Mozilla Brings Back Compact Mode In Biggest Firefox Redesign In Years

Firefox has ceded plenty of market share to competitors over the years, namely to Google's Chrome browser but also to Microsoft Edge (formerly Internet Explorer for my fellow old hats), but that has not stopped Mozilla from forging ahead. The latest release, Firefox 157, is rolling out with some notable upgrades and a visual refresh for the modern era.

"When we first shared our plans to design Firefox for the future, we said we wanted Firefox to feel 'current, but not generic. Warm, but still precise.' That design ethos now carries across all of Firefox. We’ve refreshed the colors, icons, and themes throughout the browser, from the tabs and toolbars you use every day to your New Tab page, Private Browsing experience and more, with no cost to your browser performance," Mozilla stated in a blog post.

Beyond the visual overhaul, one of the big additions is Compact Mode. If you've been using Firefox for some time, you may recall that it was previously available before it went away several years ago. Now it's back, and it enables users to fit more into their browser window by shrinking tab heights and toolbar spacing, giving content more room to breathe, so to speak.

Naturally, AI is part of the focus too, though if you're over it, you'll appreciate the one-click AI toggle. It's basically an AI kill switch that allows users to disable all built-in AI features at once for a more traditional, unassisted web experience.

The timing of the redesign is not accidental and reflects a broader push inside Mozilla to speed up development and challenge the status quo. In a deep-dive interview with ArsTechnica, Mozilla's head of Firefox, Ajit Varma, discussed various strategies at length.

"Yeah, I think there’s been a lot of questions around, 'What are we doing this at the cost of?' Like should we be focused on performance? Should we be focused on compatibility? We are trying to do all of the above and work faster, and I think that’s one of the challenges that Firefox had in the past, was there was slow decision-making," Varma stated.

"There was a lot of debate, and in the last like year and a half, we’ve actually been trying to say, can we get a lot more velocity, and compete? And part of this is made possible by AI tools, to be honest with you. We are able to do a lot more," Varma added.

The Nova interface in Firefox 157 is a direct result of that mindset, sprucing up visual polish and modern appeal while preserving the advanced customization and optional tool transparency that power users expect. The full interview is worth a read, as it covers quite a bit—much more so than Mozilla's blog post.

Firefox 157 is available now.