Mozilla has released the latest version of its Firefox browser, with version 24 bringing a number of new features to the popular browser’s offerings. Amongst these are performance improvements on new tab page load times and the ability to close all tabs to the right of a selected tab with just a couple of clicks.

For instance, if a user has opened a number of reviews and news articles on TechSmart.co.za, they will be able to close all of those open tabs simply by right-clicking on the tab wherein TechSmart is opened and selecting ‘Close Tabs to the Right’ from the pop-up menu.  

Windows, Mac OS and Linux users new to Firefox can download the browser, whilst Firefox users can click on the ‘About Firefox’ section under ‘Help’ within their browser to upgrade (around 15.8 MB for Windows PC) to the latest version.

You can now close multiple tabs simultaneously via the new Close Tabs to the Right feature.  

On the mobile side with Firefox for Android

The mobile sibling of the full desktop browser sports more added functionality including baked-in support for web real-time communications (WebRTC), which was introduced in version 22 of the full desktop version of the browser. This technology makes it possible to place and receive video calls from a mobile or desktop browser or share live video, files and images with friends and family without the need for a plug-in.

In addition, Firefox for Android now supports bump sharing for NFC-enabled mobile devices, allowing users to share open tabs, a favourite online article, or directions with another user simply by touching the two devices together.

If your device does not support NFC, you will still be able to quickly share your favourite websites, articles or online videos via the new quickshare feature in Firefox. This new functionality sees a new sharing services icon making its way to the Firefox Share menu, enabling users to more easily share content via Twitter, Facebook, SMS or email. Mozilla stated that Firefox for Android will automatically add a user’s most frequently utilised sharing service to the menu button.

Sharing is caring according to Mozilla, as Firefox for Android now supports bump sharing for NFC devices and a new quickshare feature. 

Users will also discover that Mozilla made a few enhancements to Reader, which allows Firefox for Android to automatically switch to dark mode (dark text on a light background) or light mode (light text on a dark background) depending upon the available levels of light within a room. Users can now also long tap the Reader icon in the URL bar to add an article they would like to read later on. This article will then be saved to their Reading List without them first having to switch to Reader mode first.

The mobile browser is available for download from Google Play for free.

In other browser related news, Google recently made the latest stable version (29) of its Chrome web browser available for download.