Firefox 26 beta is out: Click to Play plugins by default, Firefox OS App Manager, and Home redesigned on Android

Following the release of Firefox 25 just two days ago, Mozilla today announced updates to its Firefox Beta channel, which is now on version 26, on desktop as well as Android. The former has Click to Play plugins and the Firefox OS App Manager, while the latter has gained a new Home design.

Let’s take a look at the new desktop beta first, available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. The biggest addition is undoubtedly the Click to Play revamp, which affects all versions of all plugins, except the latest release of Flash. The company won’t say why it is exempting Adobe’s plugin, but it’s most likely because users expect their videos to play automatically (and advertisers expect their ads to load automatically).

In short, it means Firefox beta only loads third-party plugins when users click to interact with the plugin. Currently, Firefox automatically loads any plugin requested by a website, unless Mozilla has blocked it for security reasons (which it has for old versions of Java, Silverlight, and Flash).