Chrome Warning About Manifest V2 Extensions
This story starts in 2019 when Google detailed its plans to improve extensions’ security and privacy features with a project it called Manifest V3 (MV3) that changes the way extensions use various APIs. MV3 is currently being rolled out, and Google looks set to stop supporting extensions that use its predecessor MV2 this year. Back in 2019 Google insisted it was not trying to kill content blockers.
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The search and ad giant’s privacy and security concerns are legitimate. Extensions written under the legacy Manifest V2 API have broad access to the browsing activities of users and have long been abused by miscreants to steal data and compromise systems.
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MV3, however, appears not to be meeting Google’s stated goals.
AdGuard, a privacy service that makes an ad blocking extension for Chrome and related applications, recently complained that MV3 is making it hard to deliver its desired features.
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Miagkov described an unresolved problem that means Privacy Badger is unable to strip Google tracking redirects on Google sites. “We can’t do it the correct way because when Google engineers design the [chrome.declarativeNetRequest API], they fail to think of this scenario,” he said.
Raymond Hill (via Hacker News):
uBO is a Manifest v2 extension, hence the warning in your Google Chrome browser. There is no Manifest v3 version of uBO, hence the browser will suggest alternative extensions as a replacement for uBO[…]
Zalaphyr (via Hacker News):
Ublock Origin extension got removed from my Chrome browser by force, with a message saying that it was not supported anymore.
Chrome version 134, which started rolling out yesterday, has added a new restriction: unpacked extensions can no longer be used while developer mode is disabled. There’s a new warning, “Turn on developer mode to use this extension, which can’t be reviewed by the Chrome Web Store.”
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Thus, you’ll now need to keep developer mode enabled permanently to use StopTheMadness Pro in Chrome.
Previously:
- Chrome’s Manifest V3 and uBlock Origin
- FLoC and Manifest V3
- Chrome to Limit Ad Blocking Extensions
- Ghostery Lite
