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Will there be an HTML5 player, or option, available for use with Amazon instant video, I cannot use Silverlight due to stability issues on my Mac.

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  • Last reply by emmaryu

emmaryu
emmaryu
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Hello :) I'm wondering if there is anyone who can help. Up to quite recently, I've been using Flash Player to watch video through Amazon on my Mac desktop (pro 4.1). I had tried Microsoft Silverlight, but had to uninstall (including manually rooting out hidden files that had been left behind) as it was causing system instability, mostly in the form of kernel crashes, so I really do not want to re-install it. I've written to Amazon to enquire as to why they have dropped Flash Player, explaining also why Silverlight is not an option to me and received this reply :

"Thank you for your e-mail. I am sorry that you have not been able to stream Amazon Video through your Mac.

Amazon Video no longer streams using Flash player. As we continually seek to improve our service, this occasionally means we can no longer support certain platforms.

To watch Amazon Video on your computer, we recommend using our HTML5 video player because it's optimised to work with our service and includes access to features like Auto Play, and full 1080p High Definition playback.

Amazon Video is available on the following browsers that support our HTML5 video player:

-- Chrome (version M42 or newer) -- Internet Explorer (version 11 or newer) -- Microsoft Edge on Windows 10 -- Opera (version 31 or newer)

The player loads automatically--just open Amazon Video from one of these supported browsers and try watching your video again.

For Firefox and Safari, Amazon Video is available to watch using the Silverlight player plugin. To access Silverlight from Firefox or Safari, you may need to make sure that your Add-ons or Plugins preferences are set to "Ask to Activate" or "Always Activate" Silverlight."

I've been a loyal Firefox user for many years, but new to this forum, and do not wish to use any of the other browsers they mention, so my question is, will there be a player we can use through Firefox, or, at least, is there something that we might be able to use as an add-on, or a work around until a player becomes available at least? I've tried using "HTML5 Video Everywhere" for example, but this doesn't seem to work. Many Thanks in advance em :)

Hello :) I'm wondering if there is anyone who can help. Up to quite recently, I've been using Flash Player to watch video through Amazon on my Mac desktop (pro 4.1). I had tried Microsoft Silverlight, but had to uninstall (including manually rooting out hidden files that had been left behind) as it was causing system instability, mostly in the form of kernel crashes, so I really do not want to re-install it. I've written to Amazon to enquire as to why they have dropped Flash Player, explaining also why Silverlight is not an option to me and received this reply : "Thank you for your e-mail. I am sorry that you have not been able to stream Amazon Video through your Mac. Amazon Video no longer streams using Flash player. As we continually seek to improve our service, this occasionally means we can no longer support certain platforms. To watch Amazon Video on your computer, we recommend using our HTML5 video player because it's optimised to work with our service and includes access to features like Auto Play, and full 1080p High Definition playback. Amazon Video is available on the following browsers that support our HTML5 video player: -- Chrome (version M42 or newer) -- Internet Explorer (version 11 or newer) -- Microsoft Edge on Windows 10 -- Opera (version 31 or newer) The player loads automatically--just open Amazon Video from one of these supported browsers and try watching your video again. For Firefox and Safari, Amazon Video is available to watch using the Silverlight player plugin. To access Silverlight from Firefox or Safari, you may need to make sure that your Add-ons or Plugins preferences are set to "Ask to Activate" or "Always Activate" Silverlight." I've been a loyal Firefox user for many years, but new to this forum, and do not wish to use any of the other browsers they mention, so my question is, will there be a player we can use through Firefox, or, at least, is there something that we might be able to use as an add-on, or a work around until a player becomes available at least? I've tried using "HTML5 Video Everywhere" for example, but this doesn't seem to work. Many Thanks in advance em :)

Modified by emmaryu

All Replies (2)

user633449
user633449
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Unfortunately, it's up to Amazon to decide what browsers they want to support. If silverlight doesn't work (try a recent version, it works very well for me on my Mac 10.11 and 10.10) then complain to them that they don't use HTML5 on Firefox.

emmaryu
emmaryu Question owner
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Hi Tyler, thank you for your response. So it's Amazon's call! Thought it was strange co's Firefox does support HTML5, but Amazon seem to be saying that some sort of actual player above HTML support is needed and I was wondering how that worked ... I'm not complaining here, just asking a question. So if Amazon have decided who to support and who not to support, as you suggest, then that appears dirty and underhanded to me, rather that it being down to a simple question of functionality ... which is not good! :( ... I'll have to write to them again and for the meantime just stop using the site, co's I'm sticking with Firefox ;) I'd also rather stay away from Silverlight after my past experiences with that app, thank you though, but it just caused too many problems.

Thank you! em