firefox disable auto update

I'm running Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS and recently installed FireFox (currenlty version 152) using apt install firefox.

When I open Settings/About Firefox, I see the Firefox updates is set to "Updates are managed by your operating system." There doesn't seem to any longer be a setting to check for updates manually or to notify me that an update is available so that I can chose when to do the update.

I opened about:config and changed app.update.auto from True to False, but that had no effect.

The goal here is to disable automatic updates so that I have control over when the updates happen. What are the steps to do this?

I'm okay with Firefox alerting me that an update is available, but I want to control when to apply the update.

Thanks

Ubuntu's default firefox package is just a prompt for Snap to install its version of Firefox. Snap manages its own updates. I'm personally not wild about pausing updates on internet-facing applications but you have a few options:

1. Tell snap to hold off refreshing Firefox

You can pause snap updates per-snap. This is

snap refresh --hold firefox

2. Install the real deb package

You can add the mozillateam PPA and install their version of the firefox package. I'm a NeverSnapper, so have done this myself. This is a two part process because you have to pin their version above the snap-installing version.

echo '
Package: *
Pin: release o=LP-PPA-mozillateam
Pin-Priority: 1001

Package: firefox
Pin: version 1:1snap*
Pin-Priority: -1
' | sudo tee /etc/apt/preferences.d/mozilla-firefox
sudo snap remove firefox
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/ppa
sudo apt install --reinstall firefox

More detail here.

And even then, you still need to manage when it updates. sudo apt-mark hold firefox can stop updates to firefox.

3. Just download and run the unpacked, binary release

Probably the easiest, just download Firefox from Mozilla. Extract the tar.gz and you'll have the directory containing all the Firefox files. I'm not sure how well this will integrate with the rest of the system, but I think this uses the built-into-Firefox software updater, like you'd see in Windows.

But again, just keep in mind that what you're doing could expose you to threats on the internet that a timely update could catch.