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Firefox (27.0 from f-droid) for Android (4.2.2) will not play YouTube videos (m.youtube.com)

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Youtube app is not installed. Flash is not installed. The default Android browser (“Browser”) can simply play the videos inside the webpage, but Firefox simply shows a black screen with no in-page or any other playback. This is similar to user “yumiko”’s problem that has not been solved. Why does Firefox lack in-page playback of YouTube videos?

Youtube app is not installed. Flash is not installed. The default Android browser (“Browser”) can simply play the videos inside the webpage, but Firefox simply shows a black screen with no in-page or any other playback. This is similar to user “yumiko”’s problem that has not been solved. Why does Firefox lack in-page playback of YouTube videos?

All Replies (7)

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I would guess that you don't have the YouTube app installed. We kick out to the YouTube app on m.youtube.com. The workaround is to use a desktop user agent. Which can be done by installing https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/android/addon/phony/

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Thanks for your reply, kbrosnan. It isn’t very helpful, though.

> I would guess that you don't have the YouTube app installed.

I said so in my original post right at the outset.

> We kick out to the YouTube app on m.youtube.com.

Why? The Android “Browser” doesn’t do this, and can play videos in-page just fine. Can’t FF hae at least a configurable setting to enable/disable the default use of the YT app? This counts as a bug, IMHO.

Switching to a desktop UA doesn’t help, as it loads the (heavy) desktop version of the site, with high-bitrate videos, rather than the mobile-optimised narrow-format site with low-bitrate videos.

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Yumiko's problem at /questions/968602 was archived. All threads that are older than 6 months get automatically locked.

As for your issue, FxAndroid doesn't lack this ability. m.youtube.com loads fine for me in-page. Did you recently install any new addons? You can see them at about:support and click Copy raw data to clipboard then paste it in a new comment.

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Thanks for your reply, Moses B.

Congratulations if FF plays videos in-page just fine for you. It doesn’t for me.

I’ve no addons installed at all.

Here are the about:support data:

{
  "application": {
    "name": "Fennec",
    "version": "27.0",
    "userAgent": "Mozilla/5.0 (Android; Mobile; rv:27.0) Gecko/27.0 Firefox/27.0",
    "supportURL": "http://support.mozilla.org/1/mobile/27.0/Android/en-US/"
  },
  "crashes": {
    "submitted": [],
    "pending": 0
  },
  "modifiedPreferences": {
    "browser.cache.disk.capacity": 204800,
    "browser.cache.disk.smart_size.first_run": false,
    "browser.cache.disk.smart_size.use_old_max": false,
    "browser.cache.disk.smart_size_cached_value": 122880,
    "browser.search.useDBForOrder": true,
    "browser.startup.homepage_override.mstone": "27.0",
    "dom.mozApps.used": true,
    "extensions.lastAppVersion": "27.0",
    "network.cookie.prefsMigrated": true,
    "storage.vacuum.last.index": 0
  },
  "graphics": {
    "numTotalWindows": 1,
    "numAcceleratedWindows": 1,
    "windowLayerManagerType": "OpenGL",
    "windowLayerManagerRemote": true,
    "adapterDescription": "ARM -- Mali-400 MP -- OpenGL ES 2.0 -- <elided>",
    "adapterVendorID": "ARM",
    "adapterDeviceID": "Mali-400 MP",
    "adapterRAM": "",
    "adapterDrivers": "",
    "driverVersion": "OpenGL ES 2.0",
    "driverDate": "",
    "webglRenderer": "ARM -- Mali-400 MP",
    "info": {
      "AzureCanvasBackend": "skia",
      "AzureSkiaAccelerated": 1,
      "AzureFallbackCanvasBackend": "none",
      "AzureContentBackend": "cairo"
    }
  },
  "javaScript": {
    "incrementalGCEnabled": true
  },
  "accessibility": {
    "isActive": false,
    "forceDisabled": 0
  },
  "libraryVersions": {
    "NSPR": {
      "minVersion": "4.10.2",
      "version": "4.10.2"
    },
    "NSS": {
      "minVersion": "3.15.4 Basic ECC",
      "version": "3.15.4 Basic ECC"
    },
    "NSSUTIL": {
      "minVersion": "3.15.4",
      "version": "3.15.4"
    },
    "NSSSSL": {
      "minVersion": "3.15.4 Basic ECC",
      "version": "3.15.4 Basic ECC"
    },
    "NSSSMIME": {
      "minVersion": "3.15.4 Basic ECC",
      "version": "3.15.4 Basic ECC"
    }
  },
  "userJS": {
    "exists": false
  },
  "extensions": []
}

I think I’ve found a bug report dealing with this issue here: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=906869

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I asked about the work around suggested in the bug that you found, however my question is is Phoney supported for your device? https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/mobi.../phony/

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guigs2,

> is Phoney supported for your device?

No idea. I decided against installing that addon after reading this problem with it: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/mobile/addon/phony/reviews/521029/ (Breaks addons.mozilla.org). Theoretically, there’s no reason it shouldn’t work.

However, the report on using that “workaround” (post #13 on the bugzilla page) is not so good. FF does not emulate all rendering quirks of “Browser,” so doing its own thing is a Good Thing. That, unfortunately, requires the YT App, which is patently ridiculous.

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Update: This bug is still present on Firefox for Android 30.0 (from F-droid). Fortunately, it is being tracked at https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=936851

Let’s hope it is quickly and satisfactorily resolved!