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Introducing Aquafox: A New Hope (TenFourFox fork) | Updated Aug 25, 2025

@Dronecatcher I saw your comment on Reddit. Since I do not have an account (I will probably have to create one in the future), I’m asking here on MacRumors. I read that you benchmarked Aquafox running your own personalized prefs.js file. Could you share your findings here? What changes did you make? I’d like to know in order to further optimize Aquafox.

Following your comment, I also benchmarked Aquafox and InterWebPPC with the AnTuTu HTML5 Test, both with a clean default profile. I found that InterWebPPC tends to hang during the Crypto test, which reduces its score to half that of Aquafox. This could, of course, be isolated to my setup, so I can't make a direct comparison myself.
 
thewireless said:
Unless you possess the ability to time travel, that release does not exist. The current version is 1.0.0, which should be compatible with Snow Leopard PPC.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that, chat gpt insisted that 1.0.2 does exist with snow leopard in mind, who knows why. I'm running snow leopard on a 2011 imac 2.7 intel core i5 and aquafox 1.0 has problems with yahoo and aol mail not allowing me to include attachments to outgoing mail. aquafox is also very slow on my machine (8GB ram)
 
hi, i noticed that compared to IceWeaselPPC that AquaFox won't render fonts on Github correctly outside of the README file and that each browser is faster with some things and worse at others

is there a way for you to combine the strengths of both browsers?
 
thewireless said:
@Dronecatcher I saw your comment on Reddit. Since I do not have an account (I will probably have to create one in the future), I’m asking here on MacRumors. I read that you benchmarked Aquafox running your own personalized prefs.js file. Could you share your findings here? What changes did you make? I’d like to know in order to further optimize Aquafox.

Following your comment, I also benchmarked Aquafox and InterWebPPC with the AnTuTu HTML5 Test, both with a clean default profile. I found that InterWebPPC tends to hang during the Crypto test, which reduces its score to half that of Aquafox. This could, of course, be isolated to my setup, so I can't make a direct comparison myself.
Click to expand...
I've really lost track of the individual changes in the prefs file - this has been going on such a long time!
I've attached it so you can compare.
PS - Join Reddit with caution - people on there only tend to like answers/advice sprinkled in fairy dust - real world findings don't tend to go down well.
 

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Dronecatcher said:
I've really lost track of the individual changes in the prefs file - this has been going on such a long time!
I've attached it so you can compare.
PS - Join Reddit with caution - people on there only tend to like answers/advice sprinkled in fairy dust - real world findings don't tend to go down well.
Click to expand...
@Dronecatcher your prefs file has made a difference to my Aquafox performance - thanks very much :)

Cheers :)

Hugh
 
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wicknix said:
That's because you are running a PowerPC application via Rosetta's emulation layer. You should really be using the Intel versions of Arctic Fox or InterWeb for Snow Leopard instead. You can find them here.
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Thanks for that. Do I need the 32 bit build or the 64?
 
ricom2ger said:
QT or VLC plugin would be great to watch at least YT in the browser. Is the support completely removed from the source?
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It might be possible to enable plugin support again, but it has been well over 10 years since the decision to disable it was made. I really don't think it's right to reverse that decision. The QuickTime Enabler add-on still works on HTTP websites, such as a self-hosted Invidious or yt2009 instance, and the MP4 Enabler (new version coming soon™) still functions as well. If you really need plugins, you will have to use a different browser.

slideuphi said:
Thanks for that, chat gpt insisted that 1.0.2 does exist with snow leopard in mind, who knows why. I'm running snow leopard on a 2011 imac 2.7 intel core i5 and aquafox 1.0 has problems with yahoo and aol mail not allowing me to include attachments to outgoing mail. aquafox is also very slow on my machine (8GB ram)
Click to expand...
ChatGPT is not a reliable source of information; it might be hallucinating. I would also like to inform you that Aquafox is only available for PowerPC computers. As @wicknix pointed out, you are most likely running it through Rosetta, which is probably the cause of the slowness you are experiencing.

featherwhisker said:
hi, i noticed that compared to IceWeaselPPC that AquaFox won't render fonts on Github correctly outside of the README file and that each browser is faster with some things and worse at others

is there a way for you to combine the strengths of both browsers?
Click to expand...
IceWeaselPPC is, as far as I know, an optimized and rebranded version of TenFourFox FPR13. Both Aquafox and IceWeaselPPC are based on TenFourFox, but Aquafox is based on a much newer version. The difference in speed could be attributed to their configurations or to the fact that older versions tend to be less bloated (Aquafox G5 has a 50% larger file size than IceWeaselPPC!).

I downloaded IceWeaselPPC from here: link (I assume this is the one you're talking about) and witnessed the font rendering myself, which is not only absent in Aquafox but also in TenFourFox FPR13, the very version IceWeaselPPC is based on. @wicknix, I would love to know what kind of magic you've put into IceWeaselPPC and InterWebPPC!
 
thewireless said:
IceWeaselPPC is, as far as I know, an optimized and rebranded version of TenFourFox FPR13. Both Aquafox and IceWeaselPPC are based on TenFourFox, but Aquafox is based on a much newer version. The difference in speed could be attributed to their configurations or to the fact that older versions tend to be less bloated (Aquafox G5 has a 50% larger file size than IceWeaselPPC!).
Click to expand...
IceWeaselPPC doesn't seem *faster* overall persay, its just the actual browser UI freezes less (though actual pages seem to be the same speed)
 
thewireless said:
witnessed the font rendering myself, which is not only absent in Aquafox but also in TenFourFox FPR13, the very version IceWeaselPPC is based on. @wicknix, I would love to know what kind of magic you've put into IceWeaselPPC and InterWebPPC!
Click to expand...
Whoa. Umm... that was like 5 years ago. I really don't remember. I didn't think i changed much, but maybe i did. If my brain kicks back in and i recall anything i will let you know! ;-)
 
wicknix said:
Whoa. Umm... that was like 5 years ago. I really don't remember. I didn't think i changed much, but maybe i did. If my brain kicks back in and i recall anything i will let you know! ;-)
Click to expand...
When running Artic Fox or Interweb with snow leopard on a 2011 imac 2.7 intel core i5 should I select the 32 bit build or the 64 bit build? Thanks in advance.
 
slideuphi said:
When running Artic Fox or Interweb with snow leopard on a 2011 imac 2.7 intel core i5 should I select the 32 bit build or the 64 bit build? Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
You have a 64-bit processor and 8 GB of RAM, so I recommend choosing the 64-bit version. If, for whatever reason, it does not run, you can try the 32-bit version. However, since this thread is focused on the Aquafox project for PowerPC Macs, it would have been better to ask your question in the web browser thread on the Early Intel Macs forum that @wicknix directed you to.
 
wicknix said:
@thewireless You might want to check out the font blacklist. Cameron added it to bypass broken fonts. This link will get you pointed in the right direction. Maybe the required fonts are being blocked due to this.

Cheers
Click to expand...
Thanks! I was also looking in the direction of blocked fonts. However, I assume these fonts are blocked for a good reason. I could revise the list to see if the entries are still necessary, but blocking remote fonts, in general, can also be beneficial for performance.
 
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Downloaded to my ibook G4 1.42 - working but I cannot get to facebook - interweb I can. Not sure what is blocking it. Sorry I am not a power user - sure it a setting.
 
Biker1bob said:
Downloaded to my ibook G4 1.42 - working but I cannot get to facebook - interweb I can. Not sure what is blocking it. Sorry I am not a power user - sure it a setting.
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Hi!

Facebook is blocked by the "ad blocker" that is part of TenFourFoxPEP. This is something I wasn't aware of when I integrated it into Aquafox. I'm currently working on pruning the filter list and possibly removing it entirely. @z970 mentioned that the list is outdated and could potentially add latency, making Aquafox slower. This is something I will test. Regardless, Facebook will be removed from the list in the next release, which I plan to launch near the end of this month.

In the meantime, if you want to unblock Facebook yourself, head to about:config, search for network.dns.localDomains, and then remove either all facebook.com entries or the list as a whole.
 
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Hi @thewireless ! First off thanxx a lot for the great work you have and continue to put on Aquafox, I've installed it in Tiger 10.4.11 on my pumped up 2004 Alu PBG4 and it works great, though haven't had the time yet to use it extensively (due to a KP I was having at boot-up, now fixed).

Just one thing : I've created a RAMdisk that kicks in at each reboot specifically to be used by web browsers (so they cache from RAM, not SSD). Safari TFF and Interweb all cope well with it, however I can't seem to have it operate with Aquafox. Any idea why this could be ?

(I do this by setting a string browser.cache.disk.parent_directory to a value of /Volumes/RAMdisk (mount point in Tiger) in the browser's "about:config" setup page)
 
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I like this browser alot. Thank you for making it. One weird thing I noticed is that when I go directly to duckduckgo, the browser never connects to the search engine however when I use the in-browser DDG search function, it connects without issue. Do you know why this would happen?

No big deal as I just use the in browser function :) but was curious why this would happen.

Thanks again for AF.
 
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Alubook133 said:
Just one thing : I've created a RAMdisk that kicks in at each reboot specifically to be used by web browsers (so they cache from RAM, not SSD). Safari TFF and Interweb all cope well with it, however I can't seem to have it operate with Aquafox. Any idea why this could be ?
Click to expand...
Aquafox's prefs are based on TenFourFoxPEP, where browser.cache.disk.enable is set to false by default to prevent caching on slow (mechanical) hard drives. Have you tried re-enabling this?

Certificate of Excellence said:
I like this browser alot. Thank you for making it. One weird thing I noticed is that when I go directly to duckduckgo, the browser never connects to the search engine however when I use the in-browser DDG search function, it connects without issue. Do you know why this would happen?
Click to expand...
When I try to visit DuckDuckGo's homepage, it throws an error because it uses JavaScript that TenFourFox does not understand, possibly to animate and display promotional material when you scroll down. I'm sure a userscript can be created to disable that. Alternatively, html.duckduckgo.com works well but lacks image search.
 
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thewireless said:
Aquafox's prefs are based on TenFourFoxPEP, where browser.cache.disk.enable is set to false by default to prevent caching on slow (mechanical) hard drives. Have you tried re-enabling this?
Click to expand...
perfect, thanxx ! That was indeed the issue. Not sure it will significantly speed up things in terms of browsing complex web pages, but the main idea is to somehow preserve the SSD device from aging too fast (no TRIM in OSX Tiger, though I'm not sure any of this really matters).
 
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