Firefox 153 is rolling out to the Release channel. Phoronix’s July 20 report leads with two items: Vulkan video decoding and JPEG XL support. The first hands video decoding to the GPU; the second brings an image format that has waited years in the browser ecosystem into a stable release — though initially behind an experimental switch. Neither will change your day tomorrow, but together they mark two quiet shifts in what a cross-platform browser does with your hardware.
Handing Video Decoding to the GPU
Vulkan video decoding moves decode work off the CPU and onto the graphics card. On platforms with Vulkan Video support, processor usage and power draw drop during playback, laptop batteries last longer, and lower-end machines stop stuttering on high-resolution streams. Linux users will feel the change most, and that is exactly the territory Phoronix has tracked for years. Browsers keep shifting multimedia work into hardware, which matches the Chrome-family direction; the difference is that Firefox is taking the open Vulkan route rather than leaning on a single vendor’s media APIs, which matters for the growing share of Linux desktops running AMD or Intel GPUs.
JPEG XL Finally Boards
Mozilla lists JPEG XL in the Firefox Labs experimental panel: compression better than WebP, JPEG, PNG, and GIF, enabled from the Firefox Labs section of Settings — or by typing “labs” into the address bar. The placement is conservative — not enabled by default, but an official switch in a stable release. For a format that mainstream browsers repeatedly shut out, reaching this stage is real progress, and it changes the calculus for the CDN and imaging-tool vendors who paused their JPEG XL work when browser support collapsed. The contest to succeed WebP for static images just got a new variable.
Two Permission Changes Now On by Default
Two changes in the release notes hit developers more directly. First, extensions no longer access local files by default; a new “Access local files on your computer” permission adds one more consent step for tooling extensions. Second, Local Network Access restrictions are on by default: sites must ask permission before connecting to devices or services on the user’s local network. The change closes a real hole — pages should not be able to probe routers, printers, or localhost services silently — but Web apps that talk straight to a localhost API will start running into the consent flow, and that needs to be in their documentation now, not after the support tickets arrive.
Other Features Worth a Look
The rest of the release is a solid batch. HDR video playback arrives on Windows where the display supports it. The PDF editor can merge multiple files and insert images as new pages. Right-clicking a tab offers QR code generation, and on macOS the address bar gets the same shortcut. Typing “pick color”, “color picker”, or “eyedropper” in the address bar summons an eyedropper for grabbing colors off any page. Firefox now verifies and displays QWAC certificates per eIDAS rules, and the location permission icon turns red once a site holds location access. The built-in assistant’s Smart Window gains a model picker, a new tab address bar is rolling out progressively, and videos with overlay controls get improved context-menu access. Web-platform work from the beta cycle also landed: popover=hint, new alignment-baseline keywords, Error.stackTraceLimit, limited ::-webkit-scrollbar support, and WebRTC support in MediaCapabilities queries.
What It Means for Web Developers
Three points. First, JPEG XL is still experimental — do not ship JXL-only assets yet, but format detection and fallback design can start now, and image-heavy products should benchmark what JXL savings would mean at their scale. Second, local network access asking by default affects web apps that depend on localhost APIs; development flows and docs need the consent story added before users file the bug reports. Third, a new developer option called Local Mode maps local directories to custom origins, so static testing no longer requires spinning up a local web server — a small thing that saves real friction every day.
Sources
- Firefox 153 available with support for Vulkan video decoding, JPEG-XL — Phoronix
- Firefox 153.0 release notes — Mozilla
- Firefox 153.0beta release notes — Mozilla
AI-assisted summary compiled from the sources above, reviewed by a human before publishing.