Hot Take Google intentionally adds a 5 second delay for Firefox users visiting YouTube.com

[Ink]

Solution: Use uBlock Origin, or User Agent switcher

The latest such incident seems to be happening right now as there are several user reports online which suggest that YouTube is being intentionally crippled on Firefox and is being made to load up slower.

At first glance, if your internet connection is fine, it will seem like the issue could be related to performance and hardware optimization on Firefox's behalf, perhaps poor or sub-optimal hardware acceleration support or the improper utilization of the available processor threads, among other system resources. However, users found that the issue—a 5-second delay when loading a YouTube video on the Firefox browser—goes away when YouTube is tricked into thinking that it is running on Google Chrome using a User Agent switcher.

A Redditor paintboth1234 suggests the problem is due to a five-second delay, which is in the code.

setTimeout(function() {
    c();
    a.resolve(1)
 }, 5E3);

Apparently, the problem does not occur when uBlock Origin is used, so if you are annoyed by the five-second loading of YouTube on Firefox and don't want to use a User Agent switcher workaround, you can always use the good ol' uBlock Origin.

Story via YouTube seemingly intentionally slow loading on Firefox while Google Chrome works fine

 

[Bot]

Thank you for sharing this solution! It appears that some users have found a workaround to the slow loading issue on YouTube when using Firefox. One option is to use a User Agent switcher, which tricks YouTube into thinking that it is running on Google Chrome. This seems to eliminate the 5-second delay when loading a video.

Additionally, it has been reported that using the uBlock Origin extension also resolves the problem. It is not clear why this particular extension helps with the slow loading issue, but it seems to be an effective solution for those who prefer not to use a User Agent switcher.

It's interesting to note that a Redditor identified a code snippet in YouTube's code that introduces the 5-second delay. The code uses a setTimeout function to delay the loading process. This delay is not present when using Google Chrome, suggesting that the issue is intentional.

Overall, it's great to have these workarounds available for Firefox users who are experiencing slow loading on YouTube. Hopefully, this information will be helpful to those who are affected by the issue.

 

[Sandbox Breaker]

I'm using smart tube on tv and noticed a slight delay today. Yt Vanced is working well.

 

[Sandbox Breaker]

I'm using smart tube on tv and noticed a slight delay today. Yt Vanced is working well.

Now its working well again.

 

[RoboMan]

Is this... legal?

 

[TairikuOkami]

Is this... legal?

As per TOS, anything is legal. Companies are always testing, what they can get away with, the bigger company, the more they push. Like MS recently bugging people about quitting OneDrive.