Firefox 4 Beta For Mobile Android App Updated

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Earlier this month we told you how Firefox 4 Beta for Mobile had come available for those using Android, and today we return to pass on some further good news — the app has been updated. That said, Firefox 4 for Mobile has kept its beta tag, however it has had a few notable changes.

Lets begin with the one that excites us most. Of course, the same level of excitement will likely be felt by any Android user who struggles with storage issues — the latest version of the Firefox 4 Beta for Mobile app has been given a 60% reduction in terms of installation size. Or more specifically, the app used to be 43MB and it is now 17MB. And thankfully, it should go smaller still. According to the posting over on the Mozilla Blog;

“There is still room for improvement and we’ll continue to make the install size smaller.”

Moving on though and we also see improvements to include;

• Reduced memory usage
• Improved text rendering
• Faster page loads
• Faster panning and zooming
• Undo for last tab closed
• A new “Feedback” button

Furthermore, the browser now has a new theme for a “fresh new look” as well as the ability to share links with friends from the Site menu.

As for installing the latest version of the app, there is one catch — you must uninstall the previous version first.

“Due to some technical limitations on Android, upgrading won’t remove some of the old files that are no longer needed. Therefore, you must uninstall the previous beta before you will see the size improvements.”

Moving forward, there is also said to be work progressing in terms of add-ons as well as additional usability and performance improvements. Other items noted as coming in a future release include hardware acceleration and support for HTML5 video.

With that, those interested in checking out this latest version can point their browser to www.mozilla.com/en-US/m/beta