Go figure: Firefox for Amazon Fire TV can play YouTube videos

Much has been made of the little spat between Amazon and Google, but Mozilla is here to deliver some good news as its Firefox browser is available for download for Amazon’s Fire TV.

And guess what? You can play YouTube videos on it!

In its blog post, Mozilla says that, once downloaded, its Firefox browser can play full-screen YouTube videos on the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick. You can even use the Fire TV remote to play, pause, fast-forward, and rewind videos.

You can also watch content from other websites, and while Mozilla did not say what other features Firefox for Fire TV includes, the company honed in on the whole “being able to play YouTube videos” bit for good reason.

Amazon and Google have been going at it for a few years, with the feud mostly based on Amazon’s decision to pull Chromecast and, eventually, Nest products from its virtual storefront over two years ago. In retaliation, Google has prevented any official YouTube app — or Google app, for that matter — from making its way to Amazon’s Appstore, though that has been the case for a long time.

That being said, you are still able to watch YouTube videos through Amazon’s Silk Browser, but that was this close to changing when Google prevented YouTube videos from being played on the Echo Show. Amazon enabled a web-based workaround that got YouTube support back on the Echo Show, but Google responded by pulling YouTube from the Echo Show and Fire TV on January 1.

The two companies have since entered “productive discussions” over the matter and are seeking “an agreement for the benefit of [their] mutual customers.” Also, Amazon announced it will sell Chromecast devices again, possibly in an attempt to de-escalate things. Even so, neither Amazon nor Google looks good in this spat, since consumers are the ones who ultimately suffer from their childish spat.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Firefox if the discussions fall through and that January 1 deadline is back on. It will also be interesting to see what happens with YouTube through the Silk Browser on Amazon’s Fire Tablets.

Until then, let us know in the comments if you own a Fire TV and plan on downloading the Firefox browser.