WEB Signal 25
Firefox Nightly adds theming engine and built-in VPN alongside vertical tabs and containers
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A ZDNET contributor who had previously abandoned Firefox reports returning to it as the default browser across all platforms, citing five features including a new theming engine, vertical tabs, containers, and a built-in VPN currently limited to Nightly and Beta builds.
Firefox is introducing features that directly compete with niche browsers like Vivaldi and Zen Browser on customization and privacy, which could shift tooling decisions for engineers who value container-based session isolation or built-in VPN access. The catch is that the newest capabilities, theming engine and VPN, remain confined to pre-release builds with no stated timeline for stable release.
Written by elseif from the cluster below · every claim links back to a sourceThe three things worth knowing
Firefox Nightly now includes a theming engine that applies themes to toolbars, menus, and messages rather than just toolbars, though customization is limited to preset gradients without a color picker.
Vertical tabs and containers are available in the current Firefox release, with vertical tabs offering a collapsible sidebar and containers providing tab-level session isolation for separate logins or privacy boundaries.
A built-in VPN is in slow rollout across Nightly and Beta versions and requires a Firefox account, but its availability in the stable release has not been announced.
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