Welcome to the landing page for Firefox OS for TV and connected devices. This is written for web developers who are interested in Firefox OS for TV current and future work, and developing web apps for TV. The articles linked below provide everything you need to build and run a Firefox OS TV simulator, get started writing apps and deploying them to TV, understand TV implementation and UX differences, and more.
Current status and future plans
Gaia 2.1 and above contains facilities for running on TV. There have been smart TVs on the market running Firefox OS since mid 2015, the first of which is the Panasonic VIERA Smart TV.
The newest version of Firefox OS (2.5) is currently available to partners and developers and adds some new features, which will be made available in the new range of Panasonic DX900 UHD TVs later this year. This update will include new ways to discover Web apps and save them to your TV, and sync Firefox features across TV and other platforms (such as bookmarks, etc.) Most prominent is a “send to TV” feature to easily share Web content from Firefox for Android to a Firefox OS powered TV.
The Firefox OS effort across TVs is part of the wider effort to provide Firefox OS as an open platform choice for managing and controlling the wider range of connected devices available in the physical world (i.e. the Internet of Things.)
TV environment setup and tools
- Simulating Firefox OS for TV on your desktop
- How to connect WebIDE to TV (VIErA CX/CR series)
- TV remote control button mapping to keyboard
TV web application development
In brief, the main differences between using Firefox OS on a TV versus a phone (or a desktop computer) are:
- Control mechanisms: Firefox OS on TV likely only has a TV remote available to control it, which is not as convenient as a keyboard, mouse or touch screen.
- Resolution: Modern smart TVs are usually Full HD (1920x1080) or Ultra HD (4K). The Device Pixel Ratio on TVs is also different to that of most mobile devices.
App development articles
- Firefox OS for TV hello world example
- Interacting with TV remote controls
- Implementing TV remote control navigation
- Keyboard events across browser elements
- TV broadcast streams on Firefox OS products
- Q&A for TV apps (to be started)
TV UX overview
- TV app layout guide
- TV building blocks
- TV icon design
- Animation basics
- Firefox OS TV User Interface & Animation Design
- Web animations on large screens
Firefox OS basics
API support on TV
Firefox OS for TV is based on Gecko, so therefore it supports most of the APIs available for the web platform, and Firefox OS-specific APIs. There are some exceptions, however, and this list outlines those:
- DeviceStorage: Not supported on VIErA TV.
- Geolocation: Not supported on VIErA TV.
- WebRTC: Not supported on VIErA TV.