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Some Google services I regularly depend on (like YouTube and Google Meet) don't work as well on Firefox as they do on Chrome, in ways that actually matter. Besi

Some Google services I regularly depend on (like YouTube and Google Meet) don't work as well on Firefox as they do on Chrome, in ways that actually matter. Besides that I think most websites work fine.

kristiandupont 3y ago
What's wrong with Youtube? I haven't noticed anything.
- wsgeorge 3y ago
  TBF YouTube has gotten better (see sibling comment), but Google Meet is really what matters here for me. There's also offline mode in Google Docs, which I use regularly because I'm not guaranteed a good-enough connection wherever I go. Firefox does some things better (like PiP video playback on most websites, like YouTube!) but others are so poorly done (like Profiles) compared to Chrome that it overall makes Chrome my first choice browser.
  - mort96 3y ago
    I never used Firefox profiles, but Firefox container tabs work really well IMO. I much prefer them to Chrome's profiles for managing work vs personal logins.
amjd 3y ago
I haven't noticed any issues on YouTube after subscribing. Before that it used to glitch once in a while possibly to penalize the ad blocking. But that may have been the behaviour in Chrome too for all I know. Google Meet does have some key features missing on Firefox such as blurring / changing video background.
coffeefirst 3y ago
Yes. Google uses chrome-only APIs in a few of its own products and falls back not so gracefully. Which sort of underscores the monopoly point. There’s no universal free/cheap alternative to Meet, further entrenching Chromium.
- notpushkin 3y ago
  How about Jitsi? https://meet.jit.si/ https://meet.jit.si/ It's free and open source, works everywhere, has stuff like background replacement, and doesn't require signup at all.
  - FooBarBizBazz 3y ago
    Jitsi is super easy to use, and I still can't get older people to use it. They just hear "Zoom" on CNN so they think, "I'm supposed to use Zoom. Other things are weird." So much behavior is just driven by anxiety and habituation.
    - yjftsjthsd-h 3y ago
      Well Zoom also isn't Meet, so for the purposes of this conversation that seems like an advantage actually?
    - notpushkin 3y ago
      I've watched Louis Rossmann's video on Jitsi a couple weeks ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzt0tzsaWDE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzt0tzsaWDE He provides a nice piece of anecdata there: for one-on-one meetings, you can just send people a link and usually they just join. Even if they've sent a link to Zoom or Meet or whatever, you still can say “hey, join this instead” and it will work. I haven't tried this yet, but sounds plausible to me.
MSFT_Edging 3y ago
I believe google has intentionally made google maps near unusable in firefox. It's been consistently working worse and worse every year. I feel like about 8 years ago there used to be parity between them.
- timeon 3y ago
  I rarely use google maps so haven't noticed. Only thing I really miss from OSM based services is street-view.
  - MSFT_Edging 3y ago
    Its really bad, it takes almost a minute for the site to "stabilize", and even then, default text in the search bar is overlaid with whatever you're typing, a good 30 seconds to load a destination. A chrome browser on the same device has maps behave almost instantaneously.
    - timeon 3y ago
      That really sounds like intentional.
- prmoustache 3y ago
  I am using it regularly without issues on firefox so I am not sure what you are talking about and definitely not in the "unusable realm". Can you be more specific?
- bee_rider 3y ago
  I think this example is weirdly informative to me. I mostly use maps via an app (Apple or Google, they seem to be the same for basic use). Usually if I’m using a map, I’ll be using it in my car for navigation, so Firefox doesn’t even come to mind. I suspect, on top of the “maybe it is internal apps” thing I mentioned at first, some of the really bad sites are the really interactive ones, I probably just use the app without even thinking of it.
  - 3y ago

kristiandupont 3y ago

What's wrong with Youtube? I haven't noticed anything.

wsgeorge 3y ago
TBF YouTube has gotten better (see sibling comment), but Google Meet is really what matters here for me. There's also offline mode in Google Docs, which I use regularly because I'm not guaranteed a good-enough connection wherever I go. Firefox does some things better (like PiP video playback on most websites, like YouTube!) but others are so poorly done (like Profiles) compared to Chrome that it overall makes Chrome my first choice browser.
- mort96 3y ago
  I never used Firefox profiles, but Firefox container tabs work really well IMO. I much prefer them to Chrome's profiles for managing work vs personal logins.

amjd 3y ago

I haven't noticed any issues on YouTube after subscribing. Before that it used to glitch once in a while possibly to penalize the ad blocking. But that may have been the behaviour in Chrome too for all I know. Google Meet does have some key features missing on Firefox such as blurring / changing video background.

coffeefirst 3y ago

Yes. Google uses chrome-only APIs in a few of its own products and falls back not so gracefully. Which sort of underscores the monopoly point. There’s no universal free/cheap alternative to Meet, further entrenching Chromium.

notpushkin 3y ago
How about Jitsi? https://meet.jit.si/ https://meet.jit.si/ It's free and open source, works everywhere, has stuff like background replacement, and doesn't require signup at all.
- FooBarBizBazz 3y ago
  Jitsi is super easy to use, and I still can't get older people to use it. They just hear "Zoom" on CNN so they think, "I'm supposed to use Zoom. Other things are weird." So much behavior is just driven by anxiety and habituation.
  - yjftsjthsd-h 3y ago
    Well Zoom also isn't Meet, so for the purposes of this conversation that seems like an advantage actually?
  - notpushkin 3y ago
    I've watched Louis Rossmann's video on Jitsi a couple weeks ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzt0tzsaWDE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzt0tzsaWDE He provides a nice piece of anecdata there: for one-on-one meetings, you can just send people a link and usually they just join. Even if they've sent a link to Zoom or Meet or whatever, you still can say “hey, join this instead” and it will work. I haven't tried this yet, but sounds plausible to me.

MSFT_Edging 3y ago

I believe google has intentionally made google maps near unusable in firefox. It's been consistently working worse and worse every year. I feel like about 8 years ago there used to be parity between them.

timeon 3y ago
I rarely use google maps so haven't noticed. Only thing I really miss from OSM based services is street-view.
- MSFT_Edging 3y ago
  Its really bad, it takes almost a minute for the site to "stabilize", and even then, default text in the search bar is overlaid with whatever you're typing, a good 30 seconds to load a destination. A chrome browser on the same device has maps behave almost instantaneously.
  - timeon 3y ago
    That really sounds like intentional.
prmoustache 3y ago
I am using it regularly without issues on firefox so I am not sure what you are talking about and definitely not in the "unusable realm". Can you be more specific?
bee_rider 3y ago
I think this example is weirdly informative to me. I mostly use maps via an app (Apple or Google, they seem to be the same for basic use). Usually if I’m using a map, I’ll be using it in my car for navigation, so Firefox doesn’t even come to mind. I suspect, on top of the “maybe it is internal apps” thing I mentioned at first, some of the really bad sites are the really interactive ones, I probably just use the app without even thinking of it.
- 3y ago