ItteDo you use Firefox Sync? Why or why not?
Cloudless ☼Yes. Because I have too many devices. Firefox sync is easy except that I have to reconfigure settings for each add-on.
saltinecrackers
kratoz29Does Chrome sync addon data? I am getting a bit annoyed by the fact that Firefox does not, but actually I don’t remember if Chrome ever did this.
It’s not a question of the browser, it’s the addon. There are separete APIs for local and synced storage (but same interface). Both browsers use the same main api (web extension).
ŠtěpánI’m pretty sure I’ve seen some FF addons have an option to sync their setting via FF Sync.
shrugalYep. It’s e2e encrypted, and you can even self-host the sync server, if you don’t want to rely on an external service. Pretty much a no-brainer.
nullHave you hosted it yourself? I’m curious about doing it, if its not a hassle.
Yea, it’s pretty easy if you already have a server. All you need to do is run a docker container, and change the identity.sync.tokenserver.uri setting in about:config.
This only runs the sync-server though, you still have to log into a Mozilla account to use it. There is a replacement that includes the whole stack, but I haven’t tried that one yet.
Neat, sounds simple enough. Thanks!
Though if it still requires a Mozilla account I’m not sure its really worth it. If I’m trusting them enough to sign in through their account, then I trust them enough to believe its all e2ee anyways. So I’m not sure I’d be gaining much.
I’ll look into the full stack though. If its just a case of a few other containers in a compose file, I’d give it a try.
Malixusing it, syncing my bookmarks with it between systems (work, home, laptop, phone, tablet)
vikingYes, I trust the encryption layer and the Mozilla Foundation has good ethical principles. I’m also a big fan of Firefox Relay (email alias provider) to protect my inbox from spam.
No. I tried it once and lost half my tabs and bookmarks. I assume because they were different on each device I synced.
SorteKaninI use it for preferences and bookmarks and stuff. But I never save passwords in any browser, I have my password manager for that.
ZachariahI use it for open tabs only. I then monthly bookmark all of them on a desktop. Then I close all the tabs on my phone and start again.
Maxnmy'sI wouldn’t have it any other way. I need to have my desktop and phone browsers synced.
Name-Not-ApplicableI sync bookmarks between devices and sometimes send a tab from one device to another.
You don't even have to trust them. Firefox Sync end to end-encrypts everything and the browser is open source, so you can even verify the encryption mechanism. No trust required.
Yes, because it helps me organize my horde of bookmarks that I need to sort and keep on task with my projects.
No, I don’t need yet another account, nor do I have a need to sync anything.
I don’t really use bookmarks, and haven’t found much value in sharing anything between my devices. I just install ublock on new devices and that’s about it.
For me its mainly history.
Having to type out full URLs for sites I’ve already visited on other devices bums me out.
So does not being able to go back and look for that one thing in my history. When was that… was that on my phone, or my laptop, or my desktop…?
No, I use my devices for different purposes and I don’t have any interest in them communicating
Yes, but it doesn’t synchronize all like the values in the about:config.
Syncing all about:config values wouldn’t work, since it contains lots of variables which are OS-specific or contain temporary values, like timestamps.
If you want to synchronize specific values, you can create a user.js file in your Firefox profile folder and synchronize that via file sync or Git or similar.
mostly just to send websites I find while on mobile to my PC so I can properly read/interact with them on my PC
I do the same, just with xdg-open via ssh
How do you use this with mobile devices?
Get a Terminal emulator on your phone. Setup ssh to access your pc
Rest is as simple as typing
ssh [name you gave your pc] xdg-open “"url.com"”
It’s not for everyone though because you need basic knowledge about how to use a Terminal and many users just straight up hate using a Terminal
MasterNerdYes, but only on new installs to get all my extensions and settings. Then I disable it
Yes. I want to have access to both history and bookmarks on all my devices and send specific tabs to other devices. Sync makes these super convenient.
Nah, I dont use it. In fact, I go through and disable almost all the “extra” stuff in any browser I install. I’m of the “Do one thing well” school of thought, so all these apps trying to do everything, all at once, just to keep you in “their” system? No thanks. Sync offers absolutely zero features that don’t have better, alternative options already.
Yes. I sync everything but passwords and bookmarks.
I get passwords. Why not bookmarks?
I use the same account at work and at home, so I need to separate bookmarks.
Makes sense. Don’t cross the streams.
Yes, because it’s the only way I can save my phone bookmarks and share it directly with my computer.
As a device that I carry with me almost all of the time, there are a lot of sites, articles and etc. that sometimes can’t finish to read or explore when on the street or in a meeting with friends or whatever, so I just bookmark them to revisit it later at home from my laptop.
Would prefer to export them to a file to avoid the use of a Mozilla account, but it’s not possible on Android. At least not that I know of.
Sips'Yeah, I mainly use it for the “send tab to device X”, love that feature so much!
I wish this feature would work for me. I can send a tab from firefox on windows or Linux and it won’t show up on Firefox for iOS at all, or sometimes it will show up after a long (5+ min) delay.
Hmm that’s weird, always worked flawlessly for me, I do also have my devices on the same VPN at all times though, maybe it’s that? I also only use Linux and Android.
Likely an iOS issue, I’m sure.
just tested on an iPad I have, works fine :–)
Forklift Certified
look997I recommend KDE Connect, it also has this function. :)
But sometimes I use this and sometimes I use that feature.
But sometimes I use this and sometimes I use that feature.
I use that too thihi
ericjmoreyI used to use that until I noticed that all open tabs for all logged in sessions are easily accessible through the menu or the “Firefox View”
Only on one instance, because I don’t want the same bookmarks and set of extensions on every computer. I wish it were more configurable.
I think that uploading bookmarks to the computer of other guy (server) is not private or save thing to do. There are a lot of laws which may force to open that data about you and a lot of ways to bypass cryptography/security exist, as computer is not small and simple system.
Firefox Sync is end-to-end-encrypted, meaning your data gets encrypted before upload and decrypted after download. The encryption key, i.e. your password, never leaves your computer. The way a password reset works, is by simply erasing your data from the server and then re-uploading from your Firefoxes. This means, if law enforcement or attackers get data from Mozilla’s servers, they can’t do anything with your Sync data.
I’m on board with being sceptical about security, but this is one of the simplest and most bulletproof approaches.
agree, but still backdoors sometimes leak to the internet. The companies who store data centralised like messeges usually have a big legal pressure like Telegram while it had system Ton. Idk if Mozilla have that sort of pressure, I would not question it if it would be decentralised system. Anyway there are always compromises and it souldn’t be too much focus on it. For example basically all programming languages are have closed source parts, simply because CPU scheme is usually proprietary and could not be checked after manufacture.
- programming language -> … -> programming language -> assembler -> CPU scheme
EmotetWithout trying to sound condescending, you’re basically rambling surface level half-truths about encryption, companies, legal pressure and proprietary components like IME.
Firefox Sync is open source. It gets encrypted locally. If for some reason someone is interested in your bookmarks, they won’t be able to get them from a Firefox Server. They’ll simply grab them from your local system in their unencrypted state.
Yes, most currently relevant CPUs for consumers, implement something like the IME or the AMD equivalent of it. This can be a source of paranoia, but, unless you are expecting to be the target of state actors, not a very logical one.
It honestly sounds like you read some technical keywords, looked up their definition on Wikipedia and drew your own, wrong conclusions.
voxelff sync is encrypted
penquinReligiously for more than 5 years now. I have the same things synced accross 4 computers and a phone.
I sync bookmarks, extensions and browsing history. I do not sync autofill or passwords.
Credit cards are never saved to anything.
I use KeePass for Passwords.
I Cast FistNo, because I’m a fucking luddite or something.
Thing is, it’s pointless to me. I don’t need nor want all my devices to have the same configurations, bookmarks and history.
BlisterexeTbf you can selfhost the sync
Why would I want to do that?
I assumed part of the reason was that you didn’t trust mozilla
(Not OP) I have no beef with Mozilla, love Firefox.
I once accidentally bookmarked some porn instead of opening it into a new tab. It happened on mobile, it happend fast, I barely noticed. It directly synced to all my devices. Even after removing the bookmark itself, Firefox kept suggesting this “last bookmarked page” on all my devices. Annoying if you alone know about it, disastrous if you don’t know who knows about it.
No, I just literally have no usecase for sync
you reinstall your os/get a new pc.
you type in your password and 2fa code.
your stuff magically syncs and appears on your new, fresh clean firefox profile.
you type in your password and 2fa code.
your stuff magically syncs and appears on your new, fresh clean firefox profile.
you type in your password and 2fa code.
I don’t. I prefer writing down my passwords on a little notebook. It’s ironic as hell that a “coded” paper note at my own home is more secure than anything on my computer
all your favorite extensions are already inatalled and synced (including custom filters in uBO)
I’m vanilla as hell, I just use default uBO and sometimes NoScript. To me, sync offers nothing of value.