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Mozilla never stops and work already started on the next major release of their popular open-source and cross-platform web browser, Firefox 114, which entered public beta testing this morning.
With Firefox 113 hitting the stable channel today, we are already looking forward to the Firefox 114 release, which is currently in the beta channel and promises to introduce several new security features to make our Internet surfing session safer.
One of the biggest changes in Firefox 114 is the revamp of the DNS over HTTPS feature, a privacy-focused feature that sends your request for a domain name through an encrypted connection, creating a secure DNS and making it much harder for third parties to see the websites you’re visiting.
Previously, DNS over HTTPS was implemented in the Network Settings dialog and it was disabled by default. When enabled it would allow you to choose your favorite provider from either Cloudflare or NextDNS.
In Firefox 114, DNS over HTTPS is implemented in the Privacy & Security panel under Settings and it’s enabled by default, offering you three layers of protection: Default Protection, Increased Protection, and Max Protection.
While “Default Protection” lets Firefox decide when to use secure DNS to protect your privacy, the “Increased Protection” option lets you control when to use secure DNS, as well as to choose your favorite provider from either Cloudflare or NextDNS.
On the other hand, the “Max Protection” feature tells Firefox to always use secure DNS over HTTPS. This option will add a security risk warning before the use of your system DNS and always warns you if secure DNS isn’t available, so websites won’t load or have minimal functionality.
There’s also a fourth option to turn off DNS over HTTPS if you want to use your default DNS resolver. In addition, the new DNS over HTTPS implementation will let you manage exceptions, in the case when you want to use DNS over HTTPS but not on certain websites.
Another new privacy feature in Firefox 114 is called Cookie Banner Reduction, also implemented in the Privacy & Security panel. This feature is disabled by default, but when enabled it tries to reduce cookie banners and automatically reject cookie requests on cookie banners on supported websites.
Last but not least, Firefox 114 adds a new “Quick Actions” button in the Address Bar’s suggestion options. This feature lets you perform quick actions directly from the URL bar, such as clearing cookies or history, taking a screenshot, opening settings, viewing the page source, switching to a tab, etc.
Other than that, Firefox 114 promises to let you search for bookmarks directly from the Bookmarks menu, which you can add as a button to the toolbar, and will restrict searches to your local browsing history by selecting the “Search history” option from the History, Library, or Application menu buttons.
Mozilla plans to announce the final release of Firefox 114 on June 6th, 2023. Until then, you can take the beta version for a test drive by downloading the binaries from the official website. However, please keep in mind that this is a pre-release version, so don’t use it for production work!
Last updated 12 months ago
