Amazon Fire TV Loses Access to YouTube App; Chromecast Returns to Amazon.com
Amazon Fire TV owners are getting Chromecast support back while completely losing access to YouTube.
YouTube is owned by Google and is one of the biggest video uploading platforms online. With a massive collection of content, it is undoubtedly a plus for any smart TV to have very easy access to it.
Unfortunately, Amazon Fire TV will have to look for alternatives in 2018 since it appears that Google and Amazon were apparently not able to hash things out. The removal of YouTube from Fire TV comes after Google also blocked Echo Show users from having access to the platform earlier in 2017.
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While the removal of YouTube from Fire TV had been confirmed at an earlier time, users thought they had until the last day of 2017 before that happened. However, some reports claimed that they were not able to open the app earlier than planned.
Fire TV users can still open YouTube but only through a browser, which is not as easy to use as the YouTube app itself.
It can be recalled that in early December 2017, Google explained why they had decided to no longer support YouTube on Fire TV.
In a statement given to CNET, the YouTube-owner said: "We've been trying to reach agreement with Amazon to give consumers access to each other's products and services." It added: "But Amazon doesn't carry Google products like Chromecast and Google Home, doesn't make Prime Video available for Google Cast users, and last month stopped selling some of Nest's latest products."
Due to the alleged "lack of reciprocity" on Amazon's end, Google confirmed that they had decided to also stop supporting YouTube both on Fire TV and Echo Show.
The latest development in the growing Amazon-Google feud is the return of the Google Chromecast listing on Amazon.com. However, it was obviously not enough to ease the tension.
Amazon, who had been building a smart home entertainment and security ecosystem, previously banned Google and Apple products from Amazon.com, which is one of the biggest online shopping destinations in the United States and around the world.
However, as of this writing, the website has a number of listings both for Apple and Google products.
