Firefox Marketplace launched on Android

The preview release of Firefox Marketplace includes several sample applications

Mozilla has launched a preview version of its integrated Firefox Marketplace in Firefox for Android. The feature is now available in the Aurora development version of Firefox for Android and includes a number of what Mozilla calls "showcase apps" that users can install and test. Mozilla is hoping to gather feedback for further launches of the Marketplace in other versions of the browser and for Firefox OS in 2013.

One of the sample applications is a Twitter client

The developers say that the current version of Firefox Marketplace is still in its "early days" and that they are working on adding payment options, ratings and reviews and other features. Mozilla is calling for early adopters and testers to install the application and share their experiences of how it performs through the built-in Feedback function.

The applications within Firefox Marketplace are written in HTML5, JavaScript and CSS and are designed to work cross-platform across all Firefox editions. Firefox Marketplace will be an integral part of Mozilla's Firefox OS mobile device operating system. That is currently in development and builds on the same technologies for its UI layer.

To install the Aurora branch of Firefox for Android, users will have to enable side-loading of third party applications on their phones – they can then download and install an .apk package directly from Mozilla. Side-loading is enabled by going to Settings ➤ Security and enabling "Unknown Sources - Allow installation of non-Market Apps"; after installing Aurora, it is a good idea to disable that same setting to avoid accidental installation of malware.

Once the user is running Aurora, the integrated Marketplace is accessible by going to the options menu and navigating to Tools ➤ Apps. The Aurora version of Firefox will install alongside the regular stable Firefox for Android version as a separate app. However, users should be aware that the Aurora branch of the browser should be used for testing purposes only.

(fab)