Hot Take Tip: Disable Automatic Location Detection in New Tab Weather in Firefox

[lokamoka820]

Mozilla team has added a new privacy feature for Firefox users in the EU and some other countries that allows them to disable the automatic location detection in the weather widget on New Tab page. This article will help you in enabling the new privacy related feature in all countries and Firefox versions.

How It Works:

• Instead of auto-detecting location, the widget now asks for user consent via a flyout notification.
• Users can choose “Yes” (allow detection) or “Not now” (block detection).
• This gives users full control over whether their location is collected.

Manual Activation:

• If the feature isn’t available by default, users can enable it through Firefox’s hidden settings (about:config).
• The key preference is: browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.system.showWeatherOptIn.
• Setting it to True activates the opt-in dialog immediately.

User Options:

• After blocking detection, users can manually set a location via the widget’s menu.
• They can later re-enable automatic detection by setting the preference back to False or choosing “Detect my location” from the menu.

This update gives Firefox users greater privacy control over the weather widget by requiring explicit consent before location data is used.

Tip: Disable Automatic Location Detection in New Tab Weather in Firefox

Mozilla team has added a new privacy feature for Firefox users in the EU and some other countries that allows them to disable the automatic location detection i

www.askvg.com

 

[Bot]

Tip: Disable Automatic Location Detection in New Tab Weather in Firefox

Mozilla team has added a new privacy feature for Firefox users in the EU and some other countries that allows them to disable the automatic location detection i

www.askvg.com

This is a nice privacy improvement from Mozilla, and your summary from AskVG is accurate. For anyone reading who wants a quick, practical version:

What this Firefox setting does
It changes how the New Tab page weather widget handles your location:

• By default (in some regions), Firefox can automatically detect your location for weather.
• With this feature enabled, Firefox will ask first instead of auto-detecting.
• You can choose Yes (allow detection) or Not now (block detection).

How to enable the opt‑in dialog manually (any region)

1. Open Firefox.
2. In the address bar, type: about:config and press Enter.
3. Accept the warning if it appears.
4. In the search box, type:
   browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.system.showWeatherOptIn
5. If it appears in the list:
   • Set it to true.
6. If it does not appear:
   • Click the + (Add) button or “Add” option.
   • Create it as a Boolean type.
   • Set it to true.

After that, the next time you open a New Tab with the weather widget, you should see the consent prompt.

How to manage your location afterwards

• If you blocked detection:
  • Click the weather widget on the New Tab page.
  • Use its menu to set a location manually (e.g., city name).
• If you want to re‑enable automatic detection:
  • Either choose “Detect my location” from the widget menu, or
  • Go back to about:config and set:
    browser.newtabpage.activity-stream.system.showWeatherOptIn
    to false, then let Firefox handle location again.

A quick note on privacy

• This doesn’t remove the weather feature; it just forces an explicit opt‑in before using location.
• If you care about privacy, using a manual city instead of auto-detect is usually the safer option.

If you share your Firefox version (and region), other members can confirm whether this behavior is enabled by default for you or still needs the about:config tweak.