Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Tell HN: Skype on web does not support Firefox

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 166 posts

Re: Tell HN: Skype on web does not support Firefox

#141

Post by cies »

JeremyNT wrote: post #129
realusername wrote: post #4

The worst is that just changing the user agent makes everything work.

There has been so much loving praise of Microsoft on hn lately, while they would continue to use their same old tricks. A similar case is MS Teams, which won't enable audio or video on Firefox Linux without spoofing the ua as well. This is especially insidious since so many companies are already locked into the MS ecosystem, users have no choice but to use edge or chrome and IT departments will start wondering why th…

Agreed. This is shameful behavior, and we should call 'm out on this.

Re: Tell HN: Skype on web does not support Firefox

#142

Post by aphextim »

falcolas wrote: post #138
aphextim wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I bet if there was a one-click to install firefox with ad-blocker and some other stuff enabled by default people would start switching. Check out Brave, been getting my friends to switch as it has a built in blocker that is even more verbose than ublock. Works on mobile as well which helps them save data and load websites faster. https://brave.com/

Isn't this the same browser that by default allows through certain ads to fund its own development? Or that has replaced ads on web pages with its own approved ads?

They do allow you to opt in and get up to 5 ads per hour to receive a small amount of cryptocurrency BAT. This is optional however and you are not required to do this.

This happens in the background as you are browsing and it isn't like an ad that pops up or a video you have to watch. They don't interrupt your browsing experience is what I am getting at if you do opt in.

Re: Tell HN: Skype on web does not support Firefox

#143

Post by amaccuish »

gregdoesit wrote: post #73
realusername wrote: post #4

The worst is that just changing the user agent makes everything work.

As above, I was on the Skype for Web launch team. While chat will probably work, as it doesn't have anything browser-specific, I am not sure video/audio calls will be reliable. Even if they work now, that flow is no longer tested or fixed if it breaks on Firefox. The downloadable video/audio plugin on Windows and Mac, supporting Firefox is the expensive part that the team likely stopped supporting.

So, I don't have this Skype plugin on firefox but changing the UA makes skype work? Presumably it's working now via WebRTC so I don't understand why they can't allow Firefox as well.

Re: Tell HN: Skype on web does not support Firefox

#144

Post by skykooler »

aphextim wrote: post #52
phkahler wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Getting rid of ads IS a compelling reason to switch. People will switch if the default is better. They dont want to get a new browser, pick and install an ad blocker, then configure that stuff. People will stop at the slightest uncertainty. I bet if there was a one-click to install firefox with ad-blocker and some other stuff enabled by default people would start switching. Installing, extensions, configuration, thos…

>I bet if there was a one-click to install firefox with ad-blocker and some other stuff enabled by default people would start switching. Check out Brave, been getting my friends to switch as it has a built in blocker that is even more verbose than ublock. Works on mobile as well which helps them save data and load websites faster. https://brave.com/

Which is based on Chromium, and therefore does nothing to help with the Google web monopoly.

Re: Tell HN: Skype on web does not support Firefox

#146

Post by vetinari »

zsrxx wrote: post #92
jacquesm wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 'supported browsers' are browsers that you lose customers if you don't support. That's a great attitude towards your users. No, you, the vendor, adapt to what your users bring. That is the standard that the web was built around. Lazy developers that only wish to cater to the one browser that they have on their desk and that refuse to recognize that the world is a bit larger than their minimal view (including screen…

Firefox is sitting at 8.3% quota in NA and dwindling. It's reasonable not to support it.

Let's keep the numbers in perspective.

The 8,3% (or 9,52%, or whatever) of Firefox users is way, way beyond total Skype users. Firefox has about ~170M users, Skype 4,5M.

Re: Tell HN: Skype on web does not support Firefox

#147

Post by cies »

cameronbrown wrote: post #68
mcv wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are we back to the "built for Netscape 4.7" days? Sites shouldn't support browsers, but standards. By all means check if a browser supports a certain standard, and provide an error message for browsers that are too far behind, but don't ban them simply for having the wrong user agent.

I think so. A solution to this might be to croudsource an extension which changes the User Agent on known good apps (where changing it just works but they've decided not to let you use it).

> known good apps

Correction: known bad apps (where changing it just works but they've decided not to let you use it).

I consider it very shameful behavior, sabotaging the internet.

Re: Tell HN: Skype on web does not support Firefox

#148

Post by GoToRO »

pzmarzly wrote: post #127
GoToRO wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what I got... https://www.facebook.com/i.valentin.maxim/videos/10219098431...

The same happens to me in Chromium and Vivaldi - it looks like most (all?) currencies with postfix currency symbol are broken. Just press left arrow after entering a digit.

I will try it. Thanks.

Re: Tell HN: Skype on web does not support Firefox

#149

Post by debaserab2 »

Spivak wrote: post #117
debaserab2 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can’t imagine making the case to anyone at my work that we can/should voluntarily stop supporting 8.3% of our audience.

- 8.3% average globally doesn't necessarily represent 8.3% of your users or market. - 8.3% is almost much larger than the metric you actually care about -- the percentage of users that will not use Chrome (or your desired set of supported browsers).

Of course, I used that figure because it’s what the poster used. I looked up what it is for the product I work on and it’s actually only 4% — still an order of magnitude larger than it would need to be to consider not supporting it.

The desired set of supported browsers will always come down to metrics.

Re: Tell HN: Skype on web does not support Firefox

#150

Post by cameronbrown »

cies wrote: post #147
cameronbrown wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think so. A solution to this might be to croudsource an extension which changes the User Agent on known good apps (where changing it just works but they've decided not to let you use it).

> known good apps Correction: known bad apps (where changing it just works but they've decided not to let you use it). I consider it very shameful behavior, sabotaging the internet.

Well I meant it as 'apps that work good' when changing the UA string.

But you are right.

Post reply on HN