Waterfox G4 4.10.2391.0 update ships with latest Widevine plugin, but DRM issues still exist
The Waterfox G4 4.10.2391.0 update has been released. The latest version aims to address a DRM problem that was reported by users.
Per the browser's release notes, the Widevine plugin has been updated to 4.10.2391.0. Theoretically, that should fix the DRM issues.
Does the Waterfox G4 4.10.2391.0 update fix the Widevine problems?
Some users have reported that they are still unable to play DRM locked videos, such as courses on Udemy, even after updating to the latest version of the browser. I didn't have any such issues when I tried it to watch the media on Udemy, but I think it depends on the video content you play. Free videos on the site don't seem to have DRM in general, while premium courses do. The ones I watched, both free and premium, seemed to work correctly.
When I tried to watch videos on Amazon Prime, however, the streaming site displayed an error about high-definition playback not being available, and told me to update my browser. I have seen this issue on phones which don't have the Widevine L1 certificate, so it seems to be related to the decryption technology. I should mention that the problem doesn't occur with Firefox, Edge or Vivaldi, on my computer.
A similar issue related to Spotify has been reported by a user. So, that's what I tried next, and it indeed seems to be buggy. One of Waterfox's contributors suggested that the problem could be related to the Widevine Content Decryption Module plugin may not being updated automatically, when Waterfox itself got updated. As mentioned earlier, the browser ships with 4.10.2391.0 of the plugin. If you are still facing issues with DRM media not playing, you will have to go to the about:addons page and check for updates manually, just to rule out that as a possible issue.
That being said, even with the latest version of the Widevine plugin, the browser seems a bit wonky with Spotify. The web music player just randomly skips through songs, before playing the track for a few seconds. Then the sound stops working, while the progress bar keeps ticking. The issue has been acknowledged by the developer, Alex Kontos, who says Spotify has always had issues with Waterfox, and that he has been unable to fix the issue.
Other fixes in the Waterfox G4 4.10.2391.0 update
The Contrast of the Australis Light theme in Waterfox has been increased for better visibility. The latest version of the browser improves the tab positioning. The Gecko engine has been updated to version 91.4.0, bringing all security patches from the latest build. The Waterfox G4 4.10.2391.0 update weighs about 68MB to download from the previous build, and is available from the official website.
A couple of known issues that previously existed in the browser remain unresolved. This includes the missing icons for the zoom, full screen, screenshot on the status bar. The about:addo-ons page does not display the add-on version information. The menu bar still has the icons next to the labels, with no option to toggle the option.
In a side note, Waterfox 4.0.4 does not display images on certain websites, more specifically it fails to show AVIF images. Alex Kontos has already fixed the problem in recent commits. However, the fix will only be available with the next update for the browser.
Initially, I WAS sad that I couldn’t continue on with G4 following CPU-Gate. But now, seeing the endless issues they’re having on the Waterfox Reddit, man – did Alex ever do me a favour.
I tried few times waterfox, but cant really find what exactly us better in it compared to ff. Speed? With modern computer any imorovement i call irrelevant. Problems with drm – why cant they just add it like in ff… Same goes for PM.
It used to be the one of Firefox 64 bit alternatives. Has been irrelevant since Firefox made its own 64 bit build.
Nowadays the author just modify some Firefox codes, gives it some new bugs, and release it to the wild.
That is Waterfox Classic, the article is about the clone of the updated / destroyed Firefox browser with a lot of the default garbage removed.
If you want a working browser you need to use Waterfox Classic and have good resources:
https://www.fixedfirefox.com/profiles/
I for one cannot wait to get DRM working
EDIT
In fact, I think they should even ship the DRM module WITHOUT the browser, because it is so awesome. I love DRM, and I think every single browser should have it hardcoded with no way to disable it!
I love using browsers owned by advertising companies – what’s not to like, being the product instead of the customer is so cool
EDIT
People much smarter than I just told me that every browser except Safari is somehow connected to ad money. Damn, I literally had no idea, but you learn everyday, I guess…