This has been bothering me long enough that I figured I’d check to see if anyone else is having the same issue, and more importantly, if there’s a fix.
Some websites, like Google Earth or various weather radar sites get so slow that they are unusable in Firefox.
When I load the same sites in Edge, it’s blazing fast, as I’d expect.
Even Librewolf chugs on these sites.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
ADDITIONAL DETAILS: First, thanks for all the input, guys.
I wanted to say that I’ve tried a fresh FF profile, and the same slowness happens in Google Earth.
I also confirmed that hardware acceleration is enabled.
This problem isn’t on all websites. For example, playing www.slowroads.io actually gives a higher framerate on FF than it does on Edge. So it seems to be that certain websites just suck ass.
Some of you have said that Google Earth on FF works perfectly fine… on linux. At least it seems not to be a FF problem. LOL
EDIT: Opera browser is just as smooth as Edge with G Earth.
POSSIBLE SOLUTION?? Ok, so even though I was able to confirm that hardware acceleration was enabled, and the GPU was active while using FF, and the about:support showed that webrender was enabled, I noticed that on about:config the gfx.webrender.all setting was set to false.
So, I enabled it, and tried again. Google Earth seems much smoother (not as good as edge, but better than before), and Tube Archivist no longer seems to freeze while a video is being played.
Could this be the reason for my issues? If so, why was this option set to false by default?
I just opened up Google Earth in Firefox to see what would happen. It’s buttery smooth with basically zero lag on loading assets, and zero lag zooming and dragging around on my 240Hz display.
I have a 1gbps symmetric fiber connection and I’m running NixOS. my Firefox Nix Home Manager config is here:
https://github.com/thejevans/nix-config/blob/main/homeManagerModules/gui-applications/firefox/default.nix
Even on my more pedestrian hardware Google Earth works fine with Firefox.
OP, check if your FF has WebGL enabled.
I’ve broken GMaps by blocking trackers and shit.
Thanks for trying! Google Earth is running my max refresh rate in Edge, but it’s painfully slow on FF. If it’s working for you, then I know there’s hope!
I’m on Windows, unfortunately, so that’s one variable I can’t change. I’ll consider that config, though!
What?
I have run both Google Earth and Google Maps in Firefox on Windows since forever and it has allways been fine.
This is not a Firefox issue.
Yes, they both work (no issues with Gmaps from what I recall), but try Google Earth on Edge and tell me if it’s any smoother. To me, it’s so dramatic that you simply can’t ignore it.
I just tried it on my home computer with the following specs:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5600X
RAM: 32GB DDR 4
GPU: nVidia GeForce RTX 3070
OS: Windows 10
C: Drive: 1TB NVMe Samsung 980
Internet speed: 250/250mbit
Screen resolution 2560x1440
It workes fine in Firefox, even while playing a yt video in anonther tab in Firefox, in Edge the performance was the same as in Firefox even without a YT video playing
Thanks for that. I’ve got a Framework laptop, and just looking at their support community, it seems like Firefox has not been playing well for quite a few people, with many citing “choppy” performance, so I’ll have a look what they’ve discovered.
Both Firefox and Edge was a bit choppy when zooming in, but nothing bad when panning…
That’s interesting. Edge (and Opera) in G Earth are 100% smooth at my monitor’s max refresh rate (60 fps).
On my i9 rtx 3080 work laptop the only thing I’ve noticed is that chrome has higher CPU usage but lower GPU usage, and chrome is a bit smoother because of it. FF doesn’t seem to utilize my CPU as much and when it’s loading in stuff it’s choppier, but that could also be because it has less cached data than chrome (the main browser I use for work).
🤔
I know, I’ve tried Linux. Many times. I tend to break linux without any way for me to fix it. So I always come back to Windows.
It’s like an abusive relationship that I can’t leave. LOL
That’s part of many people’s learning process. Meant of us, including me, have been there. Luckily, my last Windows computer was about 10 years ago. Good luck