Project Tofino

Browser prototype launched in 2016 by a small Mozilla Firefox team, isolated for three months in Vancouver to reinvent the interface around the user's tasks (the UX track, distinct from Browser.html, the technical track). Built on an Electron fork with React and Redux rather than Gecko/XUL, it shipped two binary previews in 2016; the team became the Browser Futures Group in late 2016 and the repository was archived in 2018.

Facts

Developer

Mozilla (Firefox team, then Browser Futures Group)

Website

github.com

Engine

Blink (Electron)

Platforms

WindowsmacOSLinux

Details

Binary previews v0.1.0 (Sept. 28, 2016) and v0.2.0 (Nov. 11, 2016) for Windows, macOS and Linux; Electron 1.4.7 forked by Mozilla; last commit July 2017, repository archived on March 21, 2018

Popularity

30/100 — 648 GitHub stars (×5); two binary preview releases (v0.1.0 Sept. 2016, v0.2.0 Nov. 2016), ≈3,700 downloads in total; “extremely immature” prototype

Key versions

1. Sept. 28, 2016
   v0.1.0First release published on GitHub.[1]
2. Nov. 11, 2016
   v0.2.0Latest release published on GitHub.[2]

Version sources: [1] mozilla/tofino (GitHub), [2] mozilla/tofino (GitHub) · 2 releases published · Full history → · Milestones taken automatically from the releases published on GitHub.

Sources

1. https://github.com/mozilla/tofino
2. https://web.archive.org/web/20251117014939/https://medium.com/project-tofino/browsers-innovators-dilemma-and-project-tofino-ef634c6164f0
3. https://web.archive.org/web/20241014093335/https://medium.com/project-tofino/engineering-update-on-tofino-8381d82398e8
4. https://web.archive.org/web/20251202190341/https://medium.com/project-tofino/re-defining-the-tofino-project-6d3c98521cc8
5. https://web.archive.org/web/20170923010739/https://medium.com/project-tofino
6. https://www.computerworld.com/article/3055945/mozilla-explores-radically-different-browser-as-firefox-leaks-share.html
7. https://github.com/mozilla/tofino/releases