The issue:
Android users with Firefox can’t access Google Search (including intl sites and localized domains like google.de, .co.uk, .com.br). Instead, they see a blank page.
Cause:
A server-side bug on Google’s end related to User-Agent (UA) sniffing, which serves an empty page to newer Firefox versions.
Affected versions:
All Firefox versions on Android (>= 65) including Mobile 121.0, Nightly 123, and older.
Chrome not affected:
The bug is specific to Firefox.
Solutions:
- Use a different browser (Chrome, etc.) or search engine (DuckDuckGo).
Advanced users can:
-
Change Firefox’s UA in developer settings or with add-ons.
-
Request the desktop version of Google from Firefox settings (region-dependent).
Status:
- Problem identified as critical and escalated.
- Still unresolved at the time of reporting.
Additional notes:
- Disabling Firefox’s Enhanced Tracking Protection doesn’t fix the issue.
- Some users report google.co.in loading the desktop site instead of mobile.
“bug” aka purposely making firefox unusable on one of the largest websites in the world so more people use chromium
(these allegations are based solely on prejudice against google and its subsidiaries, and do not necessarily hold true in reality)
Google:
Even if it’s for only a short period of time, it’s enough to do a lot of damage. Especially as people are becoming privacy conscious and are looking to start using Firefox.
What does this mean, I’m confused?
Yes. So was I when I wrote this comment. I don’t know why I wrote Chrome… 😑
Makes way more sense now, lol.
I really don’t understand why Google isn’t being taken to court over the obvious monopolistic strategies they’ve been implementing.
@JokeDeity they are in court right now with the USA.
I tried signing into Google today on Firefox and got ‘sigin in using a safe browser. This is not a safe browser’. I refreshed the page and it was gone and I was able to sign in. What the heck.
Google should follow their own advice and kill the user agent.
Or you know, Don’t use fucking Google?
Nowadays Google sucks ass anyway
Real professional engineers at Google. Reading the browser name is just so hard.
Interesting, from Germany the Google homepage loads normally but shows the old version (while the search results page uses the new version). Either they partially fixed it, or Firefox in its beta version already works around the problem in some way.
ah yes, a “bug”
Yeah they have so many “convenient” bugs discriminating Firefox that there is already for a few Years a special Add-On that switches the User Agent to Google for the Search
I’m on 121.0 mobile and have no issues accessing Google.com. Not that I use it anyway but figured I’d test.
Looks like it’s over. I could confirm the bug yesterday as well
Weird, I suppose it makes sense though as I only really use Google if I absolutely have to which is almost never. So I likely wouldn’t have noticed it if I didn’t see it here first.
It’s not a bug. It’s a feature.
Solution:
