Google and Amazon have been involved in a feud for a few months and it seems that the users have been the real losers in this battle. It started three months ago when YouTube yanked its programming from the Echo Show which subsequently led to Amazon stopping sales of the Nest E Thermostat, Nest Secure alarm, and the Nest Camera IQ. YouTube confirmed earlier this month that it would pull support for the Echo Show immediately and for the Fire TV starting January 1st, 2018. It appears that YouTube has been deactivated on the Fire TV ahead of schedule.
Fast Company reports that YouTube has been turned off on Amazon Fire TV devices four days before schedule. Amazon is now redirecting users looking for YouTube to its Silk browser or Firefox if they have it installed. For those who are unaware, Mozilla recently released Firefox for Fire TV devices.
While YouTube had said that the app won’t be removed from Fire TV until January 1st, it has happened today. It’s unclear at this point in time if it’s Google or Amazon who yanked the app. Neither company has commented on this development as yet.
It can’t be said for sure if and when Google and Amazon will be able to sort this out so that users can just use the YouTube app in peace. For what it’s worth, Amazon is reportedly thinking about launching its own YouTube rival.
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