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Agreed. The thing that pisses me off, is that Amazon video doesn't even support Chromecast for streaming, how hard would it be to code that in? I bought firefly

Agreed. The thing that pisses me off, is that Amazon video doesn't even support Chromecast for streaming, how hard would it be to code that in? I bought firefly from amazon thinking I could easily stream it to my chromecast, but nope.. -- I won't get amazon video, or support any of there video things till I can. They need to let bygones be bygones and accept each others apps/gadget/technology to make it so each other is a success. They're more a symbiotic relationship than rivals imho.

kuschku 9y ago
> how hard would it be to code that in? How hard is it to support a protocol that the vendor obfuscates, and changes frequently, to prevent you from streaming to it? Interesting question. From my own experiences trying to build an open source library to stream to it (and to receive streams): Very hard when the vendor is Google. The only way to stream to Chromecasts is with Google’s proprietary library, and Google will only license that to Amazon once Amazon kills their own App Store.
- dhoulb 9y ago
  Is the last part about licensing true (or sourced from somewhere)? Surely Amazon could just drop the Cast library into their iPhone and Android apps and they’d be all set? I can’t see Google stopping them (well maybe they would now it’s escalated, but they wouldn’t have last year.) I assumed not supporting Cast was just an excuse not to stock Chromecasts etc on Amazon. BTW I totally agree with the frustration of the Cast protocol not being more open, a tonne of cool standalone ‘browser on TV’ usecases like screensharing/dashboards/multiscreen aren’t possible on Chromecast (and it sucks). I assume they’re under a load of pressure from MPAA type groups to keep it locked down. (As though the TV is some holy box that must be protected.)
  - kuschku 9y ago
    > Surely Amazon could just drop the Cast library into their iPhone and Android apps and they’d be all set? The cast library doesn’t contain any of the code required to cast – all that code is in the Google Play Services in the system app, not in the library. And you can obviously understand how Amazon can’t just reuse that.
    - dragonwriter 9y ago
      They could certainly do it in their Android and iOS apps. They can't on their Kindle apps, since Kindle is AOSP-based but not Android.
      - kuschku 9y ago
        Android is an OS – specifically, the AOSP projects result, the Google Play services are only available in the Google Play distribution of Android. So Amazon can’t do it in their Android apps, unless they create a special version for Google Play Android. But Amazon – like many other developers, including myself – refuses to create different versions for different Android distributions. Other Android distributions that are also excluded include MIUI, Replicant, LineageOS, CopperheadOS, and Androidx86.
        dragonwriter 9y ago
        > Android is an OS – specifically, the AOSP projects result, No, Android is a trademark which designates the branded, proprietary-but-open-core OS developed by Google and licensed to handset and other device makers. AOSP is an open source codebase which forms part of the codebase of Android. > So Amazon can’t do it in their Android apps, unless they create a special version for Google Play Android There is no such thing; that's just Android. Pop > Other Android distributions that are also excluded include MIUI, Replicant, LineageOS, CopperheadOS, and Androidx86. No, those are other AOSP-derived OSs, which can run some subset of Android apps.
- tinus_hn 9y ago
  Receiving stream as if you are a Chromecast in an open source form is not likely to work because DRM.
  - kuschku 9y ago
    Interestingly, in the beginning it did. Without any DRM. Later on, at least YouTube, Play Music, and similar streams worked nicely. This was especially nice because so many apps support the protocol. Sadly, in the end, I gave up on trying to stream to my computer via that protocol, because almost every week Google broke compatibility, and I was simply pissed. And the real chromecast I have, I can’t use, because it doesn’t support WPA Enterprise.
- gremlinsinc 9y ago
  can't amazon create a play store bridge where if amazon needs to use a play service it opens the bridge and does it through the other app? Wouldn't work on kindle devices without google play, etc... but fuck those, I just need it to work on my Moto v4. Don't know why Amazon has to control the app store anyways, I much prefer Play and won't buy any amazon devices till they have native support of ALL google apps via google play.
skybrian 9y ago
It mostly works for me using Chrome on a MacBook to play Amazon video and casting the tab to Chromecast. However, I do have to disconnect and reconnect the Chromecast occasionally. Maybe a Roku would be more reliable?
- gremlinsinc 9y ago
  I hate/refuse to cast tabs, it's buggy/ugly and I don't like it personally. If I can't pass the stream to chromecast, I just don't do it. I prefer to do all my streaming from my phone not laptop too, using one of the webcast apps that can cast any web page's videos to chromecast.

kuschku 9y ago

> how hard would it be to code that in? How hard is it to support a protocol that the vendor obfuscates, and changes frequently, to prevent you from streaming to it? Interesting question. From my own experiences trying to build an open source library to stream to it (and to receive streams): Very hard when the vendor is Google. The only way to stream to Chromecasts is with Google’s proprietary library, and Google will only license that to Amazon once Amazon kills their own App Store.

dhoulb 9y ago
Is the last part about licensing true (or sourced from somewhere)? Surely Amazon could just drop the Cast library into their iPhone and Android apps and they’d be all set? I can’t see Google stopping them (well maybe they would now it’s escalated, but they wouldn’t have last year.) I assumed not supporting Cast was just an excuse not to stock Chromecasts etc on Amazon. BTW I totally agree with the frustration of the Cast protocol not being more open, a tonne of cool standalone ‘browser on TV’ usecases like screensharing/dashboards/multiscreen aren’t possible on Chromecast (and it sucks). I assume they’re under a load of pressure from MPAA type groups to keep it locked down. (As though the TV is some holy box that must be protected.)
- kuschku 9y ago
  > Surely Amazon could just drop the Cast library into their iPhone and Android apps and they’d be all set? The cast library doesn’t contain any of the code required to cast – all that code is in the Google Play Services in the system app, not in the library. And you can obviously understand how Amazon can’t just reuse that.
  - dragonwriter 9y ago
    They could certainly do it in their Android and iOS apps. They can't on their Kindle apps, since Kindle is AOSP-based but not Android.
    - kuschku 9y ago
      Android is an OS – specifically, the AOSP projects result, the Google Play services are only available in the Google Play distribution of Android. So Amazon can’t do it in their Android apps, unless they create a special version for Google Play Android. But Amazon – like many other developers, including myself – refuses to create different versions for different Android distributions. Other Android distributions that are also excluded include MIUI, Replicant, LineageOS, CopperheadOS, and Androidx86.
      - dragonwriter 9y ago
        > Android is an OS – specifically, the AOSP projects result, No, Android is a trademark which designates the branded, proprietary-but-open-core OS developed by Google and licensed to handset and other device makers. AOSP is an open source codebase which forms part of the codebase of Android. > So Amazon can’t do it in their Android apps, unless they create a special version for Google Play Android There is no such thing; that's just Android. Pop > Other Android distributions that are also excluded include MIUI, Replicant, LineageOS, CopperheadOS, and Androidx86. No, those are other AOSP-derived OSs, which can run some subset of Android apps.
tinus_hn 9y ago
Receiving stream as if you are a Chromecast in an open source form is not likely to work because DRM.
- kuschku 9y ago
  Interestingly, in the beginning it did. Without any DRM. Later on, at least YouTube, Play Music, and similar streams worked nicely. This was especially nice because so many apps support the protocol. Sadly, in the end, I gave up on trying to stream to my computer via that protocol, because almost every week Google broke compatibility, and I was simply pissed. And the real chromecast I have, I can’t use, because it doesn’t support WPA Enterprise.
gremlinsinc 9y ago
can't amazon create a play store bridge where if amazon needs to use a play service it opens the bridge and does it through the other app? Wouldn't work on kindle devices without google play, etc... but fuck those, I just need it to work on my Moto v4. Don't know why Amazon has to control the app store anyways, I much prefer Play and won't buy any amazon devices till they have native support of ALL google apps via google play.

skybrian 9y ago

It mostly works for me using Chrome on a MacBook to play Amazon video and casting the tab to Chromecast. However, I do have to disconnect and reconnect the Chromecast occasionally. Maybe a Roku would be more reliable?

gremlinsinc 9y ago
I hate/refuse to cast tabs, it's buggy/ugly and I don't like it personally. If I can't pass the stream to chromecast, I just don't do it. I prefer to do all my streaming from my phone not laptop too, using one of the webcast apps that can cast any web page's videos to chromecast.