Mozilla has released Firefox 160 with on-device speech recognition in 40 languages, a Metal rendering path for WebGL on macOS and a collection of media, accessibility and workflow improvements. Several features are being introduced gradually, so availability may differ between users during the rollout.
The new SpeechRecognition implementation provides real-time speech-to-text locally through the Web Speech API. Keeping recognition on the device gives websites access to the browser interface without requiring audio to be sent to a remote transcription service. Mozilla lists support for 40 languages in this release.
Mac graphics are another significant change. Firefox now renders WebGL content through Apple’s Metal graphics API, which Mozilla says can improve performance on some sites. The update also addresses multiple Mac-specific bugs: links opened in the background by another application should no longer force Firefox to the front, downloaded files should open in the Finder-designated application, and simultaneous downloads should now complete when the browser asks where each file should be saved.
Media controls received smaller but visible additions. Picture-in-Picture windows of medium size or larger now offer playback speeds from 0.25 times to twice normal speed. Firefox can also play Matroska video containers carrying FLAC, MP3 or PCM audio.
An early feature called Mini Window can detach either a tab or a selected part of a page into an always-on-top window. Mozilla is soliciting feedback while developing it. The browser’s history sidebar now allows entries to be dragged onto the tab strip, and the address-bar menu distinguishes between pasted searches and pasted web addresses by showing “Paste and Search” for search terms.
Firefox 160 improves saved PDFs by preserving accessibility for mathematical material expressed with MathML, enabling assistive technology such as screen readers to interpret it. Users can also permanently refuse websites that repeatedly ask to handle mail links or other protocol links through a new “Never allow” control, with blocked sites managed in Settings.
Among the reliability fixes, Mozilla addressed a bug that could discard the first character typed immediately after focusing the address or search bar. The browser should no longer pause for several seconds while authenticating to intranet sites that use NTLM or Kerberos, and text selection and cursor placement near an existing cursor have been repaired on touch interfaces. Domain names also receive stronger visual contrast from the rest of the address.
For web developers, Firefox now recognizes the older `::-webkit-input-placeholder` selector as an alias for the standard `::placeholder`, improving compatibility with sites that still use the vendor-prefixed form. Mozilla says 22 first-time volunteers contributed code to the release.
The supported operating-system floor remains unchanged in the notes: Windows 8.1 and earlier and macOS 10.14 and earlier must use an Extended Support Release rather than Firefox 160.
