DirecTV Now to work "exclusively on Chrome" from July, as support ends for other browsers

AT&T launched DirecTV Now in November, with apps on multiple platforms, and support for various web browsers. But it now says that the service will work "exclusively on Google Chrome" from July 1.

Andy Weir Senior News Editor Neowin @gcaweir · Jun 7, 2017 16:52 EDT · Hot! with 113 comments

In November, AT&T launched DirecTV Now, a video streaming service including live sports, and premium channels such as HBO and Cinemax. In addition to native apps on iOS, Android and Amazon devices, it also offered support for web streaming on the "Internet Explorer, Chrome and Safari web browsers".

But today, the service has begun warning its customers that it's ending support for all browsers except for one this month. The company is pushing notifications to its users, as spotted by an AppleInsider reader:

For our best streaming experience, DIRECTV NOW will live exclusively on Google Chrome when accessed via your computer. We will no longer be supporting Safari or Internet Explorer browsers after June. And of course the DIRECTV NOW App will still be your go-to when streaming on your mobile devices.

The notification ends with the choice of continuing to use the current browser, or a link to download Chrome.

At time of writing, DirecTV Now hadn't updated its support site with any indication of this change, although it does state that "Chrome is recommended for online streaming." Given the company's statement that DirecTV Now will work "exclusively on Google Chrome" from July 1, it's not yet clear if AT&T will attempt to actively block other browsers, such as Microsoft Edge, from accessing the service.

Source: AppleInsider