Firefox is getting clever: The remarkable 'SmartBlock' feature

O Yeah!

Firefox 87 is out today, adds Smart Block for improved private browsing

An improved referrer policy also trims URLs from embedded images and scripts.

Jim Salter - 3/23/2021, 8:42 AM

Mozilla released Firefox 87.0 this morning, the latest version of its open source web browser. Following on the heels of December's Firefox 85 and February's Firefox 86, the new version's most important features—Smart Block and improved referrer trimming—are privacy related.

Smart Block

Enlarge / Smart Block (right) provides fake tracking scripts in place of third-party trackers, improving page rendering. (Animated, click to play.)

Mozilla

Firefox has been blocking third-party tracking scripts by default for quite a while now. For the most part, this works pretty seamlessly—but in some cases, missing tracking scripts can interfere with a page's rendering, either delaying it (as seen in the animated image above, on the left) or permanently breaking it.

READ MORE > https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/03/firefox-87-is-out-today-adds-smart-block-for-improved-private-browsing/

Additional fixes and features

Firefox 87.0 also offers improvements in the Highlight All feature of Find in Page, full support for macOS' built-in screen reader VoiceOver, and several minor UI enhancements, security fixes, and general tweaks. For the full list, head on over to Mozilla's own Firefox 87.0 release notes.