To add, I've tested with Fennec as well, and the same problem. Brave is working just fine though.

Hi

If you open a new tab, it will start from the new tab screen. If you want to open a link in a new tab, long press on the link and select to open in a new tab.

Perhaps I was not clear enough in my wording. I do know how to open a new tab. What I meant to say was Firefox quite literally didn't open one.

For eg. Were I reading through an article, then clicked on the tabs button and clicked the "plus" sign to open a new tab, Firefox simply reset the current tab (article) to the default homepage.

To add a new tab to my list of tabs, the only method that works now is "open link in new tab"

Update for those who may face this issue:

It actually works just fine, a new tab only opens when something is searched. Otherwise it's the same tab.

I don't know which update added this, but it's a terrible move. I hope to see it reverted in the future.