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Ask HN: Why is Google search different on mobile Firefox compared to Chrome?

55 points by 1drr ↗ HN
For instance the Images tab is quite degraded and different in Firefox (Can't swipe picture), I also noticed that some widget apps like soccer matches are degraded. try typing "Barcelona matches" in both browsers and notice how degraded the matches widget is in Firefox compared to chrome (For instance the matches are clickable in Chrome but not in Firefox). There are other examples that I can't remember right now, I am sure of it.

I also noticed that AMP isn't available in Firefox, though I am not a fan of AMP, I still find it weird that it's not available, considering Google's motives behind AMP, which is to improve user experience, allegedly.

Isn't this a bit anti competitive and alarming?

36 comments

[ 2.2 ms ] story [ 58.1 ms ] thread
ggggtez
>AMP isn't available on mobile firefox >it's Google's fault somehow

Is this just begging for karma? There isn't even version or OS info. How is anyone going to actually discuss this other than just arguing blindly?

1drr
I created a new account to post this, so I have no interest in Karma.

It was just something that I noticed when I switched from mobile Chrome to Firefox. You don't have to discuss this blindly, just pull your phone and test for yourself, it'll only take you 2 seconds.

My phone has Android 8.0, Firefox Mobile 68.0

theturtletalks
I think his point is that Firefox should integrate with AMP. Now I’m not sure if Google puts obstacles in place to make this harder, but wasn’t AMP recently open sourced?
[dead] dingo_bat
Why? Is amp some sort of non standard js/html/css?
UnoriginalGuy
AMP is built on Google's CDN, and the standard is controlled by Google for Google's own self interests.

It being "open source" or not kind of misses the bigger picture. If Google had any interest in AMP being a web standard they would have sent the spec out, and helped fund a neutral org to run it.

kirb
This happens on every device I have Firefox Android installed on, since I started using Firefox on Android maybe 2 years ago, up until the current beta release today. As another commenter pointed out, it seems to work fine if you use a UA switcher to fake Chrome Android on google.com. Besides, AMP isn’t browser-specific. AMP pages render properly in Firefox when I tap AMP articles from the Google News app.
m-p-3
>AMP isn't available on mobile firefox

Kind of a blessing in disguise. I still have an addon that redirect AMP pages to their original URLs.

And to be honest, I switched to DDG and I don't miss anything really.

amelius
> Isn't this a bit anti competitive and alarming?

Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by laziness.

(Variation on Hanlon's razor)

paulintrognon
Well according to st3fan, "If you change the User Agent to Chrome you can see that it works pretty well on Firefox actually." That means that they removed features on firefox on purpuse right? Or does that just mean they implemented their feature "for chrome only", checking the user agent to make sure it works on chrome only?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20489237

dmitrygr
Oftentimes a team at Google doesn't have the QA resources to test configuration X. In that case to avoid a potentially bad experience, feature Y is often gated to tested configs and and disabled for X, leaving X with the old experience since it had been tested on X.

Why does QA test only Chrome? Well if there is only enough QA time to test one browser, imagine having to be the guy to explain to the higher ups why it wasn't chrome.

1drr
I find it surprising that an organization the size of Google doesn't have the resources to test key features in such a notable browser.

Though I just searched and it seems Firefox has a shockingly low market share in mobile: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers

Perhaps that's why it's not given the attention it needs, how unfortunate.

gundmc
Bingo, Firefox mobile has << 1% of the mobile browser user base. It's hard to justify the resources to test every change and feature to ensure a good user experience for such a small number of users.
amelius
And the reason for this is probably that Chrome comes bundled with Android.
mrgreenfur
Agreed, and this is likely the entire reason for Android to exist: more searches
whalabi
Google search is similarly hobbled on desktop Firefox. It looks terrible.
asadotzler
Google employs over 100,000 people. They have the resources to test configuration X.
syockit
That's not how big organizations work. Having 100,000 people doesn't translate to having proportionally as many people with skills to do testing and QA. Human resources are not really that fluid.
asadotzler
I'd wager $1 that if the order came down from @sundarpichai to test in a particular browser, it would happen within hours not days. They have the resources.
deogeo
This logic leads one to conclude corporations are almost never malicious - they're just too lazy/frugal to test features on competing browsers/support patent-free filesystems/follow fire-safety codes/test aircraft electronics/recall HIV-tainted blood.
st3fan
If you change the User Agent to Chrome you can see that it works pretty well on Firefox actually.
nullwasamistake
Yes. Google has been doing this for years, they serve a degraded version of YouTube as well.

Get an add-on to change your user-agent to latest chrome

beatgammit
But then it looks like everyone is using chrome in marketshare reports...
gcigng
Wouldn’t Mozilla have to build out AMP support in FF itself...?
SquareWheel
AMP doesn't require web browser support. It's just a JS library.
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[dead] Ecko123
The whole reason microsoft made edgium . Trying to beat google at its own game.
[dead] dingo_bat
Another mystery : why is YouTube degraded in Firefox vs Chrome? One very visible difference is lack of preview thumbnails.
lern_too_spel
Almost certainly because Firefox Mobile's share is too low for them to test on, which would mean it's safer to serve a stripped down results page that is guaranteed to work on any browser than to risk breaking search entirely for those users with shiny features. The fix is to encourage everybody else to use Firefox Mobile too and use an extension in the meantime like I do.
timwis
Duckduckgo.com has a consistent experience in both browsers :) that's what I use on FF mobile.
crtasm
How does it compare if you use startpage.com (a privacy proxy for google search)?
ninedays
Because there are multiple evidences for years that Google purposefully degrades the user experience for people not using Google Chrome in order to entice them to switch. Happens mostly for Firefox but it also happens for Chromium (basically, almost all non Chrome browsers)

Check how long it takes for Gmail to load on Firefox to have a sneak peek on how the UX is degaraded.