1875173 - Article Request for Firefox for Android (Fenix) as PDF Default Viewer for Android OS

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(support.mozilla.org :: Knowledge Base Content, task)

Description

[Olivia Hall [:olivia]]

Attachment: Sample_Open_With_Screen_on_a_PDF.png

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Note: Learn more at https://mozilla-hub.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/MSS/pages/21430745/Mozilla+Support+Content
Yes

Is the content embargoed (yes or no)? [REQUIRED]

No

Product

Choose one below and delete others. [REQUIRED]
Firefox for Android

Select the type of request.

Choose one or more below and delete others. [REQUIRED]
New article

Please provide a summary of the request. [REQUIRED]

Firefox for Android can now be selected as a default PDF reader on Android. We'd like the article to provide some steps and background for users who'd like to use this feature. Generally, the access point to the feature is selecting any PDF on the OS that has options for opening.

Is this an on- or off-train release? Please indicate the product version number, if applicable and add to the Summary field using the format of [Product V123]. [REQUIRED]

Riding the 122 train via GeckoView: GV: 122

What is the anticipated release date?

January 23, 2024

Does the content need to be published prior to the release date? If so, when? [REQUIRED]

No

Does the content need to be localized in any languages outside of EN-US? If yes, please indicate which languages. [REQUIRED]

Note: Minimum of 10 days required for translation requests.
Feature should be available to all regions, so typical localization procedure for general availability.

Please include any related JIRA/Github/Bugzilla tickets, documentation, demos or practical use cases. [REQUIRED]

Background:
Android allows users to select default apps for opening certain file types. Firefox for Android (Fenix) can now accept PDFs from other apps and display them.

Use case:
As a user, I want to use Firefox as my default PDF viewer, even for files located outside of the web.

Links:

• Feature is enabled by bug 1815739.
• Had a bug fix in bug 1869250 with some sample uses
• Relevant global settings for setting a default app

Please include links to any design assets, visuals, figma files, etc. [REQUIRED]

Note: Please include final visual assets only.
No design assets as the feature is enabled through the Android operating system. Attached sample images of behavior. See drive videos for more context.

Please add instructions for testing that will enable us to replicate the expected product behavior. [REQUIRED]

• Save a PDF to the device and locate the PDF, for example, locate a PDF in Slack, Files, or Dropbox
• Use the app's contextual "Open With" menu to select Fenix as a PDF viewer
  • Some apps will have an "Always" option and will receive a question to set Fenix as the default opener for this file
• Some behavior is dependent on other preferences, to see other apps that could be taking precedence:
  (Steps on a Pixel 4a):
  • Go to global device settings
  • Apps
  • Default Apps
  • Opening Links
  • Can turn on/off allowing app to open supported links (e.g., if another app is taking precedence, turning it off here, should change the precedence. (It seems as if some apps cannot be turned off fully, for example Files or Drive on a Pixel.)
  • Usually if this is happening, just turn off the app that is by default opening the PDF.
    See drive videos for more context.

Globally resetting defaults:
If a default PDF viewer app has already been selected:

• Navigate to Settings -> Apps -> Default apps -> Opening Links -> Select the known PDF Viewer App
• Should have a button appear stating "Clear default preferences", if the app was a default for anything
  • That button is missing, if the app isn't a default application for anything.
• Next, reopening an "Open With" option on a file should provide the question on system defaults again

Setting a PDF viewer, if no prior preferences have been selected:

• Use "Open With" on the PDF file from a file listing app or similar
• User may need to try different apps to get the "Always" option on a prompt
• Select "Always" from the prompt to make the selected viewer the default

This overview of behavior was written based on testing with a Android 13 Pixel. Because these steps are OS dependent, there will likely be differences between some versions of Android.

Does the content need approval prior to publishing? If so, by who? [REQUIRED]

Not required.

Comment 1

[Olivia Hall [:olivia]]

(Sorry overrode a collision!)

Comment 2

[Mr Beedell, Roke Julian Lockhart [:B.RJL]]

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1875173#a4122_694341

[e-mail], Isn't this a duplicate of https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1815739?

Comment 3

[Olivia Hall [:olivia]]

Ohh, thanks for the ni?. This is the bug for the knowledge base support article. I'll adjust the title to make that more clear!

Comment 4

[Paul]

Ready for review at https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/using-firefox-android-view-saved-pdf-files/history

With the agreement of the requester, text is just for opening a file. Further work may be required to cover using Fenix as the default .pdf viewer to cover Android versions going back to 5 as well as possible impact on other apps so this is out of scope for this article for now.

Comment 5

[Lucas Siebert]

The new article went live last week. Thanks, Paul for the great work: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/using-firefox-android-view-saved-pdf-files