With the launch of Firefox 143, Mozilla has promoted Firefox 144 to the beta channel for public testing, making notable changes aimed at enhancing user experience and security. One of the key updates is the transition from the older 3DES-CBC encryption to a more modern AES-256-CBC encryption for logins saved in the Firefox Password Manager. This update enhances the local encryption of logins stored on disk. However, logins synced via Firefox Sync continue to be encrypted using a robust scheme (AES-256-GCM), independently ensuring their security.
Firefox 144 also improves the Picture-in-Picture (PiP) feature, allowing users to close the PiP window without pausing the video. This can be done with a simple Shift + Click on the close button, or by pressing Shift + Esc to exit from PiP mode. Additionally, on Firefox for Android, the option to “Allow screenshots in private browsing” has been removed.
Web developers will benefit from several new features in this release, such as support for the Element.moveBefore API, math-shift compact, and the PerformanceEventTiming.interactionId, which aids in grouping related input events. Firefox 144 introduces the View Transition API, giving developers more control over transitions in web applications. Moreover, support for cropping and downscaling video from cameras to desired resolutions is enabled via the resizeMode constraint on getUserMedia.
Other notable enhancements include the implementation of the upsert proposal with getOrInsert methods for Map and WeakMap, support for the lock() and unlock() methods of the ScreenOrientation interface, and the addition of dithering support for various gradient renderings. Furthermore, improvements to VideoEncoder performance for Windows users aim to enhance throughput and reduce submission latency, making for a smoother online experience.
Mozilla is also launching a new feature called “Lists and timer on Firefox Home” in Firefox Labs, designed to help users manage their tasks and maintain focus with a timer.
The official release of Firefox 144 is set for October 14, 2025, along with updates for Firefox 140.4 and Firefox 115.29.0 ESR. Users interested in testing the beta version can download it through the official Mozilla website, although it is advised not to use it for production work.