By mid-2024, Google Chrome Will Make Big Changes To Extensions

(CTN News) – Next year, Google Chrome’s new extension manifest, Manifest V3, will replace its predecessor for good. According to the company’s announcement, Manifest V2 will be discontinued in June 2024, preventing extensions from being installed via the Chrome Web Store and remotely deactivating those that rely on it.

It has been criticized by adblock developers in particular, who complain that the new specification is too restrictive. However, some changes have been made to the specification.

In a blog post, Google Chrome explains that Manifest V3 has been improved in several key ways to mitigate some of the problems developers experience with it.

The company promises improved content filtering support with more generous limits, allowing for a larger block list and rule set. Additionally, there are enhancements to extensions that rely on background playback, enhanced control over the lifetime of service workers, as well as a new API for User Scripts.

It appears that Google Chrome has made the necessary adjustments after pausing the transition to Manifest V3 last December because of a large backlash from developers. It is the company’s intention to phase out the previous specification, Manifest V2, in June 2024 with Chrome 127 and newer.

The company has also stated that the change will be implemented gradually, so some people may be able to retain their extensions for a short period of time.

According to Google Chrome, developers are encouraged to migrate to Manifest V3 as soon as possible, noting that “support for Manifest V3 has increased significantly among extension developers.”

AdGuard is featured in the company’s blog post, with which it worked to further enhance Manifest V3 to make it more suitable for tracking and ad-blocking applications. According to AdGuard, it sees “cautious optimism” about the change at this time.

There are still other initiatives that are not satisfied with Manifest V3. The Verge interviewed digital privacy nonprofit EFF, who says that Google Chrome changes are helpful, but: “The big problem remains the same: if extensions cannot innovate, users lose and trackers win… Google Chrome must continue to evolve the API in order to keep up with advertisers and trackers.”

In the midst of the Google Chrome campaign against adblockers, Manifest V3 is being pushed to developers and users at the same time that it is being pushed to developers and users.

In an effort to combat the use of adblockers on YouTube more aggressively, the company has brought in a new policy that blocks individuals who are detected to be using these tools from accessing YouTube videos as long as they have enabled the blocker.

As a result of YouTube’s aggressive stance on privacy, the company faces lawsuits in the European Union over its practices

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