How to Install Firefox Next (Quantum Nightly) on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
If you’re tired of the snap‑locked Firefox that ships with Jammy, this guide shows exactly how to pull the latest Firefox Next (the beta channel) or Quantum Nightly build using the terminal. You’ll end up with a fully native .deb package that updates alongside your system, and you won’t have to fight the auto‑updates that come from the Snap store.
Why the official Ubuntu repo isn’t enough
Ubuntu 22.04 switched the default Firefox to a snap package. That means “apt install firefox” just pulls the same snap, which refuses to let you test newer features. The only way to get a bleeding‑edge build is to add Mozilla’s own repository or download the tarball directly. I ran into this myself after a beta update broke my extensions – the snap refused to roll back, and I was stuck with a broken browser until the next snap release.
Add Mozilla’s signing key and repo (Firefox Next)
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y gnupg curl
curl -fsSL https://mozilla.debian.net/archive.key | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/mozilla-archive-keyring.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/mozilla-archive-keyring.gpg] http://ppa.launchpad.net/mozillateam/ppa/ubuntu jammy main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mozilla-ppa.list
sudo apt update
The key step is importing Mozilla’s public key; without it Ubuntu will refuse to trust the packages and abort the install.
Install the Firefox Next (Beta) .deb
sudo apt install -y firefox
Because we just pointed apt at Mozilla’s PPA, this command fetches the beta version instead of the snap. You can verify you have the right build with:
firefox --version
You should see something like “Mozilla Firefox 119.0b1” – the trailing “b” means it’s a beta.
Switch to Quantum Nightly (if you want the absolute cutting edge)
Nightly isn’t available as an apt package, so we grab the tarball from Mozilla and set up a simple desktop entry.
cd /opt
sudo wget -O firefox-nightly.tar.bz2 "https://download.mozilla.org/?product=firefox-nightly-latest-ssl&os=linux64&lang=en-US"
sudo tar xf firefox-nightly.tar.bz2
sudo mv firefox /opt/firefox-nightly
Now create a launcher:
cat <<'EOF' | sudo tee /usr/share/applications/firefox-nightly.desktop
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Firefox Nightly
Comment=Mozilla Firefox Nightly – the bleeding‑edge build
Exec=/opt/firefox-nightly/firefox %u
Icon=/opt/firefox-nightly/browser/chrome/icons/default/default128.png
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Network;WebBrowser;
StartupNotify=true
EOF
Why bother with a desktop file? It lets you start Nightly from the Activities menu just like any other app, and it isolates the nightly binary from the system‑wide Firefox install.
Keep Nightly up to date
Nightly updates every few days. The easiest way is to replace the folder with a fresh tarball:
sudo rm -rf /opt/firefox-nightly
# repeat the download+extract steps above
You could script this, but honestly it’s not worth the overhead – just run the two commands when you notice a new version in the “About Firefox” dialog.
When to stick with the beta instead of Nightly
If you need relatively stable features (e.g., WebGPU support that landed in beta) but can’t tolerate frequent crashes, go with Firefox Next. Nightly is great for chasing the newest APIs, but it also drags along experimental UI tweaks that sometimes break extensions I rely on.
Removing the snap version completely
The default snap still lives under /snap/firefox. To avoid confusion:
sudo snap remove firefox
Now your system only sees the .deb (or Nightly) you installed, and firefox in the terminal launches the beta build.
That’s it – you’ve swapped out Ubuntu’s locked‑down Firefox for a version that actually lets you test what’s coming next. Have fun breaking things, then fixing them again!
