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Ask HN: Why is Google search different on mobile Firefox compared to Chrome?

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Re: Ask HN: Why is Google search different on mobile Firefox compared to Chrome?

#11

Post by asadotzler »

dmitrygr wrote: post #9
paulintrognon wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well according to st3fan, "If you change the User Agent to Chrome you can see that it works pretty well on Firefox actually." That means that they removed features on firefox on purpuse right? Or does that just mean they implemented their feature "for chrome only", checking the user agent to make sure it works on chrome only? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20489237

Oftentimes a team at Google doesn't have the QA resources to test configuration X. In that case to avoid a potentially bad experience, feature Y is often gated to tested configs and and disabled for X, leaving X with the old experience since it had been tested on X. Why does QA test only Chrome? Well if there is only enough QA time to test one browser, imagine having to be the guy to explain to the higher ups why it…

Google employs over 100,000 people. They have the resources to test configuration X.

Re: Ask HN: Why is Google search different on mobile Firefox compared to Chrome?

#13

Post by kirb »

ggggtez wrote: post #2

>AMP isn't available on mobile firefox >it's Google's fault somehow Is this just begging for karma? There isn't even version or OS info. How is anyone going to actually discuss this other than just arguing blindly?

This happens on every device I have Firefox Android installed on, since I started using Firefox on Android maybe 2 years ago, up until the current beta release today. As another commenter pointed out, it seems to work fine if you use a UA switcher to fake Chrome Android on google.com. Besides, AMP isn’t browser-specific. AMP pages render properly in Firefox when I tap AMP articles from the Google News app.

Re: Ask HN: Why is Google search different on mobile Firefox compared to Chrome?

#14

Post by deogeo »

amelius wrote: post #3

> Isn't this a bit anti competitive and alarming? Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by laziness. (Variation on Hanlon's razor)

This logic leads one to conclude corporations are almost never malicious - they're just too lazy/frugal to test features on competing browsers/support patent-free filesystems/follow fire-safety codes/test aircraft electronics/recall HIV-tainted blood.

Re: Ask HN: Why is Google search different on mobile Firefox compared to Chrome?

#15

Post by m-p-3 »

ggggtez wrote: post #2

>AMP isn't available on mobile firefox >it's Google's fault somehow Is this just begging for karma? There isn't even version or OS info. How is anyone going to actually discuss this other than just arguing blindly?

>AMP isn't available on mobile firefox

Kind of a blessing in disguise. I still have an addon that redirect AMP pages to their original URLs.

And to be honest, I switched to DDG and I don't miss anything really.

Re: Ask HN: Why is Google search different on mobile Firefox compared to Chrome?

#16

Post by syockit »

asadotzler wrote: post #11
dmitrygr wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oftentimes a team at Google doesn't have the QA resources to test configuration X. In that case to avoid a potentially bad experience, feature Y is often gated to tested configs and and disabled for X, leaving X with the old experience since it had been tested on X. Why does QA test only Chrome? Well if there is only enough QA time to test one browser, imagine having to be the guy to explain to the higher ups why it…

Google employs over 100,000 people. They have the resources to test configuration X.

That's not how big organizations work. Having 100,000 people doesn't translate to having proportionally as many people with skills to do testing and QA. Human resources are not really that fluid.

Re: Ask HN: Why is Google search different on mobile Firefox compared to Chrome?

#17

Post by asadotzler »

syockit wrote: post #16
asadotzler wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google employs over 100,000 people. They have the resources to test configuration X.

That's not how big organizations work. Having 100,000 people doesn't translate to having proportionally as many people with skills to do testing and QA. Human resources are not really that fluid.

I'd wager $1 that if the order came down from @sundarpichai to test in a particular browser, it would happen within hours not days. They have the resources.

Re: Ask HN: Why is Google search different on mobile Firefox compared to Chrome?

#18

Post by nullwasamistake »

st3fan wrote: post #4

If you change the User Agent to Chrome you can see that it works pretty well on Firefox actually.

Yes. Google has been doing this for years, they serve a degraded version of YouTube as well.

Get an add-on to change your user-agent to latest chrome

Re: Ask HN: Why is Google search different on mobile Firefox compared to Chrome?

#20

Post by theturtletalks »

1drr wrote: post #7
ggggtez wrote: post #2

>AMP isn't available on mobile firefox >it's Google's fault somehow Is this just begging for karma? There isn't even version or OS info. How is anyone going to actually discuss this other than just arguing blindly?

I created a new account to post this, so I have no interest in Karma. It was just something that I noticed when I switched from mobile Chrome to Firefox. You don't have to discuss this blindly, just pull your phone and test for yourself, it'll only take you 2 seconds. My phone has Android 8.0, Firefox Mobile 68.0

I think his point is that Firefox should integrate with AMP. Now I’m not sure if Google puts obstacles in place to make this harder, but wasn’t AMP recently open sourced?
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