Firefox Default Seach Engine
I would like to change the default Firefox "Android" search engine to a custom URL settings for DuckDuckGo.
I have dark mode set for my phone(S21) Firefox won't let me block websites access to this user string. I believe this is a huge privacy concern and would like an option to spoof this, as to not break websites. Currently that is not an option, and without access to about:config I can't make a work around.
So this gets me back to DuckDuckGo, and because I clear my cookies often, and the Android version does not have Compartments, I need a work around. Like a lot of websites DuckDuckGo reads my theme and changes it to Dark mode. There is a custom setting, and I have a custom URL but Firefox won't let me change it to this custom URL
https://start.duckduckgo.com/?kae=-1&kak=-1&kal=-1&kao=-1&kaq=-1
Please help, as I love Firefox, but God dam does it make me angry with all the bugs, and Mozilla's current philosophy of streamlining the Android version.
P.s. Google (I assume) has once again changed the user agent for Firefox Android, and I have had enough, and wanted to change back to Duck, but Dark Mode really irritates me on most websites. I really don't get why everything has to be so frigging hard, if you don't accept the status quo.
Gekose oplossing
FARCRY said
Could you take a look at the following setting -- it's global, not site-specific, unfortunately -- and see whether it does what you want: menu > Settings > [General] Customize > Theme There you can switch from "Follow device theme" to either Light or Dark.This is the problem, and why it shoudn't be a problem for Mozilla Firefox, the browser of choice for customization.
I like to use my phone in "dark mode" and I want to use Firefox browser in dark mode, however I don't want websites assuming I like to view their website in dark mode too.
I see, you want separate preferred color scheme settings for UI and content. I don't know whether there is an issue on file for that yet: https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues
please see the image as to why it won't allow.So this gets me back to DuckDuckGo, and because I clear my cookies often, and the Android version does not have Compartments, I need a work around. Like a lot of websites DuckDuckGo reads my theme and changes it to Dark mode. There is a custom setting, and I have a custom URL but Firefox won't let me change it to this custom URLDoes Firefox mention why not?
I wonder whether it is because there is a length limit. But I don't know which parameters are really necessary and which you could omit.
All search engine URLs need a %s placeholder so Firefox knows where to insert your your search term(s) in the request. You can add that either near the beginning (which I tested) or near the end, whichever is easier for you on the tiny screen:
- https://start.duckduckgo.com/?q=%s&kae=-1&kak=-1&kal=-1&kao=-1&kaq=-1
- https://start.duckduckgo.com/?kae=-1&kak=-1&kal=-1&kao=-1&kaq=-1&q=%s
All Replies (8)
Hi
Hopefully I can help.
The search string you will need to enter for DuckDuckGo should be:
About:config is available in the Beta and Nightly versions of Firefox for Android available from the Google Play store, but it is not as useful as it may have been in the past.
This support article should help you to change the theme in Firefox for Android:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/using-dark-theme-firefox-android
I hope that this helps.
FARCRY said
I have dark mode set for my phone(S21) Firefox won't let me block websites access to this user string. I believe this is a huge privacy concern and would like an option to spoof this, as to not break websites. Currently that is not an option, and without access to about:config I can't make a work around.
Could you take a look at the following setting -- it's global, not site-specific, unfortunately -- and see whether it does what you want:
menu > Settings > [General] Customize > Theme
There you can switch from "Follow device theme" to either Light or Dark.
So this gets me back to DuckDuckGo, and because I clear my cookies often, and the Android version does not have Compartments, I need a work around. Like a lot of websites DuckDuckGo reads my theme and changes it to Dark mode. There is a custom setting, and I have a custom URL but Firefox won't let me change it to this custom URL
Does Firefox mention why not?
I wonder whether it is because there is a length limit. But I don't know which parameters are really necessary and which you could omit.
Paul said
Hi Hopefully I can help. The search string you will need to enter for DuckDuckGo should be: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%s About:config is available in the Beta and Nightly versions of Firefox for Android available from the Google Play store, but it is not as useful as it may have been in the past. This support article should help you to change the theme in Firefox for Android: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/using-dark-theme-firefox-android I hope that this helps.
Hi Paul,
I appreciated your contribution, however you are not helping by providing general answers to my question's, and not specific answer to the questions I asked. What is the point of this help? I would rather you not try to answer any questons at all, as I don't consider this usefull.
The search string you have provided me for DuckDuckGo https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%s is for the website with no settings changed. Firefox Android already provides an option to change the default search engine to DuckDuckGo. This way achieves nothing new.
And as far as I can tell, the firefox themes don't allow for an option to block websites reading the theme settings, which is the WHOLE problem in the first place.
Could you take a look at the following setting -- it's global, not site-specific, unfortunately -- and see whether it does what you want:
menu > Settings > [General] Customize > Theme
There you can switch from "Follow device theme" to either Light or Dark.
This is the problem, and why it shoudn't be a problem for Mozilla Firefox, the browser of choice for customization.
I like to use my phone in "dark mode" and I want to use Firefox browser in dark mode, however I don't want websites assuming I like to view their website in dark mode too.
So this gets me back to DuckDuckGo, and because I clear my cookies often, and the Android version does not have Compartments, I need a work around. Like a lot of websites DuckDuckGo reads my theme and changes it to Dark mode. There is a custom setting, and I have a custom URL but Firefox won't let me change it to this custom URL
Does Firefox mention why not?
I wonder whether it is because there is a length limit. But I don't know which parameters are really necessary and which you could omit.
please see the image as to why it won't allow.
And thank you to all.
Hi
Firefox for Android does not currently support containers. This is something that requires additional work to the underlying GeckoView engine. You can follow progress on this work and leave comments at: https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/10581
I have also seen this issue that has been raised to remove the search string validation for custom search engines: https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues/25867. As with the issue above, you may wish to follow progress on this and add comments.
Thank you Paul.
I will take your lead, and have a read of GitHub and follow the progress.
Thank you for letting us know, I hope that this helps.
Gekose oplossing
FARCRY said
Could you take a look at the following setting -- it's global, not site-specific, unfortunately -- and see whether it does what you want: menu > Settings > [General] Customize > Theme There you can switch from "Follow device theme" to either Light or Dark.This is the problem, and why it shoudn't be a problem for Mozilla Firefox, the browser of choice for customization.
I like to use my phone in "dark mode" and I want to use Firefox browser in dark mode, however I don't want websites assuming I like to view their website in dark mode too.
I see, you want separate preferred color scheme settings for UI and content. I don't know whether there is an issue on file for that yet: https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/issues
please see the image as to why it won't allow.So this gets me back to DuckDuckGo, and because I clear my cookies often, and the Android version does not have Compartments, I need a work around. Like a lot of websites DuckDuckGo reads my theme and changes it to Dark mode. There is a custom setting, and I have a custom URL but Firefox won't let me change it to this custom URLDoes Firefox mention why not?
I wonder whether it is because there is a length limit. But I don't know which parameters are really necessary and which you could omit.
All search engine URLs need a %s placeholder so Firefox knows where to insert your your search term(s) in the request. You can add that either near the beginning (which I tested) or near the end, whichever is easier for you on the tiny screen: