Firefox Sync

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Firefox Sync
Developer(s) Mozilla Corporation, Mozilla Foundation
Initial release December 21, 2007 (2007-12-21)[1]
Stable release 1.8 (August 10, 2011 (2011-08-10)) [±]
Development status Active
Operating system Cross-platform
Type Browser synchronizer
License MPL/GPL/LGPL
Website www.firefox.com/sync

Firefox Sync, originally branded Mozilla Weave,[2] is a browser synchronization feature that allows users to partially synchronize bookmarks, browsing history, preferences, passwords, filled forms, add-ons and the last 25 opened tabs across multiple computers.[3]

It keeps user data on Mozilla servers, but the data is encrypted in such a way that no third party, not even Mozilla, can access user information.[4] It is also possible for the user to host their own Firefox Sync servers, or indeed, for any entity to do so.[5]

Firefox Sync was originally an add-on[6] for Mozilla Firefox 3.x and SeaMonkey 2.0, but it has been a built-in feature since Firefox 4.0[7] and SeaMonkey 2.1.[8]

Firefox Home

Firefox Home is a companion application for the iPhone and iPod Touch based on the Firefox Sync technology. It allows users of either device to access their Firefox browsing history, bookmarks and recent tabs. It also includes Firefox's "Awesomebar" location bar. Firefox Home is not a browser; the application launches pages in either a Webkit Web viewer or in Safari.[9][10] Mozilla pulled Firefox Home from the App Store in September 2012, stating it would focus its resources on other projects. The company subsequently released the source code of Firefox Home's underlying synchronization software.[11]

Sync Server

Mozilla also offers a synchronization server application for use with Firefox Sync, for users and businesses that prefer to host their own synchronization data.[5]

Obsoleted alternatives

Many solutions to bookmarks and password synchronization existed before 2012. Some compelled the user to a third party server and a few allowed the use of a private server (with WebDAV or HTTP.PUT support). The process that led to the extinction of syncing add-ons could put some bad light on the Mozilla Foundation.[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Beard, Chris (December 21, 2007). "Introducing Weave". Mozilla Labs. Mozilla. Retrieved 2010-03-12. 
  2. ↑ dknite (May 19, 2010). "Firefox Sync 1.3 is coming!". Retrieved 2010-05-28. 
  3. ↑ Cabello, Percy (January 28, 2010). "Weave 1.0 now available for download". Mozilla Links. Mozilla. Retrieved 2010-02-06. 
  4. ↑ "How do users know their data is secure?". MozillaWiki. Mozilla. February 6, 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-06. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Run your own Sync Server". Mozilla. Retrieved 10 February 2012. 
  6. ↑ "Firefox Sync for Firefox 3.5/3.6". Mozilla Labs. Mozilla. Retrieved 2012-01-19. 
  7. ↑ "Get Syncing with Firefox 4". Mozilla Services. 2011-03-22. Retrieved 2011-08-26. 
  8. ↑ "What's New in SeaMonkey 2.1". SeaMonkey project. Retrieved 2011-08-26. 
  9. ↑ Dolecourt, Jessic (May 27, 2010). "Firefox Home: A not-quite Firefox iPhone app". Retrieved 2010-06-02. 
  10. ↑ "Firefox Home Coming Soon to the iPhone". May 26, 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-03. 
  11. ↑ Keizer, Gregg (September 4, 2012). "Mozilla exits iOS as it retires Firefox Home". Computer World. Retrieved September 14, 2012. 
  12. ↑ "SyncPlaces". Andy Halford. June 2012. 

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.