Just like applications run on a web browser, extensions let users customize and enhance their web experience. About 50% of Firefox users have installed at least one extension, privacy-minded utilities and productivity-boosting tools.
WebExtensions is the framework that developers use to create these extensions. The framework exposes APIs that allow the extensions to interface with web pages and browser functionality. Currently, all the major browsers-from Firefox and Chrome to Safari-are adopting this framework in its latest version, Manifest V3.
Implementation approaches differ between browsers, which leads to some differences in which extensions are offered. Manifesto Principle 5 notes that “Individuals must have the ability to shape the internet and their own experiences on it.” This is how Mozilla has approached Manifest V3.
The new APIs afford creative avenues for developers, with innovative AI capabilities enabling offline machine learning tasks performed right within the browser by extensions. Support will continue for both Manifest V2 and V3 on Firefox, unlike other browsers that plan to drop support for any extension using Manifest V2 altogether.
In turn, this extended toolbox for developers broadens options and innovation for the users. For Mozilla, giving individuals choice and control over their online experience has always been a core value. The aim is to ensure their internet experience is whatever God wants it to be.
Google has positioned itself to go forward on stopping the use of Manifest V2 and, by the middle of 2025, completely stop the support of any extension based on it. In consequence, the implications are so huge that users of Chrome have started to lose access to uBlock Origin, one of the most-used ad blockers since it applies a feature of Manifest V2 called blockingWebRequest.
The basis of the new policies of Google replacing blockingWebRequest is declarativeNetRequest, which restricts all the ways in which extensions may filter the content.
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