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Firefox Is Now Available On Amazon's Fire TV, Bringing YouTube Access With It (techradar.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the web-based-workaround dept.

Mozilla has announced that its Firefox web browser is now available on all Fire TV devices. While navigating web browsers on televisions isn't the most user-friendly experience, it could be the only way users can access YouTube. Earlier this month, Google pulled YouTube off the Fire TV and Echo Show since Amazon stopped selling several Google products. TechRadar reports: Though there's no explicit 'hey, this is a convenient workaround' section in Mozilla's announcement of the news, there is a section of the blog post which states that users can "go to YouTube and other sites directly from the Firefox for Fire TV home screen" and another which promises access to videos from "YouTube and other popular sites." While the companies are currently in talks to resolve their disagreements, Google's threat to pull YouTube access from the Fire TV line on January 1, 2018, is still hanging over Amazon. This threat is, however, now carries slightly less menace if Firefox browser access remains a workaround.

49 comments

  1. Will Firefox be a workaround for long? by Monster_user · · Score: 1

    Is Google not in a position to block the user agent string for Firefox for Fire TV? Net Neutrality has been repealed, any other rules in place to prevent this?

    1. Re:Will Firefox be a workaround for long? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      That wouldn't stop addons that changed the user agent string.

    2. Re:Will Firefox be a workaround for long? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you think net neutrality would have prevented Google from blocking based on user agent string, then you don't understand how the Internet works.

      Hint: Network neutrality was about the network that connects the client devices to websites. It did not require a website to actually offer service to a given client.

      (ELY5: Imagine an ice cream truck. Network neutrality said the road company can't force the ice cream truck to take a detour or close the road between the ice cream factory and your house, but nobody told the ice cream truck that it actually had to serve you free ice cream -- that's still up to the ice cream truck driver.)

    3. Re: Will Firefox be a workaround for long? by Monster_user · · Score: 2

      A decent level of tech savvy is required to know the nature of the issue, and to know of the existence of a means to resolve it.

      Remember, most people who look for a work-around use Google or YouTube. As Alphabet/Google controls both entities, it can affect how accessible work-arounds are.

    4. Re:Will Firefox be a workaround for long? by penix1 · · Score: 1

      They are acting like Firefox is the only workaround for getting to YouTube. There is, of course, Kodi which has a Kodi supported (in their repository) YouTube plugin. That is if YouTube is worth it these days. I haven't done anything on YouTube at all this year.

      --
      This is a sig. This is only a sig. Had this been an actual sig you would have been informed where to tune for more sigs.
    5. Re:Will Firefox be a workaround for long? by Hal_Porter · · Score: 1

      Net Neutrality meant 'regulating ISPs under Title II'. It doesn't have anything to do with Google and Amazon blocking each others products on their platforms.

      In fact both Google and Amazon wanted ISPs - though of course not themselves - regulated under Title II.

      --
      echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
    6. Re: Will Firefox be a workaround for long? by Monster_user · · Score: 2

      The spirit of Net Neutrality is what might have influenced Google's position.

      Right now Google owns the largest provider of "free" streaming content on the internet. Restricting a hardware provider from accessing that content isn't neutral.

      Although, I had forgottent that Amazon is guilty of a terms of use violation. This all began because Amazon was selling an "ad free" device without any other means of compensating Google/YouTube and channel owners for the service itself. Firefox may indeed be a work-around, as log as it plays the ads it is supposed to play.

    7. Re: Will Firefox be a workaround for long? by reboot246 · · Score: 1

      YouTube on Fire TV originally didn't play ads, but that was changed a long time ago. The app now plays ads before the video starts, and on some longer videos, part way through the video.

      Accessing YouTube using Amazon's Silk browser also means seeing ads. I don't know about FireFox yet because I haven't installed it. It probably shows ads, too.

      Both are clunky workarounds, and if this continues, I'll just get a cheap Roku and switch between Roku and FireTV. I wouldn't go full-Roku because FireTV is better and faster.

      But it wasn't all about the ads. It was mostly about Amazon not selling Google streaming devices.

    8. Re: Will Firefox be a workaround for long? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But you only need a WhatsApp or Twitter message to tell your contacts the name of the plugin and the Firefox menu entry where they can get it.

    9. Re: Will Firefox be a workaround for long? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      big pissing contest, and users are the ones getting splashed.

    10. Re: Will Firefox be a workaround for long? by Hal_Porter · · Score: 1

      The problem with saying 'the spirit of Net Neutrality' is that in the US 'Net Neutrality' meant 'regulating ISPs under Title II as Common Carriers'. Since neither Amazon nor Google were not ISPs them blocking each other wouldn't violate the FCC's rules.

      Laws don't have a 'spirit', all that matters is the details of the law. And in fact if people are trying to convince you to support a law because its 'spirit' they're probably trying to draw your attention away from some of those details.

      --
      echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
    11. Re:Will Firefox be a workaround for long? by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 1

      They are acting like Firefox is the only workaround for getting to YouTube. There is, of course, Kodi which has a Kodi supported (in their repository) YouTube plugin. That is if YouTube is worth it these days. I haven't done anything on YouTube at all this year.

      That was my thought. I wonder if FF on FTV even has a use-able 10 ft interface, on YouTube or in general.

    12. Re:Will Firefox be a workaround for long? by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 1

      Yup. Net Neutrality says nothing about blocking stuff at the end device level.

    13. Re: Will Firefox be a workaround for long? by Monster_user · · Score: 1

      My thoughts about NN may have missed the mark, but the "spirit" or "intent" of a law matters.

      The spirit of a law is in the goals or ideal it was created to uphold. The hope it was created to protect.

      Focusing on the letter of the law is a concession of the many failures of humanity.

    14. Re: Will Firefox be a workaround for long? by Junta · · Score: 1

      Oh there's clearly a broader "spirit" of most laws, the general mindset that would extend the principles of a law to related areas not explicitly covered. However to believe that Google gives a crap about the spirit of net neutrality when it serves their interests to go the other way and the letter of the law allows the is naive.

      Case in point, all this went down when net neutrality was formally the case and ostensibly when Google's rhetoric about net neutrality being a good thing was at a peak. That would seem very inconsistent with dropping FireOS device support, but they really did not care.

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    15. Re: Will Firefox be a workaround for long? by Hal_Porter · · Score: 1

      Both Google and Facebook were involved in this project which was non Net Neutral.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Basics

      --
      echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
    16. Re: Will Firefox be a workaround for long? by jfisherwa · · Score: 1

      They just need to use the same User-agent string as the PC.

    17. Re:Will Firefox be a workaround for long? by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      Is Google not in a position to block the user agent string for Firefox for Fire TV? Net Neutrality has been repealed, any other rules in place to prevent this?

      Net Neutrality would not have prevented Google from doing that anyway. It only prevented ISPs from doing it, not content providers from blocking access. If it did something like that, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and the other big providers would never have supported it.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    18. Re: Will Firefox be a workaround for long? by JackieBrown · · Score: 1

      My thoughts about NN may have missed the mark, but the "spirit" or "intent" of a law matters.

      Well it does indicate your knowledge of what Net Neutrality actually is which helps us judge the merit of your other posts related to this topic.

      Focusing on the letter of the law is a concession of the many failures of humanity.

      Would you feel the same if you were arrested for violating the "spirit of the law"?

    19. Re: Will Firefox be a workaround for long? by Monster_user · · Score: 1

      Net Neutrality is about keeping services available across the entire internet, within reason.

      Amazon's removal of the Google device from the online store doesn't match with NN.

      However, Google's blocking of a device from accessing their site is remarkably similar, and potentially has the same implications. If devices can't connect, except to authorized resources, then how is that any different from a tiered web?

      I'll admit, NN remains a greater concern, but the question is, by how much?

  2. bonus points if mozilla got paid for this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    amazon funding development at mozilla, who also gets paid by google for search engine placement, as a workaround to google's hissy-fit would be oh, so, delicious.

  3. you can pay $1500 for a TV by mapkinase · · Score: 2

    ...but it will still be just an advertisement platform.

    Google pulled YouTube off the Fire TV and Echo Show since Amazon stopped selling several Google products.

    One day the whole concept of advertisement will be forbidden as transfats in food or ganja from the stores, that is as a vile violation of human health. In this case: mental health.

    Endless repetition (hundreds of times) of the same utterly useless crap to the ears of the same person should be declared a crime.

    I hope to live to that day when you can enjoy the site of the Flatiron building without flashy animated posters splattered over all corners of Times Square, so I can turn TV on and watch a full episode of Frasier in 20 minutes instead of one hour.

    Try turning off ADP and NoScript on your Firefox for a day. It's like if you put your glasses on in They Live. Myriad of annoying visual and audio pests coming at your face with persistent of steppe locusts. Incessant barrage of useless repetitions.

    It's your brain, people. Protect it at all costs, don't get it washed by Pepsi Cola concoctions.

    --
    I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
    1. Re:you can pay $1500 for a TV by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can also pay $50000 for a car, and be under continuous supervision by the manufacturer, who will then sell our data.

    2. Re:you can pay $1500 for a TV by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Endless repetition (hundreds of times) of the same utterly useless crap to the ears of the same person should be declared a crime

      Yep, like this one: https://youtu.be/2soNIkzS0m4 (I'm a Professional Cowboy & I Use Catheters)

  4. Fire TV - Breaking News by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    Trump will sit in prison, with his son-in-law, with his "I'd do her if she weren't my" daughter, and all his inside and outside cronies.

    ALL.
    LOCKED.
    UP.

    Fitting end to this ass.

    1. Re:Fire TV - Breaking News by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fresh air. You should go outside and get some.

    2. Re:Fire TV - Breaking News by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Things that are controversial get my aroused.

  5. Always a workaround by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think Google would like to turn Youtube into a pay wall service. But frankly I don't think that will ever happen. The petty squabbles between these companies over content is rather embarrassing to both. Even Apple has finally agreed to carry Amazon Prime simply because the importance of having choice is much more important then protecting your own content ecosystem.

  6. I thought they'd settled? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I thought that Amazon had agreed to start selling AppleTV and Chromecast again?

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/12/19/amazon-sell-apple-tv-google-chromecast-again-after-spat/964099001/

    So presumably Google will unblock Amazon Fire devices' access to YouTube...

    1. Re: I thought they'd settled? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nope.

      Go to Amazon and search for Chromecast. The first hit is FireTV, then other streaming devices, but no real Chromecasts.

  7. Modern WebTV. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is certainly a good test at seeing just how far ahead WebTV was.

  8. Good match by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    TVs are great for watching advertisements and now Mozilla can sneak some in through the browser as well. Great move!

  9. They all need to grow up by Cloud+K · · Score: 1

    and stop involving innocent consumers in their stupid school playground squabbles. There is no technical reason I should have to have a Google box, an Amazon box and an Apple box because the childish fucks are determined to shut each other out. It's wasteful (energy, material and money), it's unnecessary clutter and I don't even have that many HDMI sockets. There should be enforced standards.

    1. Re: They all need to grow up by Monster_user · · Score: 1

      That is capitalism. Each company has to protect their own interests. It is difficult to guarantee quality of a service you don't own. And allowing your competitor's service to run in an inferior manner on your device is a recipe for failure.

    2. Re:They all need to grow up by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      If you think it's bad now, just wait until Disney gets their new streaming service and pulls all their content and their new Twenty First Century Fox subsidiary's content off of all the other services...

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    3. Re: They all need to grow up by Cloud+K · · Score: 1

      That is indeed capitalism and why it needs some degree of government control to tame it (see also net neutrality)

    4. Re:They all need to grow up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't even have that many HDMI sockets

      Hell I don't have any, but then I'm not some sort of robot, like you must be.

    5. Re: They all need to grow up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That is indeed capitalism and why it needs some degree of government control to tame it (see also net neutrality)

      Yes, because government control has always worked so well in other cases, like...

      Actually I can't think of any case ever in the history of mankind, but gosh darn it, it will work this time!

    6. Re: They all need to grow up by hjf · · Score: 1

      like fucking 8 hour work days, you stupid troll.

    7. Re:They all need to grow up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is no technical reason I should have to have a Google box, an Amazon box and an Apple box because the childish fucks are determined to shut each other out.

      There's also no non-technical reason you should have any of those three things, either.

      You make consumers sound like the victim here, but they are the ones who chose to buy garbage, when the obvious common-sense thing to do was laugh in those vendors' faces. Those consumers opted into having problems.

      Don't buy proprietary widgets or software, only throw money at those who do conform to standards, and life is easy and you don't get caught in industrial crossfire.

      There should be enforced standards

      Yes, and it's consumers' job to enforce them. Just Say No. Vote against broken shit with your wallet.

    8. Re:They all need to grow up by Cloud+K · · Score: 1

      Name a legal, non-proprietary way of watching, say, Star Trek Discovery. I'll wait.

    9. Re:They all need to grow up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is a solution to this: don't buy *any* of them! More money in your pocket and less stress. Become a net-negative "consumer", and businesses will start noticing. Probably not enough to *change*, but they'll notice. We don't owe corporations our business, in any way, shape, or form. Fuck'em.

  10. Re:You need to grow a pair by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    well, missy, you have never run a multi-national conglomerate, have you! these professionals know what to do to get what is best for their stockholdders, while you, you beat your obviously flat chest on some god forsaken internet forum. do grow a pair.

  11. Re:You need to grow a pair by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Spoken like a true sociopathic douchebag.

  12. Another plug for Waterdfox by ArhcAngel · · Score: 1

    I have a Nexus Player and a Fire tablet and have tried almost every browser available on the platform. Recently the developer for Waterfox started compiling to Android and since I use it on every other platform I can I gave it a try. Sure enough it was hands down the best experience on an Android based device I have had with a browser. And since it retains legacy plugin architecture most of your tried and true plugins should work. It is only compiled to 64 bit so you're out of luck if you're stuck on a 32 bit system.

    --
    "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
  13. Slowpoke meme by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've had a Chromebox with a logitech wireless keyboard/trackpad hooked up to my TV for like 4.5 years now. Web browsing on my TV is as user friendly as any other computer....

  14. Re:You need to grow a pair by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Spoken like a true sociopathic douchebag.

    No, more like a pretend douchebag.

    A true sociopathic douchebag would be busy making presentations with buzzwords without realizing what they sound like.

  15. History repeats itself by sd4f · · Score: 1

    This is the same crap that google pulled on windows phone with its youtube app.

    Bottom line is these companies are jostling for position, and users are just fodder. Google has gone full microsoft!