Amazon has updated each one of its Fire TV devices with two internet browsers, namely Silk and Firefox. Silk was already added to some Fire TV devices last month, but now, it's available in all Fire TV gadgets.
Firefox Comes To Amazon Fire TV Devices
Adding Firefox as a second internet browser option seems to be the direct result of Amazon's feud with Google, a feud that led to the outright removal of YouTube from the Amazon Echo Show and Fire TV devices.
In a blog post, Firefox didn't explicitly mention that its browser can be used to access YouTube on Fire TV, but it did say that with it, users can launch popular video websites, which includes YouTube, of course. They can also search any web address and play videos in full screen on Fire TV and Fire TV Stick.
A spokesperson for Firefox has since confirmed that users will indeed be able to view YouTube videos using Firefox on the Fire TV devices. This is by far the most straightforward way to bypass Google's YouTube ban.
The Google And Amazon Feud Explained
Why exactly are these two tech juggernauts fighting? Well, it all started when Amazon decided to pull Chromecast devices, and eventually, Nest devices as well, from its store over two years ago. Ever since, Google has tried to convince Amazon in getting those products back up, but none prevailed. After years of trying, Google threw in the towel and simply cut off YouTube access on the Amazon Echo Show.
Amazon recently announced that it would start selling Chromecast and Nest devices again on its store in what appears to be an act of compromise, but only after Google made a bombshell announcement that YouTube would be removed completely from the Echo Show and Fire TV devices starting next year.
As of now, the two companies are trying to reach a compromise that will satisfy them both. After all, having YouTube removed from Amazon's most popular devices is a big gut punch, and having the Chromecast or Nest devices absent from Amazon is also a gut punch.
But at least there's a workaround if ever Google follows through in its YouTube ban. It's not clear, however, how Google plans to respond to Fire TV devices being able to access YouTube via Firefox. In a worst case scenario, it could also restrict access to the site, much like how Google restricts YouTube access on the Silk browser on Echo Show devices.
