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

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/

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.

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.

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

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/

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.

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!