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Google Play Store: Browsing with Firefox is no longer supported on Android

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Google Play Store: Browsing with Firefox is no longer supported on Android

#13

Post by s_kilk »

nkuttler wrote: post #10
rquirk wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, just tried it. Firefox not supported, Chrome works fine. It's like Microsoft in the early 2000s all over again.

Hehe, I was just thinking of the 90s.. http://www.anybrowser.org/campaign/ This can't be intentional, can it?

Even if it is intentional, they'll still claim it's an unfortunate mistake and just backpedal from it if the pressure is high enough.

Edit: there really isn't a downside for Google. If no-one complains, then they get a clean shot at locking out a competitor. If they people complain loudly enough, they can just revert the change and pretend like it was a mistake. Within a week the whole episode will be forgotten and they can just cook up another scheme.

Re: Google Play Store: Browsing with Firefox is no longer supported on Android

#16

Post by engendered »

Is this a reasonable complaint? Why would you be browsing the play store from Android in a browser? If you try to open it in the Chrome browser, it just forces you to the play store app, which rather makes sense.

Every platform and browser requires support and attention, and in this case they chose not to support an edge case that really makes no sense, and simply causes usability issues (so how do you install an app from the Play Store in Firefox?). But cue the typical "don't be evil" sorts of comments.

EDIT: Wow, five downvotes within 2 minutes. The Google hate is strong in this case (and is probably a coordinated effort), where an app ignoring Android URL intents is used in a comically irrelevant fashion....don't be evil, hurr durr.

And the decline of HN continues.

Re: Google Play Store: Browsing with Firefox is no longer supported on Android

#18

Post by morganvachon »

engendered wrote: post #16

Is this a reasonable complaint? Why would you be browsing the play store from Android in a browser? If you try to open it in the Chrome browser, it just forces you to the play store app, which rather makes sense. Every platform and browser requires support and attention, and in this case they chose not to support an edge case that really makes no sense, and simply causes usability issues (so how do you install an app…

> But cue the typical "don't be evil" sorts of comments.

If this were an isolated incident, I could see your point. But Google has been steadily closing off services and putting up walls over the past couple of years. It's becoming a trend, and not a good one. In a time when even Microsoft is accepting and supporting open source, Google is increasingly looking like the bad guy with every move like this.

Re: Google Play Store: Browsing with Firefox is no longer supported on Android

#20

Post by dinesh_babu »

nfriedly wrote: post #17

That's a shame. I love Firefox mobile and use it pretty much exclusively, so this just means I'll spend less time browsing the Play Store.

why in god's name would you browse the play store in Firefox instead of the app?
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