Fire TV Users Can Watch YouTube Via Browser Instead Of App Now

Amazon and Google have been lobbing fireballs at each other for some time now. The latest development in this feud is the YouTube app getting pulled out of Fire TV devices. However, owners of said products can still stream videos from the site but they need to use a browser. This can be done via Mozilla Firefox or Silk, Amazon’s own browser.

As CNET reports, the deactivation of the YouTube app on Fire TV was done earlier than previously announced. The development was scheduled for January, but it seems something happened that made accelerated the timeline.

So now, owners of the Amazon product are being directed to use browsers instead in order to get their usual streaming fix. Unfortunately, it’s not exactly the most convenient experience and lacks many of the efficient features of the actual app. At this point, it’s not exactly clear which company did what to necessitate the early pullout. As a spokesperson for Amazon told the publication, the only thing that they can say is that the app is gone.

"All I can confirm is that YouTube and millions of other websites are accessible by using a web browser like Firefox or Silk on Fire TV," the spokesperson wrote in an email.

On the other hand, Google isn’t exactly known for pulling this kind of stunt. As TechCrunch notes, it would be highly unusual for the search engine company to pull the app from Fire TV ahead of the deadline it imposed. This prompted many to speculate that perhaps Amazon was responsible for pulling the plug.

With so much drama surrounding this situation, it’s no wonder that Roku is beating pretty much all other streaming devices in the market. It’s simply devoid of any kind of inconvenient issue brought out by the pettiness of two tech giants.