Firefox v149 is getting a free built-in VPN and other new features

Mozilla are working towards improving your privacy on the web, with Firefox v149 planned for March 24th that brings out their own built-in free VPN. Firefox VPN has been in Beta in limited testing for a while, and it's finally getting a wider rollout.

Still somewhat limited though. Mozilla announced it will be available in the U.S., France, Germany and U.K. to start and you'll only get 50GB of data. Still, it's a good step towards improving the privacy of everyone. And according to Mozilla, they do not store any logs making it properly private. Considering all the region blocking, age gates / restrictions and more rolling out across various countries - it's nice to see a built in option for this.

Some other new bits coming include:

Smart Window, previously called AI Window, uses AI to give quick help while you browse — like quick definitions, article summaries, product comparisons and more — without leaving the page. It’s completely optional to use and will be opt in. Waitlist now open for updates and early access.

Split view puts two webpages side by side in one window, making it easy to compare, copy and multitask without bouncing between tabs. Rolling out in Firefox 149 on March 24.

Tab Notes let you add notes to any tab, another tool to help with multitasking and picking up where you left off. Available in Firefox Labs 149 starting March 24.

From the news post: “The roadmap for Firefox this year is the most exciting one we’ve developed in quite a while. We’re solely focused on building the best browser, and our features over the next few months and beyond are driven by the feedback from our community,” said Ajit Varma, head of Firefox. “We’re improving the fundamentals like speed and performance. We’re also launching innovative new open standards in Gecko to ensure the future of the web is open, diverse, and not controlled by a single engine. At the same time we’re prioritizing features that give users real power, choice and strong privacy protections, built in a way that only Firefox can. And as always, we’ll keep listening, inviting users to help shape what comes next and giving them more reasons to love Firefox.”