5 ms·

I've ran into various comments around the internet/reddit that Google sites like Youtube are slower on Firefox, and that changing the user agent to Chrome fixes

I've ran into various comments around the internet/reddit that Google sites like Youtube are slower on Firefox, and that changing the user agent to Chrome fixes it.

squarefoot 8y ago
No problems here: Waterfox plus usual privacy oriented addons then Hooktube replacing Youtube. Might seem excessive but works like charm. https://www.waterfoxproject.org/en-US/ https://www.waterfoxproject.org/en-US/ https://hooktube.com/ https://hooktube.com/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin... https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere https://www.eff.org/privacybadger https://www.eff.org/privacybadger https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/umatrix/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/umatrix/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/hooktube-redirector/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/hooktube-redi...
- fluffysandwich 8y ago
  Warning: Hooktube link is NSFW. 'Sensual massage' thumbnail on the frontpage...
  - squarefoot 8y ago
    Just checked, you're absolutely right! I always use the redirector addon rather than going to their homepage though and it has been SFW so far.
- sjs382 8y ago
  Just a heads up—HookTube's homepage (at least for the moment?) is very NSFW.
- squarefoot 8y ago
  To all, I can't edit anymore my post to delete it, so just forget about the hooktube address; as others reported it's definitely NSFW while the redirector Firefox addon is safe. I apologize for not checking it before.
izzydata 8y ago
That seems hard to believe as it would imply that they have code specifically to cripple the Firefox experience. It's probably at worst that they intentionally don't optimize their sites for Firefox and not actively making it worse.
- jhowell 8y ago
  > That seems hard to believe as it would imply that they have code specifically to cripple the Firefox experience. I think it's more the case of enhancing the Chrome experience and not doing anything to deliberately impact firefox.
  - izzydata 8y ago
    That is the same as what I suggested. Which would mean that simply changing a user-agent can't make anything run better on firefox.
- bzbarsky 8y ago
  Google does a lot of UA sniffing, and serves different sites to different browsers. The sites served to non-Chrome receive less QA resources, as far as I can tell, and are often buggy in various ways. Simply spoofing the Chrome UA in Firefox on Android can often get you a site that works better (in Firefox) than the one served to Firefox by default.
  - type0 8y ago
    Sometimes this happens on the desktop as well, they optimize for the latest Chrome and the "latest" Firefox ESR - so here we are, Chrome is the reincarnation of IE6'6'6 the definition of evil in the software world.

I've ran into various comments around the internet/reddit that Google sites like Youtube are slower on Firefox, and that changing the user agent to Chrome fixes it.

squarefoot 8y ago

No problems here: Waterfox plus usual privacy oriented addons then Hooktube replacing Youtube. Might seem excessive but works like charm. https://www.waterfoxproject.org/en-US/ https://www.waterfoxproject.org/en-US/ https://hooktube.com/ https://hooktube.com/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin... https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere https://www.eff.org/privacybadger https://www.eff.org/privacybadger https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/umatrix/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/umatrix/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/hooktube-redirector/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/hooktube-redi...

fluffysandwich 8y ago
Warning: Hooktube link is NSFW. 'Sensual massage' thumbnail on the frontpage...
- squarefoot 8y ago
  Just checked, you're absolutely right! I always use the redirector addon rather than going to their homepage though and it has been SFW so far.
sjs382 8y ago
Just a heads up—HookTube's homepage (at least for the moment?) is very NSFW.
squarefoot 8y ago
To all, I can't edit anymore my post to delete it, so just forget about the hooktube address; as others reported it's definitely NSFW while the redirector Firefox addon is safe. I apologize for not checking it before.

izzydata 8y ago

That seems hard to believe as it would imply that they have code specifically to cripple the Firefox experience. It's probably at worst that they intentionally don't optimize their sites for Firefox and not actively making it worse.

jhowell 8y ago
> That seems hard to believe as it would imply that they have code specifically to cripple the Firefox experience. I think it's more the case of enhancing the Chrome experience and not doing anything to deliberately impact firefox.
- izzydata 8y ago
  That is the same as what I suggested. Which would mean that simply changing a user-agent can't make anything run better on firefox.
bzbarsky 8y ago
Google does a lot of UA sniffing, and serves different sites to different browsers. The sites served to non-Chrome receive less QA resources, as far as I can tell, and are often buggy in various ways. Simply spoofing the Chrome UA in Firefox on Android can often get you a site that works better (in Firefox) than the one served to Firefox by default.
- type0 8y ago
  Sometimes this happens on the desktop as well, they optimize for the latest Chrome and the "latest" Firefox ESR - so here we are, Chrome is the reincarnation of IE6'6'6 the definition of evil in the software world.