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Automatically install (or recommend) browser extensions that change the useragent string for sites that require it (e.g. Netflix) #6

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rxhfcy opened this issue Dec 17, 2023 · 2 comments

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@rxhfcy
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rxhfcy commented Dec 17, 2023

After using sudo widevine-installer, the user currently needs to:

  • already know that using some sites (e.g. Netflix) requires a browser extension that changes the browser's user agent
  • manually find and install a suitable extension themselves
  • manually configure it correctly so that Widevine starts working on such sites

After trying several alternatives, I was unable to find an add-on/extension that worked exactly how I wanted, but was at least able to find one that worked "well enough" after some manual fiddling (i.e. Netflix started working). Which is of course great already!

Suggestion

Ideally, I would have wanted sudo widevine-installer to "just work", i.e. make as many "Widevine sites" as possible (e.g. Netflix) work automatically:

  • automatically install a suitable browser add-on/extension for both Firefox and Chromium
    • ideally one that is able to leave the useragent unchanged by default on all other sites, and only change it on a short list of already defined "list of sites that require changing the useragent to enable using Widevine" (e.g. Netflix), with the ability for the user to manually edit/add sites to the list
  • automatically configure the browser extensions so that most Widevine sites "just work" (e.g. Netflix)

If automatic browser add-on/extension installation and configuration is not possible, at least it would have been even better "customer service" to:

  • inform the user that the browser useragent string must sometimes be tweaked (be as specific as possible)
  • show links to a couple of the least bad options for add-ons/extensions that are able to change the useragent
  • offer further detailed instructions on how exactly to configure said extensions if none of them can automatically do what's required by default
@thebiweeklydev
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For anyone else wondering what Firefox plug-in is required:

User-Agent Switcher and Manager

Change the user-agent to ChromeOS and it should work. It also supports white-listing / black-listing sites.

@altacus
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altacus commented Mar 17, 2024

I ran the installer script and installed and set the User-Agent extension to ChromeOS. On Netflix, I'm getting an error "Please visit chrome://settings/content/protectedContent and make sure "Sites can play protected content" is enabled.

Obviously this is in firefox so I'm at a dead end. Any suggestions on how to get around this?

UPDATE: I realized that this script is geared for Asahi Linux and I'm using Debian. I was able to get things running after using this script and the directions laid out here.

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