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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

#141

Post by gsnedders »

whizzkid wrote: post #132

This was an unexpected move from Google. I am guessing they are trying to have singleton system around their app market but this is not how it is supposed to be done. They can give users a unique email address with play store domain and ask them to sign in if they want to give a different user experience to Google users. And you need to have installed Google OS or Chrome in order to get that email address. With this…

> This was an unexpected move from Google

> This is not the first time Google is doing this

Really, this should be no surprise precisely because it's far from the first time; numerous Google properties use UA-sniffing (many in combination with whitelists, which is nothing but badness for the open web, where any standards compliant browser should be fine!). An increasing number are supporting Chrome only at initial launch, which really is sad.

The fact that Opera, who nowadays build on top of the Chromium Content API, have a comment in browser.js after dodging the UA-sniffing saying the following says a lot:

> Google, please make sure your obfuscator does not change class names, so our patch continues working (or stop browser-sniffing as we both use and contribute to Blink!) - love, Opera.

(from https://github.com/operasoftware/browserjs/blob/ceef10b34f63...)

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

#142

Post by [deleted] »

tuxone wrote: post #129
fpgeek wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't true. As I mention in a comment below, Firefox gives you two nicer ways to switch from the web to an app: 1. The droid in the URL bar once the page has loaded. 2. The "Open in an app" alternative in a link's long-press menu, which often tells you which app when the destination is clear.

The point here is that it's not a lack of feature but a lack of user experience. Android Intent Filters [0] should work like that: the user starts an action and the system executes the default behavior (or prompt a choice list). Think about the average user, both ways you described seem poorly user friendly. Sure Google solution is crap, right now following a link to a Play Store app generates this [1], you really ne…

[deleted]

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

#143

Post by dublinben »

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.

Might I recommend the F-Droid market for all your Android app needs.

https://f-droid.org/

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

#144

Post by ProAm »

whizzkid wrote: post #132

This was an unexpected move from Google. I am guessing they are trying to have singleton system around their app market but this is not how it is supposed to be done. They can give users a unique email address with play store domain and ask them to sign in if they want to give a different user experience to Google users. And you need to have installed Google OS or Chrome in order to get that email address. With this…

Im surprised we dont have to sign in to Google+ to use the Play Store.

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

#145

Post by callahad »

Why this is bad: Google is saying "I don't care whether or not your browser can view this site, I won't even let you try."

If more online properties go this way, we effectively give Google the exclusive ability to develop and drive the Web platform at a fundamental level. For instance, Servo, an experimental, highly-parallel rendering engine written in Rust, won't be able to improve the efficiency or security of the Web as a whole if it's not allowed access to the Web in the first place.

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

#148

Post by fluidcruft »

tuxone wrote: post #129
fpgeek wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't true. As I mention in a comment below, Firefox gives you two nicer ways to switch from the web to an app: 1. The droid in the URL bar once the page has loaded. 2. The "Open in an app" alternative in a link's long-press menu, which often tells you which app when the destination is clear.

The point here is that it's not a lack of feature but a lack of user experience. Android Intent Filters [0] should work like that: the user starts an action and the system executes the default behavior (or prompt a choice list). Think about the average user, both ways you described seem poorly user friendly. Sure Google solution is crap, right now following a link to a Play Store app generates this [1], you really ne…

Google made the intent system annoying in Lollypop. Previously you could just touch (well, double touch) the icon of the app you wanted and it would open using that without setting any preference. Now if that app happens to be the top-most one you have to squint at the small light-green-on-white buttons as if a touchscreen were some sort of precision input device.

Honestly, the intent system really sucks for the use case that you mostly want to set a default app but occasionally want to do something different. Basically your choice is "be annoyed all the time" or "never have an option again until you install a new app or go in and delete all the default app's intent preferences".

Long-press/right-click for rarely used obscure options is pretty standard.

I definitely would not hold up Google's intent design UI in Android as some sort UI panacea.

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

#149

Post by gareim »

themartorana wrote: post #121
zanny wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They probably just don't want you accessing the store from a browser on mobile when you can be using their app. I don't think this is some malicious betrayal of trust, even if its a stupid thing to do.

Gave you an up-vote, not sure why you're being down-voted for making a perfectly logical assumption. It's annoying if in fact it's very specifically Firefox Mobile and nothing else, but I agree, if the app has the better experience, they likely want to funnel everyone that way. Edit: aaaand down-voted. What is the actual problem here?

Because as qntmfred said, you can access the store from Chrome.

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

#150

Post by sabret00the »

callahad wrote: post #145

Why this is bad: Google is saying "I don't care whether or not your browser can view this site, I won't even let you try. " If more online properties go this way, we effectively give Google the exclusive ability to develop and drive the Web platform at a fundamental level. For instance, Servo, an experimental, highly-parallel rendering engine written in Rust, won't be able to improve the efficiency or security of the…

What makes this so bad for consumers is that if you search for an app via Google, you can't even open links directly.
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