I've seen sites with Firebase-based logins breaking only with Firefox. The OOTB config works only in Chrome family. Unbreaking Firefox requires this crap:
https://firebase.google.com/docs/auth/web/redirect-best-prac...
Ask HN: Is Google deliberately breaking Firefox?
61–70 of 81 posts
Re: Ask HN: Is Google deliberately breaking Firefox?
#62Main thing I've noticed is missing/fewer features, rather than outright breakage. Particularly Google meet on Firefox missing the fancy background effects and things like that.
Re: Ask HN: Is Google deliberately breaking Firefox?
#63I solved it by avoiding Google products and services, whenever possible.
Re: Ask HN: Is Google deliberately breaking Firefox?
#64I solved it by avoiding Google products and services, whenever possible.
That 'whenever possible' qualifier gets more significant everyday
Re: Ask HN: Is Google deliberately breaking Firefox?
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." (stupidity is the wrong term here, lazyness is more apt). Firefox is a the one different browser with an entirely different pedigree. Assumptions made about _all– other browser will not necessarily hold true for Firefox.
>"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." (stupidity is the wrong term here, lazyness is more apt). Ah, but sufficiently advanced stupidity is indistinguishable from malice
Adding for completeness sake, two things can be simultaneously true.
Re: Ask HN: Is Google deliberately breaking Firefox?
#66I think the youtube streaming issue can be fixed with the h264ify extension. I've had it installed for years and I think that was why I did so.
Re: Ask HN: Is Google deliberately breaking Firefox?
#67Are there people who still watch videos from that cesspit domain called youtube.com?
Do yourself a favour and use Libretube/NewPipe/Tartube/mpv, or any other youtube-dl/yt-dlp based wrapper.
No trackers, no ads whose aggregate duration is longer than the video itself, no idiotic Google employees who regularly break the UI, no aggressive policies against adblockers or any other extensions that you want to use.
Avoiding youtube.com and making sure that not a single dime goes in Google's pockets for providing such a shitty service is a moral duty. Directly fund video creators through Patreon/PayPal if you want to feel less guilty.
Re: Ask HN: Is Google deliberately breaking Firefox?
#68I don't have much problems (Firefox on Mac) but seeing how many others complain I guess it is just a matter of time before I get moved to another A/B testing "experiment" testing how much I can endure before I give up and switch to Chrome (it won't happen). Seeing how many of the users report the problem goes away if they let Firefox report as Chrome I personally am rather sure this is intentionally from Googles side…
Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which can adequately be explained by stupidity. I feel its far more likely Google devs are just lazy and don't bother to test in Firefox, much like devs at pretty much every company these days. Unfortunate, but (probably) not part of some deliberate evil plan.
Hanlon's Razor is for applying to single instances.
When you have a long-standing pattern of behavior, you need to start using critical thinking, instead.
Is there a benefit to Google from breaking Firefox?
Yes, clearly.
Does Google have the technical competency to avoid breaking Firefox if they want to?
I would say this is very likely.
If you misapply Hanlon's Razor where it's no longer appropriate, you're liable to cut yourself off from the truth.
Re: Ask HN: Is Google deliberately breaking Firefox?
#69I faced this too but I attributed it to some obscure bug or setup issue. Seems like I am not alone.
Google sheets takes forever to load (Just 150 records on the biggest sheet. 9 other sheets with paltry records). Any keypress or scroll takes 10 seconds or more to take effect. I am torn between getting work done and being annoyed by how I am forced to use Chrome. Didn't yield, yet.
Re: Ask HN: Is Google deliberately breaking Firefox?
#70I don't have much problems (Firefox on Mac) but seeing how many others complain I guess it is just a matter of time before I get moved to another A/B testing "experiment" testing how much I can endure before I give up and switch to Chrome (it won't happen). Seeing how many of the users report the problem goes away if they let Firefox report as Chrome I personally am rather sure this is intentionally from Googles side…
Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which can adequately be explained by stupidity. I feel its far more likely Google devs are just lazy and don't bother to test in Firefox, much like devs at pretty much every company these days. Unfortunate, but (probably) not part of some deliberate evil plan.
At a certain size, making sure ones company doesn't destroy whole ecosystems should be a management responsibility.
Also, as pointed out by others, when again and again these stupidities benefits the bottom line there is good reason to ask if someone somewhere doesn't have a bonus that goes up with every mistake.