Firefox for Android: Search not working.
I just got Firefox for Android yesterday and I've been having the problem of the address bar being very inconsistent and giving me very strange results.
The very first thing I typed into the app was the first word that came to mind as a long-time user of Firefox for Windows: "woot". The expectation was that it would open up google search for the term "woot". Instead, it lead me to some website at www.woot.com.
Afterwards, I tried several other terms and found the following results: (quotes not included in the search)
"word" lead to a "Domain Not Found" page from my ISP
" word " lead to the same as above.
"word anotherword" lead to a Google search results page.
"amazon" lead to amazon.com
"aw" lead to a Google search results page.
"it" lead to a Google search results page.
"go" lead to a "Domain Not Found" page from my ISP.
This all left me very dismayed, as typing in ANY of the above terms into my PC's Firefox's address bar as well as my old Opera Android browser's bars, would give me a Google search results page for the terms. Even when I search for "amazon", I expect to be given the option of searching for amazon rainforests instead of being forcibly taken directly to amazon.com.
So my main question is this: Is there any way to force Firefox for Android to use Google search *no matter what* is typed into the address bar?
I custom-fit a lot of the about:config settings for my FF on Windows to my liking, but have not been able to find a list of setting explanations for the Android version of FF. I am hoping that my problem can be fixed with some settings; and also if anyone has a list of them with explanations, I would highly appreciate a link to it.
Thank you.
Modified by xPhaze
All Replies (7)
Hello,
Please see the previous support request here:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/960692
Changing the keyword.url setting in about:config should solve the issue. Let me know if not.
Hello,
Thanks for your reply. I'm Feeling Lucky being used would make a lot of sense for my problem.
However, my about:config has no keyword.URL setting at all.
Even when I search for just "keyword" alone, all I get is "keyword.enabled", set at "true". Just in case, changing the value of that to false does not solve the issue nor shows the "keyword.URL" setting.
I also tried clearing all the app's data, uninstalling it, and downloading and installing it again. The same issue persists and I still do not see a "keyword.url" setting.
Thank you for your help.
Hello,
I just realized that I can add my own setting to about:config, and so I added a "keyword.URL" with a string of "https://www.google.ca/#safe=active&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=". Same results; search is still broken.
I made sure to copy and paste the URL so that there were no typos. I also tried restarting my phone and still no joy. I made sure that keyword.enabled is still set to true; and also tried it at false and still the same results persist.
I would be content with even an addon that works for Firefox Android that helps with this. But otherwise, this browser is completely unusable for me.
That seems really strange. Can you use the keyword.url setting to change the default search engine to a different provider?
Instructions here: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/946231
Thank you for your reply.
I tried all three, also copy/pasting, and still the same results. I also tried typing in something like "word word word" into the bar and it still searched Google no matter what provider was set in my keyword.URL.
I read a couple places that Firefox 23.0 removed the use of keyword.URL, and so it does seem that even if I add it manually, it does not do anything.
Also, I tried going to Addons and setting a different search provider to be default instead of Google, like Wikipedia. Searching for "woot" or "amazon" still leads me to their respective websites; while searching for "word word word" gives me a Wikipedia search results page.
Modified by xPhaze
Ah yes you may be right. It certainly was removed from the Desktop version so it would probably make sense that it is gone from the mobile version as well.
Sorry for the confusion.
The behaviour you have reported is still not the same as what I get though. I see the following:
"word" lead to a Google search results page.
" word " lead to a Google search results page.
"word anotherword" lead to a Google search results page.
"amazon" lead to a Google search results page.
"aw" lead to a Google search results page.
"it" lead to a Google search results page.
"go" lead to a Google search results page.
The only exception to this is if I am on certain types of Wifi. For example in the UK BT Wifi sometimes redirects individual words to their own custom search page (presumably because they have incorrectly detected it as an unknown url).
I'm afraid I don't know what else to suggest since you have already tried uninstalling and reinstalling. Could you confirm which device you are using?
I'll flag this question up and another member of the support team will be along shortly.
Modified by Ed
Thanks for your reply. I was testing those on my home Wifi (optimum ISP), as that is what I use most. I did test with my phone carrier's 4g also and did get slightly different results, but still does not fix the problem. Here are the differences:
==========
"woot":
- [Wifi] leads to www.woot.com.
- [4G] tries to go to http://woot/; leads to a "not found" page from my mobile carrier with search.
"word":
- [Wifi] leads to a "Domain Not Found" page from my home ISP with search.
- [4G] tries to go to http://word/; leads to a "not found" page from my mobile carrier with search.
" word ":
- [Wifi] leads to a "Domain Not Found" page from my home ISP with search.
- [4G] ignores spaces and tries to go to http://word/; leads to a "not found" page from my mobile carrier with search.
"word anotherword"
- [Wifi] leads to a Google search results page.
- [4G] leads to a Google search results page.
"amazon"
- [Wifi] leads to amazon.com.
- [4G] tries to go to http://amazon/; leads to a "not found" page from my mobile carrier with search.
"aw"
- [Wifi] leads to a Google search results page.
- [4G] leads to a Google search results page.
"it"
- [Wifi] leads to a Google search results page.
- [4G] leads to a Google search results page.
"go"
- [Wifi] leads to a "Domain Not Found" page from my home ISP with search.
- [4G] tries to go to http://go/; leads to a "not found" page from my mobile carrier with search.
==========
So weird! Can't even find much of a pattern minus that two words seem to do okay.
Furthermore, I just updated Firefox Android to version 24.0 which came out yesterday. Same exact results and the problem still persists.
I am using an HTC Amaze 4G from T-Mobile. Android version 4.0.3. All stock and unrooted.
Thank you again so much for your help!