Twitch’s poor communication caused uncertainty when the business said that Chrome, Edge, and Firefox are the only web browsers officially supported by the popular streaming network. The notification gave little explanation, but it seems that the limits are temporary and have been put on other browsers so that Twitch may discover and shut down access points used to establish large numbers of bot accounts.
The problems started when customers encountered difficulties while attempting to enter the service. Twitch Support subsequently addressed the matter by requesting that customers log in using the most recent version of one of the three supported web browsers, and said that a help article addressing troubleshooting difficulties is “coming soon.”
Twitch Chief Product Officer Tom Verrilli subsequently explained the situation on Twitter, stating that the browser limitations are simply a temporary precaution to counteract botnets used in hate raids.
Twitch fans on Twitter have been told by Opera GX that they may still access the streaming site using its browser if they upgrade to the newest version. I checked three of the most popular alternative browsers — Safari, Brave, and Opera GX — and discovered that I still had login access across all three, as well as the ability to view movies and begin a stream.
Despite the outrage in Twitch Support comments decrying the move to discontinue official support for other browsers, using an unsupported browser does not seem to prevent access to the streaming service entirely. However, some users are reporting problems, such as being unable to make purchases on Twitch using an unsupported browser, and even streams using a compatible browser are having login failures.
Twitch’s clumsy messaging isn’t helping it. The platform’s recent announcement that it would reduce the income share of its top producers from 70/30 to 50/50 has already tarnished its reputation with streamers and viewers alike, prompting huge stars like CodeMiko to contemplate transferring to competitor sites like YouTube. Given that some of Twitch’s top talent has already left the platform, it’s in the company’s best interests, to be honest with its improvements in order to keep its community.
