Waterfox G4 was updated to G4.1.3.1 last month and brought various fixes. Around the same time, a very important feature in the browser stopped working, the ability to use Firefox Sync.
If you read my previous article, you may know that I had mentioned that I was unable to sign in to my Firefox account on a slightly older version (4.1.2.1). For those unaware, here is a brief description of the issue. The button for signing in to Sync worked, and displayed the page where you enter your username, but this is where it broke. When you clicked the Continue button, it would just spin endlessly without proceeding to prompt you for the password, thus was unable to complete the sign in process. Upgrading to 4.1.3.1 did not fix the problem.
I wasn’t the only one who was facing the issue, a few users had complained about the same on Waterfox’s reddit community, and also raised an issue at the browser’s GitHub site seeking a workaround for it. The developer of the browser, Alex Kontos, responded to the feedback and confirmed that the issue existed. He explained that the error was caused by Firefox’s account system. Apparently, the login system not recognize the user agent in Waterfox anymore, so it had to be changed in order to get it working properly.
Waterfox G4.1.3.2 update fixes Firefox Sync sign in issue
Upon closer observation, I saw that a recent commit had been made on GitHub, that reverted the Firefox user agent which is used in the browser. All we needed to do is wait for the fix to be added to the browser and delivered via an update. That’s what happened today, a new update has been released to the Waterfox G4 channel. If you’re like me and often send tabs to other devices frequently, you will be happy to know that Waterfox G4.1.3.2 fixes Firefox Sync sign in issue. I tested it on Windows and macOS and can confirm that it works fine, synced my add-ons, settings and tabs without any hiccups.
The release notes that were published to the official site mentions that Waterfox will now be identified as Firefox for better website compatibility, that is what the user agent does.
That being said, the latest update is not available via the browser’s built-in updater as yet (at least on Windows) it may be pushed to it soon. The macOS version, on the other hand, upgraded to the new build when I checked for updates from the app’s menu. If you can’t wait for the new version to land, head to the Waterfox website or the GitHub releases page, and download Waterfox G4.1.3.2 for Windows, Linux and macOS. Once you have downloaded it, you can close the browser and perform an in place upgrade to patch it to the latest version.
On a sidenote, Waterfox G5 will be released sometime in the near future. It will be based on Firefox ESR 102, and users who are on Waterfox G4 will be upgraded to it automatically, unless they manually opt out of automatic updates.
Have you updated to Waterfox G4.1.3.2?
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