click menu, called “dom.event.contextmenu.shift_suppresses_event.” Some sites replace the browser’s context menu with another menu that might be more helpful, but it’s also sometimes used as a way to prevent copying text or performing other common actions. There are already some add-ons for overriding that behavior, but now Mozilla has added a setting for it. Annoyingly, the option doesn’t seem to be visible in the main Firefox settings — right now it must be toggled from the hidden about:config page.
How to Update Firefox
Firefox will automatically install the update on your computer, phone, or tablet when it’s available. To immediately check for and install any available updates, click the menu icon at the top-right of the browser toolbar and select “About Firefox.”
You can download Firefox from Mozilla’s official website, the Google Play Store, Apple App Store, and Microsoft Store.
Source: Firefox Release Notes, Mozilla Support
