# Firefox for iOS

18 Hacker News commenters recommended Firefox for iOS and 47 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Free iPhone browser with built-in ad blocking and tab sync with desktop Firefox. Critics say Apple's WebKit engine limits it, and it supports few or no extensions.

## Why people recommend it

- Built-in ad blocking (2 comments): "This is awesome and long overdue! I've always argued that ad blockers should be literally built into the browser!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49326302)) "The only thing I use Firefox on iOS for is its ad blocker." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48556907))
- Syncs tabs with desktop (2 comments): "Allows to sync tabs with desktop" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45965723)) "sync is the main one for me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49540276))
- Fast and snappy (2 comments): "How is Firefox on iOS so fast compared to Safari or Orion? It is easily noticeable" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49322713)) "iOS Firefox seems fine to me. Nice and snappy." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46791057))
- Works without problems (2 comments): "Working fine on Firefox for IOS." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46456945)) "did not have any problems" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48870095))

## What people warn about

- Few or no extensions (5 comments): "I was disappointed that extensions where not supported on the iOS version of Firefox." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49345472)) "Like they can only run uBlock Origin Lite and many add-ons aren't available." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45853715)) "Firefox on iOS is the only browser that doesn't have a the possibility to run an Adblocker." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48556592))
- Limited by Apple's WebKit engine (3 comments): "Firefox on the App Store is just a reskinned safari and as such, a lot of features cannot be implemented" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49429495)) "The problem is that it has to use the WebKit rendering engine, and not that it happens to." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47490928)) "They replied within a day or two stating it was a "limitation of the web engine"" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49329492))
- Freezes and address bar glitches (2 comments): "Randomly the new tab page stops working. And when the new tab page stops working, all browsing activity stops working until I restart the app." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49524290)) "The address bar likes to randomly move off the side of the screen and I have to force restart the app to get it back." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49523968))
- Mozilla not fixing known problems (2 comments): "Firefox for iPhone is bad and Mozilla has committed to simply not fixing it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48559189)) "I find it stupid that Mozilla won't figure out a way to do it themselves" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49320777))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Reynard browser](https://hackerapproved.com/p/reynard-browser.md): 12 recommend
- [Firefox Mobile](https://hackerapproved.com/p/firefox-mobile.md): 10 recommend
- [Kiwi Browser](https://hackerapproved.com/p/kiwi-browser.md): 5 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Firefox for iOS", https://hackerapproved.com/p/firefox-for-ios/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).