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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

#111

Post by vetinari »

bighi wrote: post #90
vetinari wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm using Firefox and I care to have a browser, that does not spy on me.

Oh no, not the spying argument again...

The following Google APIs are used by Chrome and Chromium:

- Chrome Remote Desktop - Chrome Spelling API - Chrome Suggest API - Chrome Sync API - Chrome Translate Element - Google Maps Geolocation API - Safe Browsing API - Speech API - Time Zone API - Google Cloud Messaging for Chrome - Drive API (Optional, enable this for Files.app on Chrome OS and SyncFileSystem API) - Google Now For Chrome API (Optional, enabled to show Google Now cards) - Google+ API

Source: http://www.chromium.org/developers/how-tos/api-keys

Google has a nice source of behavior data there. They also went out of way with annoying the user, if his build does not use the Google APIs (a notification, that cannot be permanently dismissed).

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

#112

Post by jagtesh »

I think we're just making a big deal out of this. As someone pointed out, they're likely using technologies not implemented in other browsers yet. Has the OP tried using play store on Aurora? In any case, I feel Google has the ethical and moral right to use whatever they see fit for their own web applications.

And let this be said people, this isn't something new. Not even from Google. Inbox doesn't work on non-chrome browsers.

Even apple restricts using iCloud anything other than Safari. So, why the commotion?

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

#113

Post by rburhum »

Galanwe wrote: post #71
k-mcgrady wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Although I don't support what they're doing I can guess the response here based on past responses: They are using new technology that's currently only available in Chrome but available to other browsers to implement and therefore they are pushing the web forward. I'm not sure if that applies to this specific case but that's usually the excuse.

Yeah, that's also how ActiveX were sold...

and flash

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

#114

Post by jimktrains2 »

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #108
oblio wrote: post #102

This is a dangerous slope. And I'm sad seeing many of the arguments here - a wild guess is that they've been made by people who weren't here (or have forgotten) the Microsoft/IE story. Soon it will become: "Why would they invest resources? Firefox is a niche browser, the return on investment is not justified". After all, Firefox's market share is dwindling. I really hope we're not slowly being boiled like the proverb…

Weren't we all applauding some startup that had a douche-bagy "We dont support IE" message on their site and everyone here was so excited about it. Now that the bell is tolling for Firefox, its a different story, eh? There's been this largely ridiculous "revenge of the geeks" after the IE6 days. Now we've fed so much fuel into that fire, that casually telling people to use different browsers is the norm. I'm not sayi…

“Anyone who slaps a ‘this page is best viewed with Browser X’ label on a Web page appears to be yearning for the bad old days, before the Web, when you had very little chance of reading a document written on another computer, another word processor, or another network.” – Tim Berners-Lee (in Technology Review, July 1996)

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

#115

Post by ocdtrekkie »

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #108
oblio wrote: post #102

This is a dangerous slope. And I'm sad seeing many of the arguments here - a wild guess is that they've been made by people who weren't here (or have forgotten) the Microsoft/IE story. Soon it will become: "Why would they invest resources? Firefox is a niche browser, the return on investment is not justified". After all, Firefox's market share is dwindling. I really hope we're not slowly being boiled like the proverb…

Weren't we all applauding some startup that had a douche-bagy "We dont support IE" message on their site and everyone here was so excited about it. Now that the bell is tolling for Firefox, its a different story, eh? There's been this largely ridiculous "revenge of the geeks" after the IE6 days. Now we've fed so much fuel into that fire, that casually telling people to use different browsers is the norm. I'm not sayi…

Yup. Holding a ten-year grudge against Microsoft is going to bite people in the end.

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

#116

Post by ocdtrekkie »

josteink wrote: post #14

Hi Google. Remember those non-evil days where you said you cared about web-standards and actually acted according to those claims? Those days were great. Feel free to get back to those.

I read an old blog post recently, that Google published in 2009. It felt like a eulogy of the company I once adored: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/meaning-of-open.html

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

#117

Post by jagtesh »

jagtesh wrote: post #112

I think we're just making a big deal out of this. As someone pointed out, they're likely using technologies not implemented in other browsers yet. Has the OP tried using play store on Aurora? In any case, I feel Google has the ethical and moral right to use whatever they see fit for their own web applications. And let this be said people, this isn't something new. Not even from Google. Inbox doesn't work on non-chrom…

For the person who just downvoted me, I'd like to know why. Since when is making our opinions heard a bad thing on HN? I never said agree with me. Shouldn't downvoting be restricted to offensive posts?

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

#118

Post by droopybuns »

This seems consistent with the other poor design decision in the play store: no anonymous app reviews.

A team that forces you to compromise your anonymity in order to write a positive app review has no qualms about forcing you to use a different browser. That team must be filled with former MS employees.

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

#119

Post by higherpurpose »

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #108
oblio wrote: post #102

This is a dangerous slope. And I'm sad seeing many of the arguments here - a wild guess is that they've been made by people who weren't here (or have forgotten) the Microsoft/IE story. Soon it will become: "Why would they invest resources? Firefox is a niche browser, the return on investment is not justified". After all, Firefox's market share is dwindling. I really hope we're not slowly being boiled like the proverb…

Weren't we all applauding some startup that had a douche-bagy "We dont support IE" message on their site and everyone here was so excited about it. Now that the bell is tolling for Firefox, its a different story, eh? There's been this largely ridiculous "revenge of the geeks" after the IE6 days. Now we've fed so much fuel into that fire, that casually telling people to use different browsers is the norm. I'm not sayi…

There were good reasons for not supporting IE because they weren't adhering to standards. That's not the case with Firefox. That was closer to saying "we shouldn't support Chrome because it breaks standards" than "we shouldn't support Firefox because it has small market share".

The main reason for not supporting IE was its anti-standards stance, not its market share. I think that's a perfectly valid reason, just like saying "I don't want to support Chrome because of its promotion of DRM in browsers".

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

#120

Post by pjc50 »

jaredmcateer wrote: post #78
wernercd wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you think it's a good experience? I can't count the number of times I'm annoyed when I click on a link to a website - say, clicking a link on news.google.com or a link here - get moved to that website and BAM there is a "you want to use our app. Click here to download it." No. I don't want your F(!&^NG app. I want your website. Don't show me that. The next time I go to the same website? BAM! Go To Our App p…

That's not the same thing that is being discussed here. What's being discussed is that you click, for example, a youtube link in your web browser and android opens up the youtube app to view the video. Android will give you the choice to open it up in a variety of supported applications, including the browser, you can set your permanent preference if you want to not be asked again.

How does one override this? It's especially annoying with e.g. youtube links in twitter - twitter hides it behind a URL shortener, takes me to the browser to load the URL, discovers it's youtube and tries to bounce me into the app. I'd much prefer to be left in the browser.
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