Microsoft roadmap confirms Teams will soon support Firefox
Microsoft has updated its roadmap for Teams to confirm that Teams support for Firefox is in the works, it’s about time. Many people see Teams as the successor to Skype, not just because they’re made by the same company, but because of the modern experience Teams brings over Skype, across all devices and platforms.
The popularity of the service has been growing steadily and it now boasts a user base of 270 million monthly active users. In addition to the mobile apps and desktop programs it offers, Teams, like Skype, can also be used directly from web browsers. Some users prefer to use it that way, without installing the standalone tool on their computer.
The only downside here is that the teams on the web don’t support Firefox. It is not the first time that Microsoft ignores Mozilla’s browser. Last year, when it promised to support Skype in all browsers, the Redmond company coincidentally forgot to add the Firefox icon, for which it was criticized. And as Martin pointed out, not only was the icon missing, but the VOIP service was not supported in the browser. A few months later, things have changed and Skype on the web is functional in Firefox. All’s well that ends well, I guess.
Let’s go back to the teams. If you try to sign in to your Microsoft account on the Teams website using Firefox, you’ll get a message that says, “Hmm. Your browser version is not supported. The fastest solution? Download the desktop app.” The web page also has links to the supported browsers it recommends, Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome.
You’d think they’d have learned their lesson by now, right? Regardless, neither of those two options will be acceptable to a user who was specifically interested in the web-based version. The easiest solution to such restrictions is to change the browser’s user agent, i.e. spoofing the website to think that you are accessing it from a Chromium-based browser. If you are interested in this, you can use an extension like User Agent Switcher and Manager.
The problem with unofficial fixes like this is that you cannot guarantee full compatibility with the service you are trying to access. Some things may or may not work, and because Teams is used for work and school, it can’t be trusted and shouldn’t be taken lightly.
That’s why Microsoft’s decision to support Teams in Firefox is important. The plans outlined in the roadmap reveal that Teams will offer full audio support in Firefox, so you’ll be able to attend meetings from the web version of the service. In addition to this, it will also support screen sharing in Mozilla browser.
The feature was only added to the roadmap a few days ago, which could suggest development is well underway. But, the entry spotted by Techradar, has April 2022 as the general availability timeline for Microsoft Teams support in Firefox. So it could be rolled out to the user by the end of this month.
Do you use Teams from your web browser?
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