Experimental Firefox with multitouch support for Mac OS X
Posted by Percy Cabello on October 22nd, 2008 • Tags: , ,
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Mozilla’s Edward Lee has released an experimental build of Firefox 3.1 pre-Beta 2 with reviewed patches by Tom Dyas, that bring support for multitouch gestures on the latest MacBooks’ (*) multitouch trackpads.

Implemented gestures are:

  • swipe: move three fingers on the trackpad on any direction
  • twist: rotate two fingers
  • pinch: move two fingers away or closer to each other

These are the actions you can perform with the different gestures:

  • Swipe Left: Go back in history [press Cmd to open it in a tab]
  • Swipe Right: Go forwards in history
  • Swipe Up: Go to the top of the page
  • Swipe Down: Go to the end of the page
  • Pinch Together: Zoom out
  • Pinch Apart: Zoom in
  • Twist Right: Next tab
  • Twist Left: Previous tab

Edward warns that this is an experimental build and there has been no word on whether this will make it for Firefox 3.1 (it’s definitely not a blocker but could get in if it is deemed safe enough and time allows proper QA).

You can get the experimental Firefox 3.1 with Mac OS X gestures support (in case it is not obvious, Mac OS X only) from Mozilla try build servers.

(*) Supported MacBooks include: MacBook Pro from this year (either early-2008 model or the new late-2008 ones), MacBook Air (both models from 2008), MacBook from late 2008 (the new aluminum ones)

Comments
CB said on October 22, 2008, 10:56 am:

That was and is also easily achievable using the MultiClutch extension which can also be used for multitouch gestures in other applications.
http://is.gd/4ytp

Percy Cabello said on October 22, 2008, 11:01 am:

Thanks CB. I must note however that it’s not a Firefox extension but a stand-alone Mac OS X app, which makes it possible to enable multitouch support for other applications.

Here’s the link: http://wcrawford.org/2008/02/28/everytime-i-think-about-you-i-touch-my-cell/

GeekShadow said on October 22, 2008, 12:38 pm:

Instead of building a firefox, it would have been better to make an extension.

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[...] Via MozillaLinks [...]

[...] Source: Mozilla Links [...]

[...] Via MozillaLinks [...]

Gen Kanai said on October 22, 2008, 8:03 pm:

Percy, you should clarify that Ed is merely reporting the work that Tom Dyas did. Ed is not the developer here, Tom Dyas is.

winandmac.com said on October 22, 2008, 10:09 pm:

[...] [via Mozilla Links] [...]

[...] be implemented into the final build of 3.1, but we’re really hoping they are. [Ed Lee via Mozilla Links via [...]

[...] [MozillaLinks] Product [Touch Firefox (.dmg [...]

westworld | Sniffing with CSS said on October 23, 2008, 4:49 am:

[...] Experimental Firefox with multitouch support for Mac OS X [...]

Johan said on October 23, 2008, 5:43 am:

Or.. You can use Safari which already has multitouch support plus alot of other features such as scrolling a page even though its not highlighted…

[...] dans la version finale de la 3.1, mais nous espérons vraiment que ce sera le cas. [Ed Lee via Mozilla Links via Lifehacker] [...]

[...] be implemented into the final build of 3.1, but we’re really hoping they are. [Ed Lee via Mozilla Links via [...]

[...] dans la version finale de la 3.1, mais nous espérons vraiment que ce sera le cas. [Ed Lee via Mozilla Links via [...]

Multi-touch в Firefox! | Mac911.Ru said on October 24, 2008, 4:45 pm:

[...] Народ, вышла экспериментальная версия Firefox с поддержкой multi-touch! [...]

Ruud said on October 25, 2008, 3:44 am:

That isn’t specific to Safari you know. Gnome, kde, enlightenment and probably most other mayor linux desktop managers support that. It all depends on how the desktop manager uses scrolling actions and to which window it sends them to.

Johan said on October 25, 2008, 8:47 am:

Have’nt said that it’s specific to Safari I just meant why install this build when you can use what already came with your mac?

[...] Touching Firefox | Vía: AppleWeblog Firefox, MacBook ← Anterior | Inicio Comparte esta anotación [...]

[...] About us Firefox 3.1 Build with MacBook Multi-Touch Gestures [MacBook] Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 @ 5:30 pm | Author: admin Owners of MacBooks with multi-touch trackpads can try out an experimental Firefox 3.1 build that supports finger gestures—swiping left and right for back and forward, pinch zooming, and twisting between tabs, amongst others. The gestures may or may not make it into the final 3.1 release, but at least one developer finds the tab-switching twist a big convenience. [via] [...]

[...] Firefox 3.1 Gets Multitouch Gestures for Mac Users There is currently an experimental version of Firefox 3.1 that includes support for touchpad gestures for MacBook laptops. You can use swiping motions to do things like go back/forward in the browser’s history. Mozilla, however, isn’t sure if it will have undergone the rigorous testing needed in time for the final release. So don’t be surprised if it doesn’t make the cut. [...]

[...] About us Firefox 3.1 Build with MacBook Multi-Touch Gestures [MacBook] Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 @ 11:00 am | Author: admin Owners of MacBooks with multi-touch trackpads can try out an experimental Firefox 3.1 build that supports finger gestures—swiping left and right for back and forward, pinch zooming, and twisting between tabs, amongst others. The gestures may or may not make it into the final 3.1 release, but at least one developer finds the tab-switching twist a big convenience. [via] [...]

[...] Anda yang menggunakan MacBook dan Firefox 3.1 sudah bisa mencoba add-on Mac OS X Gestures ini. Model MacBook yang didukung termasuk: MacBook Pro yang datang pada awal dan akhir 2008, MacBook Air dan MacBook dari akhir 2008 (yang model aluminium). (Mozilla Links) [...]

[...] be implemented into the final build of 3.1, but we’re really hoping they are. [Ed Lee via Mozilla Links via [...]

Me said on November 18, 2008, 1:04 pm:

At least for me, because Firefox is more compatible with a number of web apps that I use, namely SharePoint.

| Experimental Mac. said on November 19, 2008, 2:15 am:

[...] + Mac = An experimental version of Firefox to be used with the new multi-touch [...]

Nancy Rusli said on January 12, 2009, 11:58 pm:

My computer is Mac OS X 10.4.11
I think I messed up with the Firefox by installing …. that cause unable to open the presentation, etc. In fact, I don’t know much about the Firefox. I’m just being stupid in installing something without understanding….. How do I renew a Firefox for starting all over again to get back to the original Firefox? I would appreciate you help. Thanks.

Nancy Rusli