Firefox 5.0 for iOS arrives with performance and battery life improvements, option to recover closed tabs

Mozilla today released Firefox 5.0 for iOS. Notable additions to the browser include performance and battery life improvements, support for more search engines, a new menu, an option to recover closed tabs, and a home button. You can download the new version now directly from Apple’s App Store.

Mozilla doesn’t break out the exact numbers for Firefox, though the company does say “half a billion people around the world” use the browser. Firefox for iOS was released as a public preview in September 2015 and as a stable release in November 2015.

First up, Firefox 5.0 brings significant performance and battery life improvements. Firefox for iOS Engineer intern Tyler Lacroix personally saw up to a 40 percent reduction in CPU usage and up to a 30 percent reduction in memory usage with this latest version of Firefox, but your mileage will vary.

Next, Firefox for iOS now lets you add more search engines. While Firefox already ships with a set of popular search engines, you can now add sites like Craigslist, eBay, and Wikipedia by simply going to a website with a search box and tapping on the magnifying glass to add it.

Firefox for iOS now also has a brand-new menu on the toolbar. It’s meant to simplify navigation and offer quick access to frequently used features.

One of those features is the Home button. Firefox for iOS now lets you set your favorite site as the homepage. It will then open immediately with a tap of the home button.

Last, but not least, Firefox for iOS is finally able to recover all of your closed tabs when you hit the Undo button. It’s also now easier to navigate through open tabs.

Here’s the full Firefox 5.0 for iOS changelog:

• Wish you hadn’t tapped “Close all Tabs?” “Undo” to the rescue!
• Long-pressing on the Back/Forward buttons lets you leap through your history.
• Sync Tabs and History… together at last.
• We’ve packaged the most useful tools in a new, easy-to-access menu. Try it out!
• Get to your favorite page fast by setting it as your home page.
• Want to install the Qwant search plugin? If you’re in the UK, Germany or France, now you can. Enjoy!
• Want more search engines? Now you can add them from your favorite websites.
• Untangle and go wireless! Get things done quickly with these keyboard shortcuts.
• See your home page every time you open a new tab. Yesss!
• You can now customize your home screen, including top sites and panels.

Mozilla typically releases new Firefox versions every six to eight weeks, and we thus expect the next iOS version to arrive in September.