Google postpones Chrome content-blocker shakeup once again
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Google has announced (opens in new tab) which is the API for its latest Chromium-based extension platform web browsersManifest V3 (MV3), has been delayed again, with an update from the company expected by March 2023.
The latest development comes just a month before the original deadline of January 2023, announced at the beginning of September 2022, would come into effect. Google seems to be confused about the change, as a further one postponement to January 2024 followed at the end of September, albeit only for Google Chrome business users.
Extensions are currently built on the Manifest V2 (MV2) API, which provides robust functionality to developers, enabling effective privacy tools, such as uBlock Origin and Decentraleyes, to flourish. Google is trying to curb that functionality with MV3 by reducing the number of permissions available to developers, which it says will improve user privacy and performance.
Clarify the privacy implications of V3
While Google has long to maintain (opens in new tab) that it plans to support content blocking extensions post-transition, some app developers are noticing that may not be the reality.
TechRadar Pro noted in our reporting of the original deadline that uBlock Origin developer Raymond Hill had developed an MV3-compatible version of the extension, but noted that the functionality was so limited that it didn’t make “much sense” to roll it out. bring.
The register has noted that complaints about functionality and privacy also come from the Electronic Borders Foundation (opens in new tab)and Jean-Paul Schmetz (opens in new tab)CEO of privacy suite provider Ghostery, to name a few.
However, it’s also true that, perhaps so far, the transition to MV3 has happened while the API is an experimental mess with bugs.
The register found out it has Chromium bug reporting system a litany of bugs (opens in new tab) only relates to this, while the new Service Workers feature, replacing scripts that run in the background and stop and start when needed, is largely broken (opens in new tab)and has been since at least November 2020.
It’s not all bad news, though: users looking for a genuine secure browsing experience are not out of options yet.
Alternative browsers built on Chromium, the same underlying engine as Google Chrome, such as Microsoft Edge, are largely getting involved in the change. However, the more focused on privacy Brave (opens in new tab) and Vivaldi (opens in new tab) both have built-in ad and tracker blocking that shouldn’t be affected by the move to MV3.
Mozilla Firefox, which claims to be one of the few remaining browsers not built on Chromium, plans to implement MV3 while retaining some of the functionality from MV2. As Tech Radar Pro Mozilla reported in late September plans to keep WebRequest (opens in new tab)an API integral to blocking web content and trackers.
Through The register (opens in new tab)