Chrome Manifest v2 extensions will stop working in June 2023
Google has been working on a new extension manifest, Manifest v3, for quite some time. The company introduced support for the new manifest version in Chrome 88, released in early 2021, and has now revealed plans to phase out support for extensions that use Manifest v2.
According to the timeline published by Google, Chrome’s Web Store will block acceptance of new Manifest V2 extensions from January 17, 2022 onwards. Updates can still be submitted for existing Manifest V2 extensions and will update normally. Private extensions, those with the Private Visibility setting, can still be sent as Manifest V2 extensions.
In June 2022, private extensions will no longer be accepted. Updates are still allowed for existing Manifest V2 extensions.
In January 2023, Chrome will no longer accept updates to the Manifest V2 extension in the Chrome web browser. Google’s web browser will stop running Manifest V2 extensions, but there is a corporate policy that extends support for six months.
In June 2023, that business policy is finally removed and no version of Google Chrome will no longer run Manifest V2 extensions.
Blocking Manifest V2 extensions in Chrome has a significant impact on the Chrome browser extension ecosystem. Developers must update their extensions to be compatible with Manifest V3. Any extension that is out of date, for example because it has been abandoned by its developer or cannot be updated due to changes, will not be compatible with Chrome in 2023.
Many Chrome extensions will stop working, and the situation may remind Firefox users of a time when Mozilla changed the browser’s extension system. Many stopped working, because they were not updated or could not be, and Mozilla removed them from their store in the end. Google is likely to do the same for Manifest V2 extensions on the Chrome Web Store, as these no longer serve any business purpose and could frustrate users.
Google has been heavily criticized for the initial drafts of Manifest V3, as these changed the functionality of the main content blocking API. Several extension developers, including Raymond Hill, who developed uBlock Origin, raised concerns about the drafts that Google released at the time. Hill stated at the time that Manifest V3 could be the end of uBlock Origin for Google Chrome.
Google has updated the draft V3 Manifesto several times since it published the initial proposal. It is too early to tell if these changes are enough, or if some types of extensions will be released with limited functionality or will not be released when Manifest V3 is required in the browser.
In the meantime, we will continue to add new capabilities to Manifest V3 based on the needs and voices of our developer community. Even in the last few months, there have been a number of interesting extensions to the extension platform. We introduced additional mechanisms to the new Scripting API and expanded the Declarative Net Request API with support for multiple static rule sets, filtering based on tab ID, and session scoping rules.
The change will affect other Chromium-based browsers. The developers of these browsers face a difficult situation: if they follow Google, they can introduce the same limitations in their browsers. If they don’t, they have to find a way around it, either by continuing to support Manifest V2 extensions and making sure they can be updated and downloaded, or by other means.
Mozilla is in a better position. The organization stated in 2019 that it will not follow Google to limit APIs in Manifest V3.
Extension developers can check the official support page on the Google developer site for updates.
advertising
