After betas, Firefox 38.0.5 final has been released and available. Mozilla has added Pocket (formerly known as Read It Later) and Reader View features. After installing this version, you’ll notice a new Pocket icon in the toolbar, You’ll find it in other places in Firefox like Bookmarks menu, Context menu as ‘Save page to Pocket’ (this appears after signing into Pocket website). You can disable or remove both Pocket and Reader View features by following the below steps.
READ: Mozilla finds Tracking Protection in Firefox decreases Page Load time for sites by 44%
Disable or Remove Pocket and Reader View features from Firefox 38.0.5
For Pocket thing
UPDATE: The easiest way to disable pocket is removing its icon from Toolbar or Menu using customize dialog, then View pocket list in Bookmarks menu gets disappear as well. Try and let me know.
1. Visit about: config
2. Find browser.pocket.enabled preference and change its value to ‘false’.
3. To remove Reader view, change reader.parse-on-load.enabled preference value to ‘false‘.
ALSO SEE: How to remove Firefox’s Reader View (book) icon in the Address bar
4. Restart the browser to see the changes.
Do you (the user) or Firefox browser really need these features?
I *really* like Reader View – they’ve implemented it very well, I’m very pleased with it.
But with Pocket… they’re continuing a worrying trend of cluttering up my toolbar with icons I never asked for, and have no plans to ever use. (See also: Firefox Hello.)
Gervase Markham, a software engineer working for Mozilla, proposed a good test for whether or not features should be added to the browser: “The Jeeves Test”. http://blog.gerv.net/2015/05/the-jeeves-test/
I’d strongly encourage Mozilla to consider this test in future to assist their decision-making on whether or not to add new features or toolbar buttons. While Reader View easily passes this test, I’d argue that the addition of Pocket fails.
I agree about adding unnecessary features into the core browser. But as far as the toolbar icons are concerned, they can be easily removed using “Menu -> Customize” and dragging the unwanted icons off from the toolbar.
Yet again, a “minor” release that adds more functionality I will never use to Firefox. I don’t understand why there aren’t simple toggles in the Options pages for these type of “enhancements”, which really do nothing other than add bloat. Getting a little tired of having to edit about:config every time I install an update.
Thank Mozilla for at least they’re providing about:config option to turn off unnecessary new features.
If I wanted this feature I would download it as an add on, this is unwanted bloat.
I’d like to remove this unwanted entry in the Bookmarks menu. I followed the instructions (go to “about:config,” and change the value of “browser pocket enabled” to “false”, then restart the browser. Unfortunately, the unwanted entry remained.
Its a bug, it should be removed. Meanwhile, if you don’t want to see it, drag and drop bookmarks menu button using customize to menu to hide it.
Thank you, VE. That worked!
This morning, the bookmark icon (top right of the window) remains gone, but the Pocket List item and mini-icon in the Bookmark Menu have reappeared. Sigh.
I’ve updated the post. Instead of these, just drag and drop the Pocket icon on toolbar or menu to Customize dialog, that disables everything related to pocket including the Pocket list item in bookmarks menu. I tried it and worked.
Incidentally, Firefox Hello can be removed by setting:
loop.enabled = false
In about:config.
Thanks for the info about reader and pocket! I agree with SPADE et al that stuffing the browser with functionality that should be provided by addons is a bad move.
Disable Hello, Pocket & Reader+
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/disable-hello-pocket-reader/
This is what I did to get rid of the buton lingering in the bookmarks dropdown. Doiing the other things, includig browser restarts didn’t remove it. I have FF 38.05.
about:config
Searched for pocket.
browser.uiCustomization.state
I deleted:
,”pocket-button”
from the string:
browser.uiCustomization.state;{“placements”:{“PanelUI-contents”:[“edit-controls”,”zoom-controls”,”new-window-button”,”privatebrowsing-button”,”save-page-button”,”print-button”,”history-panelmenu”,”fullscreen-button”,”find-button”,”preferences-button”,”add-ons-button”,”bookmarks-menu-button”,”home-button”,”developer-button”,”loop-button”,”pocket-button”],”addon-bar”:[“addonbar-closebutton”,”status-bar”],”PersonalToolbar”:[“personal-bookmarks”],”nav-bar”:[“urlbar-container”,”search-container”,”downloads-button”],”TabsToolbar”:[“tabbrowser-tabs”,”new-tab-button”,”alltabs-button”],”toolbar-menubar”:[“menubar-items”]},”seen”:[],”dirtyAreaCache”:[“PersonalToolbar”,”nav-bar”,”TabsToolbar”,”toolbar-menubar”,”PanelUI-contents”,”addon-bar”],”currentVersion”:4,”newElementCount”:0}
I don’t know if there are any other ramification to having done this. I simply could not tolerate the buttons existence. The other instructions on the web and Mozilla would not working for me.
Thanks, worked for me. As you said, making it “false” did not, nor any other instructions I tried.
I too could not tolerate its unasked for appearance.
Thanks IANS,
followed your removal step, located
– ,”pocket-button” – and deleted it, restarted the browser and its gone. THank you oh so much
Try this: 2016, internet is pointless due to filtering by isp’s, almost all free websites are blocked, all we can do is buy, thankfully I’d rather go to the shops, than put up with so many forced updates, that never fix ANYTHING, I mean, remember when browsers actually worked because they were what we wanted? Now they dont care what we want, as is aparent with the crappy ajax scripting, never mind the bloat that is firefox.. cant see the internet having much more use now than killing the planet, I mean, take away the rescource’s firefox demand, 50% of the life forms destroyed in the last 50 years would still be alive, go do the maths.
Firefox is as train wrecked as everything else, do they care, OBVIOUSLY NOT, tata..
I have some relatives who visit us Sunday evenings usually with their kids in tow. These kids, usually 8th or 9th graders, ask me to allow them to use my computer to kill time, ostensibly to play online games. Recently I caught one guy whom I thought was playing games, instead going through my entire ‘View List’ on my Firefox browser. I store a lot of sensitive and personal information to Pocket. I need to be able to disable and enable the Pocket icon as required. At the same time no data should be lost. Does Firefox have options to do this? Please reply.
Please right click on the pocket icon on the toolbar and select ‘Remove from toolbar’. this also removes ‘View pocket list’ item. Whenever you want it back, click on hamburger menu > Customize, right click on pocket icon and select either ‘Add to toolbar or menu’. Is that what you wanted?