Firefox for Android No Longer Displays Full URL, Only Shows Domain Name
Brook.X
Recently, the mobile version of Firefox has been receiving a fair share of criticism. Firefox engineers had previously explained the ongoing reconstruction of Firefox for iOS, but changes to the Android version have also sparked user complaints.
The current Firefox for Android, known as the Fenix version following its reconstruction, has made a notable change in its nightly builds: it no longer displays full URLs, showing only the main domain name instead.
For instance, the full URL of this article, https://www.landiannews.com/archives/104939.html, is now displayed simply as landiannews.com in the Firefox browser on Android.
This change, for now, is only present in the nightly builds of the Android version of Firefox. If Firefox decides to continue with this change, it is expected to reach the official release within the next three months.
Firefox engineers have responded to feedback posts, confirming that this behavior of the new address and navigation bars is intentional, designed this way rather than being a potential bug.
This practice of displaying only the domain name is also seen in the mobile version of Google Chrome, where the full URL only becomes visible when the user clicks on the address bar. The rationale behind this is security.
Displaying only the main domain name can thwart hackers' attempts to deceive users with fake subdomains or paths, such as the following scenarios:
- https://www.google.com.domain.com
- https://www.domain.com/?www.firefox.com
- https://www-google-com.domain.com
In these cases, only the domain.com portion would be displayed in the address bar, hiding the rest of the information. Google's decision to implement this was aimed at preventing users from being misled.
However, whether this approach has effectively reduced the success rate of phishing sites is yet to be supported by statistical data. In reality, non-professional users may only pay attention to the content of the webpage without noticing the specifics of the domain name.
The decision by Firefox to adopt this method has led to dissatisfaction among some users. It remains to be seen whether Firefox will provide an option for users who prefer to see the complete URL in the address bar by default.
