While we know Google deactivating YouTube on Amazon Fire TV was coming, it came four days earlier than scheduled. YouTube announced that its services would no longer be available on Fire TV from January 1st, 2018, but according to a new report Fast Company, the services are blocked already days before the promised date.
The publication has obtained a screenshot in which Amazon is seen redirecting users looking for the video platform Silk or Firefox browser which were recently launched in order to access YouTube. While YouTube said it won’t remove app until January 1st, 2018, it is unclear if it is Google or Amazon who removed the app from the streaming box.
Both Google and Amazon are said to be in productive talks, but Google told The Verge that at this point it looks like those talks may not have gone as planned. When reached out to Amazon for a comment on the same, didn’t really clarify if it pulled YouTube from Fire TV early, rather an Amazon spokesperson just said “YouTube and millions of other websites are accessible by using a web browser like Firefox or Silk on Fire TV.”