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For example, they may start integrating technologies for which they have exclusive, or at least 'special' access. Can you imagine if all of a sudden Google apps

For example, they may start integrating technologies for which they have exclusive, or at least 'special' access. Can you imagine if all of a sudden Google apps start performing better than anyone else's? They've already started. Google Meet (their version of Hangouts for enterprise) didn't work on non-Chrome browsers for a very long time. If you tried to do a video call with a non-Chrome browser, you were told to install Chrome and load the page in Chrome. The only reason they were able to get away with this is because Chrome has the high market share that it does. If they'd done this when Chrome had 10% market-share, the response from users would have been to stop using Google Meet. However, because they did this when Chrome has 70% market share (and climbing) there was hardly any outcry; those who didn't already have Chrome installed gave a resigned sigh and installed Chrome in order to participate in their work meetings. Currently, all of Google's services work on non-Chrome browsers. But will that always be the case? I can very well imagine a world where Google starts making its services Chrome-only, citing, for example, that only V8 has the necessary Javascript performance to run Google's increasingly bloated webapps with adequate performance. Like you said, it'll start as a slow drip, with the least popular and most obscure applications (for example: Google Play Music) being moved over first. Then, as users fail to object, they'll move over larger and larger applications. Even if they never make the "big-two" of YouTube and Google Search Chrome-only, they'll still be exerting a fair amount of pressure for users to switch to Chrome.

mirimir 8y ago
> Currently, all of Google's services work on non-Chrome browsers. Last time I checked, Google Authenticator only works on Chrome.
- dragonwriter 8y ago
  > Last time I checked, Google Authenticator only works on Chrome. Google Authenticator is available for Android, iPhone, and Blackberry, and not for any browser; there are a number of third-party implementations, however, including a Chrome/ChromeOS one.
  - mirimir 8y ago
    I don't use any of those things. I just know that I had to install Chrome to get Telegram's desktop app working.
    - StudentStuff 8y ago
      FYI Telegram has a history of serious security issues: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/02/13/telegram_messaging_app_bug/ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/02/13/telegram_messaging_... https://www.theverge.com/2017/1/11/14237136/trump-leak-telegram-security-cracked-russia-encryption https://www.theverge.com/2017/1/11/14237136/trump-leak-teleg... https://gizmodo.com/why-you-should-stop-using-telegram-right-now-1782557415 https://gizmodo.com/why-you-should-stop-using-telegram-right...
      - mirimir 8y ago
        Thanks. But I did know that. It was just that Everpedia used it for chat, and I was curious.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
- AsyncAwait 8y ago
  Gmail and YouTube uses Chrome only features that make them slow in other browsers, compared to Chrome.
  - mda 8y ago
    You imply they do this deliberately, do you have any evidence? It sounds super unlikely to me.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
eridius 8y ago
Google Meet still doesn't work with Safari, with no explanation. Safari supports the latest WebRTC, and AIUI Google Meet uses the current WebRTC standard, so why does Google refuse to let it work on Safari? This has to be deliberate.
- StudentStuff 8y ago
  Safari has purposefully neutered WebRTC, both Firefox and Google have full codec support while Apple tries to push H.264 only, plus things like web push still doesn't work on iOS: https://webrtchacks.com/safari-webrtc/ https://webrtchacks.com/safari-webrtc/ Google Meet also appears to have updated to support the WebRTC spec (rather than the oddball implementation Chrome had) so long as your browser supports it: https://blog.mozilla.org/webrtc/firefox-is-now-supported-by-google-hangouts-and-meet/ https://blog.mozilla.org/webrtc/firefox-is-now-supported-by-...
  - ksec 8y ago
    I thought H.264 is free for Software Decode? Supported in Firefox as well. There is no reasons why Apple should support VP8 / 9 Which is a Google's Codec, even though it is free of charge.
    - StudentStuff 8y ago
      H.264 isn't free, Cisco is footing the licensing bill for support in most software (including Firefox): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/MPEG-4_AVC#Implementations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/MPEG-4_AVC#Implementatio... This is why Mozilla is pushing AV1 and VP8/VP9 so hard, being stuck with H.264 as the whole industry migrates to H.265 due to bandwidth savings is a major impediment, and the licensing body could easily extract usurious rent for H.265 if it becomes the only reasonable option: https://hacks.mozilla.org/2018/08/the-video-wars-of-2027/ https://hacks.mozilla.org/2018/08/the-video-wars-of-2027/
      - ksec 8y ago
        Sorry I got mixed up, but it should be free for anyone which has H.264 hardware decode. Which is like 95%+ of All PC / Tablet / Smartphone sold in the last 5+ years. And that article from Mozilla, I remember it, worst article from Mozilla for as long as I remember ( That is since Netscape Era ).
bryanrasmussen 8y ago
Also if alternate browsers mindshare dips too far they could argue it was too much effort to support such a small part of the market.
pritambaral 8y ago
> Currently, all of Google's services work on non-Chrome browsers. Google Earth is Chrome-only, because they use the Chrome-only NativeClient. Google Hangouts dropped calling support on non-Chrome browsers for quite a while: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15889018 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15889018 YouTube (and perhaps GMail) is extra slow on non-Chrome browsers because they use a dropped-and-never-standardised feature that is available only on Chrome, and force a slow polyfill on Firefox (and perhaps Edge): https://twitter.com/cpeterso/status/1021626510296285185 https://twitter.com/cpeterso/status/1021626510296285185
- gsich 8y ago
  Google Earth has a desktop version too.
- proaralyst 8y ago
  They use a polyfill for Firefox on Youtube because of a never-standardised feature too: https://twitter.com/cpeterso/status/1021649116391075840 https://twitter.com/cpeterso/status/1021649116391075840
- rictic 8y ago
  > YouTube (and perhaps GMail) is extra slow on non-Chrome browsers because they use a dropped-and-never-standardised feature that is available only on Chrome, and force a slow polyfill on Firefox (and perhaps Edge): https://twitter.com/cpeterso/status/1021626510296285185 https://twitter.com/cpeterso/status/1021626510296285185 I work on the Polymer team at Google, and have worked with YouTube on this. I can promise you that the folks at YouTube are working very hard on porting to the specs that are supported crossbrowser. Switching to the final versions of the specs is super high priority for all of us, there were just some changes between v0 and v1 that are hard to paper over, and as you might imagine, YouTube has a lot of code. > Google Earth is Chrome-only, because they use the Chrome-only NativeClient My understanding is that if it weren't for spectre, cross-browser Google Earth would very likely be shipping today. There is a web assembly version of Earth, but it needs threads and SharedArrayBuffer, which is disabled in most browsers today because of spectre-class security issues. https://medium.com/google-earth/earth-on-web-the-road-to-cross-browser-7338e0f46278 https://medium.com/google-earth/earth-on-web-the-road-to-cro... https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2018/02/meltdown-spectre#high-resolution_timers https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2018/02/meltdown-s...

mirimir 8y ago

> Currently, all of Google's services work on non-Chrome browsers. Last time I checked, Google Authenticator only works on Chrome.

dragonwriter 8y ago
> Last time I checked, Google Authenticator only works on Chrome. Google Authenticator is available for Android, iPhone, and Blackberry, and not for any browser; there are a number of third-party implementations, however, including a Chrome/ChromeOS one.
- mirimir 8y ago
  I don't use any of those things. I just know that I had to install Chrome to get Telegram's desktop app working.
  - StudentStuff 8y ago
    FYI Telegram has a history of serious security issues: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/02/13/telegram_messaging_app_bug/ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/02/13/telegram_messaging_... https://www.theverge.com/2017/1/11/14237136/trump-leak-telegram-security-cracked-russia-encryption https://www.theverge.com/2017/1/11/14237136/trump-leak-teleg... https://gizmodo.com/why-you-should-stop-using-telegram-right-now-1782557415 https://gizmodo.com/why-you-should-stop-using-telegram-right...
    - mirimir 8y ago
      Thanks. But I did know that. It was just that Everpedia used it for chat, and I was curious.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
AsyncAwait 8y ago
Gmail and YouTube uses Chrome only features that make them slow in other browsers, compared to Chrome.
- mda 8y ago
  You imply they do this deliberately, do you have any evidence? It sounds super unlikely to me.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

eridius 8y ago

Google Meet still doesn't work with Safari, with no explanation. Safari supports the latest WebRTC, and AIUI Google Meet uses the current WebRTC standard, so why does Google refuse to let it work on Safari? This has to be deliberate.

StudentStuff 8y ago
Safari has purposefully neutered WebRTC, both Firefox and Google have full codec support while Apple tries to push H.264 only, plus things like web push still doesn't work on iOS: https://webrtchacks.com/safari-webrtc/ https://webrtchacks.com/safari-webrtc/ Google Meet also appears to have updated to support the WebRTC spec (rather than the oddball implementation Chrome had) so long as your browser supports it: https://blog.mozilla.org/webrtc/firefox-is-now-supported-by-google-hangouts-and-meet/ https://blog.mozilla.org/webrtc/firefox-is-now-supported-by-...
- ksec 8y ago
  I thought H.264 is free for Software Decode? Supported in Firefox as well. There is no reasons why Apple should support VP8 / 9 Which is a Google's Codec, even though it is free of charge.
  - StudentStuff 8y ago
    H.264 isn't free, Cisco is footing the licensing bill for support in most software (including Firefox): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/MPEG-4_AVC#Implementations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.264/MPEG-4_AVC#Implementatio... This is why Mozilla is pushing AV1 and VP8/VP9 so hard, being stuck with H.264 as the whole industry migrates to H.265 due to bandwidth savings is a major impediment, and the licensing body could easily extract usurious rent for H.265 if it becomes the only reasonable option: https://hacks.mozilla.org/2018/08/the-video-wars-of-2027/ https://hacks.mozilla.org/2018/08/the-video-wars-of-2027/
    - ksec 8y ago
      Sorry I got mixed up, but it should be free for anyone which has H.264 hardware decode. Which is like 95%+ of All PC / Tablet / Smartphone sold in the last 5+ years. And that article from Mozilla, I remember it, worst article from Mozilla for as long as I remember ( That is since Netscape Era ).

bryanrasmussen 8y ago

Also if alternate browsers mindshare dips too far they could argue it was too much effort to support such a small part of the market.

pritambaral 8y ago

> Currently, all of Google's services work on non-Chrome browsers. Google Earth is Chrome-only, because they use the Chrome-only NativeClient. Google Hangouts dropped calling support on non-Chrome browsers for quite a while: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15889018 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15889018 YouTube (and perhaps GMail) is extra slow on non-Chrome browsers because they use a dropped-and-never-standardised feature that is available only on Chrome, and force a slow polyfill on Firefox (and perhaps Edge): https://twitter.com/cpeterso/status/1021626510296285185 https://twitter.com/cpeterso/status/1021626510296285185

gsich 8y ago
Google Earth has a desktop version too.
proaralyst 8y ago
They use a polyfill for Firefox on Youtube because of a never-standardised feature too: https://twitter.com/cpeterso/status/1021649116391075840 https://twitter.com/cpeterso/status/1021649116391075840
rictic 8y ago
> YouTube (and perhaps GMail) is extra slow on non-Chrome browsers because they use a dropped-and-never-standardised feature that is available only on Chrome, and force a slow polyfill on Firefox (and perhaps Edge): https://twitter.com/cpeterso/status/1021626510296285185 https://twitter.com/cpeterso/status/1021626510296285185 I work on the Polymer team at Google, and have worked with YouTube on this. I can promise you that the folks at YouTube are working very hard on porting to the specs that are supported crossbrowser. Switching to the final versions of the specs is super high priority for all of us, there were just some changes between v0 and v1 that are hard to paper over, and as you might imagine, YouTube has a lot of code. > Google Earth is Chrome-only, because they use the Chrome-only NativeClient My understanding is that if it weren't for spectre, cross-browser Google Earth would very likely be shipping today. There is a web assembly version of Earth, but it needs threads and SharedArrayBuffer, which is disabled in most browsers today because of spectre-class security issues. https://medium.com/google-earth/earth-on-web-the-road-to-cross-browser-7338e0f46278 https://medium.com/google-earth/earth-on-web-the-road-to-cro... https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2018/02/meltdown-spectre#high-resolution_timers https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2018/02/meltdown-s...