On most operating systems, Firefox uses the Gecko layout engine to load web pages, which uses up-to-date web standards.[18] However, Firefox for iOS, which was released in late 2015, does not use Gecko due to Apple's restrictions which only allow third-party web browsers to use the WebKit-based layout engine that is built into iOS.
Firefox was created in 2002, under the name "Phoenix" by the Mozilla community members who wanted a standalone browser rather than a bundle of different Mozilla applications. Even in its beta phase, Firefox proved to be popular with its testers and was praised for its speed, security, and add-ons compared to Microsoft's then-popular Internet Explorer 6. Firefox was released in November 2004[19] and was highly successful with 60 million downloads within nine months, marking the first time that Internet Explorer's popularity was being challenged.[20] Firefox is considered the spiritual successor of Netscape Navigator[21] since the Mozilla community was created by Netscape in 1998.