Mozilla is believed to be working on a new Android browser called ‘Fenix’, which is expected to be released next year. The new project is believed to be in the extremely early stages of development, and it isn’t entirely clear whether it will eventually be released as a new app or a new version of Firefox, which is already one of the more popular third-party web-browsers on most platforms, including Android.
It’s worth noting here that apart from Firefox, Mozilla has a number of other browsers on Android, including the privacy-focused Focus and the lightweight data-saving Rocket meant for the Indonesian market. The non-profit company is also building a Mixed Reality browser called Firefox Reality, which is being designed specifically for the next generation of VR and AR headsets.
There’s not a lot known about the upcoming browser, but as pointed out by Redditor hamsterkill, the name itself may be a bit of an homage to Firefox’s original codename, Fenix, which in turn, was a reference to how the project evolved from the remnants of the defunct Mozilla Suite, just like the Phoenix rose from the ashes.
Among other things, the initial commit message on Github also includes a famous quote from the late Stephen Hawking – “Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet”. It also contains a few lines from Ylvis’s 2014 single, ‘The Fox’, as well as a link to a YouTube video of ‘Rize of the Fenix’ from American comedy rockers, Tenacious D.
As things stand now, details about the new project are hard to come by, with Mozilla yet to say anything about it officially, so it will be interesting to see what exactly the Firefox-maker has in store for Android users going forward.
