Browser-laptop: Support optional Widevine for the ability to use Netflix

[bridiver]

Netflix will play on Safari without Silverlight or Flash, but it does not appear to be working on Brave. Might be user-agent related?

[bbondy]

Seems likely it would be easy to support different user agents per domain, probably best integrated into the SiteHacks module.

[bbondy]

For a quick test:
https://github.com/atom/electron/blob/master/docs/api/web-view-tag.md#useragent

[m14t]

Here's a screen shot of what I see when attempting to view a video in Brave (without using any SiteHacks):

The help center link, https://help.netflix.com/support/27451, suggests updating the WideVine (a Google company for DRM video) component, by going to chrome://components/, but that url does not work in Brave.

[bbondy]

Played with user agent strings a bit:
iPad Safari: Asks you to get the app
Safari OSX: Asks you for silverlight
Chrome / Windows UA: Asks you to get silverlight plugin
Firefox / Windows: Sends you to enable DRM page on Mozilla support: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/enable-drm

Pepper support could be added here: https://github.com/atom/electron/issues/2085

[bridiver]

@bbondy did you try desktop safari? It works for me and I don't have any plugins

[bbondy]

it asks for silverlight with a simple UA change. Interesting that it works for you on safari without it though.

[bbondy]

If there is some content that is not DRM'ed the Firefox UA w/ windows would give the HTML5 player that would work in those cases.

[vurstp]

Experiencing the same issue as m141

[NeonskyDev]

I've gotten it to work on os x, Widevine and Flash on everything.

line 102 - frame.js
this.webview.setAttribute('plugins', 'true')
This is what i used to make the webview always have plugins, after that its just a matter of adding in the proper plugins and app.commandLine.appendSwitch.

I also for safe measures added
plugins: true
to appStore.js lines 124 and 215

If you'd like to see what i did for my app.commandLine i'd be happy to share :)
I managed to do all this without rebuilding electron or anything, just adding a few lines of code to the current files that brave is using.

[bridiver]

Thanks @MegaUber! I think the issue around Widevine is distribution. I believe it works if you already have it installed (with Chrome), but if not I think it has to be manually installed right now. I know Widevine is free to use, but we need to be sure that we won't be liable for distribution license fees (which can likely be avoided by downloading on install vs bundling). Do you want to submit a PR?

[NeonskyDev]

Here is a link to a gist i put together that might or might not help if i did this right lol
and I'm sorry I'm kind of new to actually well sharing on github, what is PR?

Widevine && PepperFlash

[bbondy]

Very helpful, thanks @MegaUber !
Given the gist you posted I'm going to mark this as good first bug for now in case someone wants to turn it into a pull request. We could do this task in parts.

[jneumann]

I just submitted a PR for this. https://github.com/brave/browser-laptop/pull/1293

[luixxiul]

Should this be closed or not yet?

[iangelov]

Still very much an issue. One could use the experimental Flash support, but that's clearly undesirable (I yearn for the day in which we could get rid of it for good).

[3xp4n]

I am Brazilian and I would like you to help me in this problem .. I can not in any way implement Widevine in browswer. My twitter @EuNlope

[3xp4n]

Alguém pode mandar a linha de código pra mim por gentileza? Someone can have the line of code for me please?

[mattapperson]

Still a major issue with amazon prime video too

[alexwykoff]

Netflix is #37 on Alexa's most popular site index and this is obviously a dealbreaker for many browser users.

[3xp4n]

They decided whether or not to put the Widevine component in the next version or in future versions?

[bridiver]

there was some concern about licensing fees for distribution, but it appears that widevine is free to use without fees

[3xp4n]

Can you tell me how I can add it to the browser ..?

[bridiver]

there are some docs for electron https://github.com/electron/electron/blob/master/docs/tutorial/using-widevine-cdm-plugin.md
not sure what release it's scheduled for, but we have plans for support

[3xp4n]

OK thank you.

[3xp4n]

Still do not intend to add Widevine to the browser?

[alexwykoff]

Barring some unforeseen catastrophe, it's "coming soon" :)
It's locked in I assure you, and I'll be all to happy to QA this feature!

[3xp4n]

Ok thanks, it is noteworthy that the Brave is on track, great browser ...

[bbondy]

First visit to Netflix:

After clicking on open preferences:

To install just click the switch.

Trying to view a vide on Netflix after that:

Working Netflix via Wideivne:

[bbondy]

Redoing screenshot play by play w/ Windows:

First encounter on Netflix:

After clicking on "Open Preferences":

After clicking the switch to on to install:

Next load on Netflix, per site allow:

After the per site allowed:

[3xp4n]

At last brought this to the browser .. Let's see how it behaves with the adoption of this plugin.

[jaydson]

I'm running Brave 0.12.7 on Ubuntu 16.10 and I don't have the option "Enable Google Widevine support" on my Security panel.
Is Google Widevine available for Linux?
Well, as far as I can see, Linux users can't use Netflix on Brave yet.

[BrendanEich]

@jaydson we got the Google blobs for Win and Mac in time for 0.12.7 but Linux is different. @bbondy can say more, but should have it in next release.

[bbondy]

probably not next release but soon, and tracking it here:
https://github.com/brave/browser-laptop/issues/5282

[kirkins]

Any updates on the linux release?

[bbondy]

This is working and will be shipped in the release next week.
@darkdh and @bsclifton are the heros of the work :)

[bsclifton]

@kirkins our Linux support is tracked with https://github.com/brave/browser-laptop/issues/5282 which I believe @posix4e is working on 😄