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If you're an Android user, you're missing out on Firefox Mobile.

I'm using Firefox on my Android, it's quite good and it's the only mobile browser I know that does extensions, so you can have AdBlock Plus or uBlock with it. If you're using Firefox on your desktop as well, it will sync your history and bookmarks:

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/android/

Android is the only mobile OS that Firefox supports and this is because Firefox has been impossible to distribute on both iOS and Windows Phone, due to either marketplace or technical restrictions. Out of the popular mobile OSes, Android has been the only one that isn't defective by design. And unfortunately I'm not seeing Microsoft follow suit, as they are going in the opposite direction and sorry to be grim, but I view project spartan to be just a marketing stunt.

Fiefdoms make money for the lord of the manor

I'm aware Firefox can do tab, bookmark, and history sync.

However, Firefox on Android cannot be deeply integrated like Chrome is on my Nexus 5, and last time I tried Firefox Android it had a weird UI and didn't look like a native Android app either.

Also, the lack of Chromecast support in Firefox is also making it difficult to use on the desktop.

Deeply integrated how? Am I missing things by using FF instead of Chrome? (not a Nexus device)

EDIT: I see that Chrome is "deeply integrated" with my phone in the sense that it can't be uninstalled, but I'm sure that's not what you mean...

Tabs now appear in the recent apps list (which can be shut off and turn back into normal tabs in Chrome), and it seems to be tied heavily into Google Now (though I'm not sure which parts are which).

Chrome on a Nexus device is a lot like Firefox on a FirefoxOS device, if that makes any sense.

I also have a Nexus 6 device and personally I don't find the integration with the recent apps list useful. Unless we are talking about apps, otherwise for browsing I much prefer to have those tabs grouped together in one app. Plus Chrome's "normal" tabs where more annoying to use than Firefox (continuing the tradition from the desktop).

The thing that bothers me about Firefox is the broken behavior of "Add to Home Screen", which doesn't listen to the website's Manifest.json. There are issues raised in Firefox's issue tracker for this and this will get fixed, but currently if you want to pretend that a website is an application, then Chrome is better.

I'm doing that for a small utility I've built for myself: https://parolamea.org/manifest.json ... funny thing is that even though Chrome is sexier to use for this use-case, I'm still using that website in Firefox because Chrome doesn't offer to save passwords for "ajax logins", a known limitation.

But either way, I end up using both. I'm using Chrome for apps (e.g. I prefer to access Facebook and Twitter through Chrome, as it's better for privacy and I don't want notifications and all that crap). I'm using Firefox for browsing, as the default.

Here are some reasons for why I like it ... it has the Awesome Bar (e.g. much better search capabilities in your own history), it has the Reader View + Reading List (i.e. I don't need Pocket or Readability, although if you like Pocket, then it has the best integration available), it has AdBlock Plus, uBlock and an alpha but functional version of NoScript and really, many websites are simply unusable on mobile without an ad blocker.

On Chromecast support, I don't know about the desktop, but if it's not supported on Firefox desktop already, then it will probably be supported pretty soon. Other mobile features have leaked into the desktop version as well, for example Reader View.

Ah, none of the tab stuff or app-saving from Chrome are features I would use. And I believe my phone just supports Chromecast screen sharing at the OS level (alongside DLNA and Miracast). Is that an addition from Sony that isn't in stock Android?

Android has Chromecast support since version 34. For what is worth I like Firefox's UI more, as it is more usable.

I also use Chromecast support from my laptop, so Chromecast support in Firefox on the desktop is also required.

I think it was the phrase "serious boner"

Is it because all boners are very serious, thus making the phrase pointlessly redundant?

> I mean, literally, the only reason I use Chrome is because of synced tabs, history, and bookmarks built into the browser and having access to that on Android too

Incidentally, Firefox/Firefox for Android has all of that. Also, with end to end encryption.

While I user Firefox on desktop and on Android -- it doesn't actually have synced tabs, does it? (And I'm glad, I have ~100 tabs open in 2-3 tab groups on desktop -- I don't really need/want them all on mobile).

But the rest of the sync (including history) is very useful.

Chrome in Linux doesn't work too well, either. It has some memory leaks. I just switched to Firefox. Tab sync doesn't work too well, either. I've found that if I have more than 10 tabs or so opened in my phone, it won't sync all of them; it will only sync the ones it pleases. You would have to visit them one by one as to have them synced. Not to say that Chrome uses an insane amount of memory, almost two times the amount Firefox does (at least here in ArchLinux).

wow. the tabsync reason is hard to swalow for me.

i use delicious (it is still around) with the android app. you just 'share' a url. work with any browser you want to use, on any platform (firefox,IE,Cr,windows,linux,iOS,Android). it also incentives you to organize your bookmarks. it is not as convenient on speed, but it surely makes up for it by just adding an account you care nothing for on every device (instead of one that can access your emails/contacts/etc). And i don't want to have my living room tv browser in sync while i read on the bathroom.

I'm another person who doesn't want my tabs to sync. Partly because I have too many of them.

I don't want my tabs to directly sync, but I do want the option to open the tabs on my phone that I have open on my desktop. Also, it is really convenient to have auto completion on urls that I frequently open on either device.

Tab sync is not about having the stuff you see on one browser show up on the other, but about being able to bring up the tabs from another device.

Delicious to my knowledge does not fix that because (unless something has changed) it depends on you actively bookmarking something.

Typical use case: I have to run out of the office, and suddenly remember I need the address to that place I was looking at. Tap the tab symbol, and find the tab from my office desktop, and I have it without having to search.

I agree with you it'd be nice to add an account that is separate from all my other stuff, but tab syncing is one of those features that you'll likely not use much, but when you happen to want it, it can be immensely useful.

> but OSX it just seems way slower than it should be on a lot of normal tasks.

Well, given that Apple proved that it does no longer any shit about OSX by having the audacity of releasing their Yosemite train wreck to the end user, I would not expect any 3rd party vendor to give a shit either.