Firefox OS
Boot to Gecko
Mozilla tried to make the open web the operating system of low-cost phones, reached markets across the world, and withdrew when apps and hardware economics favoured Android.
Quick facts
- Existence state
- Officially Gone
- Peak stage
- general availability
- Research confidence
- high
- Last verified
What it was
A formally released open-source mobile operating system developed by Mozilla.
Firefox OS ran interfaces and applications with web technologies and targeted inexpensive smartphones through carrier and manufacturer partners.
Existence timeline
Mozilla develops a phone platform from web standards.
Firefox OS reaches normal public sale in Europe.
Carriers launch low-cost devices across multiple regions.
Mozilla stops offering Firefox OS through carriers.
Remaining phone engineering and Marketplace plans wind down.
Mozilla removes the final internal platform team.
Why it ended
Mozilla stopped smartphone development in 2016 and ended the wider connected-device programme in 2017.
Last confirmed trace
Open-source code, retail phones, archived Marketplace apps and the KaiOS descendant preserve substantial parts of the platform.
What it left behind
The project proved web technology could operate a phone while revealing that an open runtime could not by itself create a competitive app ecosystem.
How we classified it
The archive unit reached normal public release or operation and is no longer obtainable in its original public form.
Verified normal public availability maps to 100 under Arrival Score V1.
Sources & verification
Last reviewed 2026-08-01. Sources are linked so readers can inspect the evidence directly.