The war between tech giants Google and Amazon went nuclear after Amazon Echo Show and Youtube became incompatible. This is also happened for Amazon FireTV and Youtube. After refusing to stock Google’s line of gadgets, including Google Home, Chromecast internet TV box, and the Nest line of smart thermostats, Google took revenge by removing Amazon Echo Show and FireTV users’ access to Youtube (which is owned by Google).
A YouTube spokesperson announced its withdrawal of support on Echo Show and Amazon Fire TV in a statement. This means Amazon Echo Show and YouTube will not work together. The same goes for Amazon FireTV and Youtube users.
“We’ve been trying to reach agreement with Amazon to give consumers access to each other’s products and services. 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. Given this lack of reciprocity, we are no longer supporting YouTube on Echo Show and FireTV. We hope we can reach an agreement to resolve these issues soon.”
So, do Amazon Echo Show and YouTube work together?
The Amazon Echo Show was first released with a custom-built Youtube app. This implementation was nixed by Google last September for a violation of its terms of service. To solve this problem on Echo Show, Amazon built a web-based implementation of YouTube called Voicebot. Now, for the second time, Youtube is again cutting off access to the Amazon Echo Show video service.
Does Youtube work with FireTV?
Starting January 1st, Amazon FireTV users won’t be able to access YouTube anymore. When you log into FireTV’s Youtube App you will see this message on screen “Starting on 2018-01-01, YouTube will not be available on this device. You can continue to enjoy your favorite creators and videos in many other ways. Please visit https://goo.gl/mjZxwN for a list of devices you can use.”
Why are Google and Amazon fighting?
Tech titans Google and Amazon Inc. are both rivals in many areas of the tech industry, including advertising, the cloud, hardware and software. Google has been continually peeved by Amazon’s refusal to sell Google products like Chromecast and Google Home in its online store. Their Youtube ban on all Amazon devices including the Amazon Alexa voiced Echo series is one way of retaliation. This move is a big loss on both sides. However, we can all agree that the real losers here are the consumers.
When can we expect YouTube to work on the Echo Show and FireTV?
As of December 2017, there is no news if Youtube will ever work on Echo Show and FireTV again. Both sides are in blaming stage right now — but it’s good to know that the companies expressed their intent to resolve the issue and come to an agreement, hopefully soon.