End of bookmark app: Mozilla stamps out Pocket
Surfing habits have changed, the foundation explains its decision. A browser extension to prevent fakes is also being discontinued.
The Firefox logo in front of the Mozilla Foundation headquarters in San Francisco.
(Image: dpa, Andrej Sokolow/dpa)
The bookmark service Pocket, operated by the Mozilla Foundation, is about to be discontinued. The foundation has announced that it will be shutting down in just a few weeks. Anyone who wants to save their bookmarks must act before they are lost.
“The way people use the web has evolved, so we are channeling our resources into projects that better suit their browsing habits and online needs”. With this vague explanation, the Mozilla Foundation justifies the end of the bookmark app.
In a blog post, the foundation only slightly clarifies its statement: they want to focus on the Firefox browser and improve the curated link recommendations there. Mozilla had already announced similar plans in February 2024 and merged development teams.
On May 22, the day of the announcement, Mozilla took the first steps towards shutting down Pocket: The web apps for Pocket can no longer be installed, but are still available for existing users. Anyone who has installed the browser add-on must uninstall it manually.
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Mozilla will then close the door on July 8, 2025: Pocket will no longer be available for normal use from this date. Anyone who has taken out a paid annual subscription will receive a pro rata refund of the membership fee; monthly subscriptions will no longer be renewed from the end of May.
Export bookmarks until October
However, Pocket users are not completely locked out in July: the service is switching to “export mode”. If you don't want to give up your saved articles, notes, and bookmarks from Pocket, you should definitely do so before October 8, 2025. On this date, Pocket will close its doors for good and Mozilla will delete all user accounts. Instructions on how to export the Pocket lists can be found in Mozilla's customer service area.
(Image: heise online)
Mozilla bought the Pocket app from developer Read It Later Inc. in 2017 to increase its mobile presence and strengthen the discovery of web content. Over the past eight years, it has connected millions of people and won several awards, according to the foundation.
Fakespot no longer has a future either
The Mozilla Foundation is pulling the plug on another project: The foundation no longer sees a future for Fakespot – apparently for economic reasons. Although the idea of a browser extension to detect fake stores on the Internet was a good one, it was not possible to find a viable business model. And so the short history of Fakespot at Mozilla, which began with the acquisition in 2023, ends after just two years. On July 1, 2025, the browser extension, the mobile apps and the Fakespot website will be shut down.
The Mozilla Foundation is under pressure. The antitrust measures against Google threaten the future of the foundation, which derives a significant part of its revenue from advertising income from the search engine operator. Google is the default search engine in the Firefox browser, which was worth around 495 million US dollars to the Mountain View-based company in 2023.
(cku)
