Guest Post: What does the Firefox OS mean to me - GoMo News

by Rob James, occasional blogger for Boxmodeldigital

The Mozilla Firefox OS has been receiving a lot of attention, and for good reason. As an alternative to Android, iOS, and Windows Phone â€" an open source, HTML 5 based OS could be the solution to problems with the former, and an excellent way of getting hold of lower cost, but still effective, smart phones. For me, the prospect of an OS that can replicate the speed and performance of a web browser without the problems of a proprietary system would be an excellent way to customise and simplify how I use my phone.

Problems with Android and iOS

I’ve used iOS and Android in the past, and while I’ve generally been happy with my Apple products, Android’s promise of a more open source framework was appealing.

I mean, I like Apple’s quality, but there are times when I want a third party app that I can only get via Android.

Most of my problems have come down to being able to negotiate some of the differences between what was expected of Android when it was first launched, and what the actual reality has been â€" at least recently.

Android has become more controlled, and I think the problem has been down to carriers refusing to budge on proprietary apps, as well as charging a lot for third party tethering.

Yes, ‘jailbreaking’ or ‘rooting’ are options, but not ones that I really subscribe to. Bloatware apps that can’t be easily removed from Android phones also mean that you end up having to work around what’s already there on the phone.

I’ve also had problems with fragmentation, where phones don’t necessarily carry the latest version of Android, which can make it hard to keep everything up to date.

Open vs Closed

The appeal, then, of Firefox’s OS is that it can deliver all the core features of a phone, but through HMTL5 and Javascript, rather than through all the middleware that tends to disrupt the experience.

A more open source platform also means that I can reproduce the same experience of using open browsers on my laptop and desktop, and can put more time into customising and getting exactly what I want out of my phone. Or something close to it, anyway.

Developers will also presumably have more freedom to produce web based apps for Firefox, rather than having to negotiate some of the problems of designing for Apple, Google, or Windows.

Budget options

At the same time, the idea of a budget phone with Firefox OS running on it, could be a good way of breaking a reliance on buying high end smartphones.

Yes, I like to have a powerful phone, but an efficient, hard working OS on a cheap handset could be used with a tablet or laptop without necessarily feeling like an extra expense.

I’ve also been a fan of FIrefox for sometime, and would like to be able to port over all of my customised features to a phone.

All of those little adds ons that Firefox provides via Mozilla are helpful, and I can’t see why they can’t be as effective at making smartphones easier to use.

Author biog

Rob James is an online marketer who highly recommends the Boxmodeldigital website development agency. Rob can be found blogging about a variety of technology related subjects from mobile phones to SEO techniques.