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[UPDATED:] Using Pandora on an HTPC [Blocked]

Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, it appears that Pandora has systematically and permanently blocked this from working on anything but Xbox and PlayStation device browsers. We are unaware of any further workarounds.

 

Unhappy about that? Let @pandora_radio know that Pandora should open the 10-foot interface at tv.pandora.com to any Chrome browser as an unsupported beta.

Pandora TV Working in Chrome

Pandora recently released a brand new HTML5 10-foot interface targeted at the Xbox 360.  HTML5 works everywhere, right?  Surely it it would work on any PC including Windows Media Center PCs…. Guess again.  It was massively disappointing to discover that, for whatever reason, it is not open to any browser.  If you go to https://tv.pandora.com/ like their blog post suggests, you will be met with an advertisement for how awesome Pandora is on the Xbox.  That is decidedly not awesome for the rest of us.  Luckily, there is a workaround!  At least for now, if the URL specifies a few parameters, Pandora can be fooled into thinking the browser is an Xbox.  Try this out:

https://tv.pandora.com/?mouseEnabled=true&dPadEnabled=true&vendor=microsoft&model=xbox&type=console&modelYear=2013

 

Updated:

https://tv.pandora.com/?model=xbox&audio=true&vendor=microsoft&showConsole=false&modelYear=2013&mouseEnabled=true&dPadEnabled=true&delay=true&type=console&version=4&badge=xrniqoryz3kpd46wj3kxto367senmsitdfuli3a

Oddly enough this workaround seems to only work in Chrome and Opera.  Windows Media Center and home theater PC users rejoice! Of course, integrating this with Media Center takes a little work (or a tool like Relaunch), so expect an update from us soon on that. Happy streaming.

Update: Looks like Pandora changed the parameters in the URL. Adding the new parameters to the URL appears to work the same as before. Thanks to John McGinley for pointing this out in the comments!

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Chris Barnes

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