4 ms·

Extensions don’t appear unless you go to the develop menu and turn on ‘Allow unsigned extensions’.

by vimy 6y ago

Austin_Conlon 6y ago
Yup, it's mentioned here: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariservices/safari_web_extensions/developing_a_safari_web_extension https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariservices/saf....
- Nextgrid 6y ago
  I'm fairly confident I did that. Either way, the process is very unclear - what actually notifies Safari that an extension is available and whether it's updated? With most browsers it's clear, you open a specific file with the browser, the browser loads it and that's it. To update, you open the updated version of the file. With these apps it doesn't even seem like the app itself is doing any work - there's no code in there to for example connect to an internal socket or do some IPC to notify the browser and supply it with extension files - instead it seems to be handled out-of-band by "magic".
  - dwaite 6y ago
    > what actually notifies Safari that an extension is available and whether it's updated? Since extensions are made available via app extensions, it is: - installation of an app from the app store - first run of an app which is not from the app store This is actually the big reason why they require you to use apps - all system customizations (device drivers, web extensions, photo plugins, fonts, etc) are supported with an application life cycle, and support appstore-style review and updates. I haven't done enough development of safari app extensions in particular to fully understand how _live_ updates work. I typically just enabled the extension with Safari Tech Preview as the only extension, loaded on a test page, and would restart. There may well be logic now to do a page refresh when an enabled extension is updated, however. > With these apps it doesn't even seem like the app itself is doing any work - there's no code in there to for example connect to an internal socket or do some IPC to notify the browser and supply it with extension files The app extension has a global JS file loaded, and the safari.extension object allows one to send IPC to the corresponding native Mac app. This is (for example) how 1Password and other password managers integrate with the native password store. The native app is a pretty good place to put all the configuration options for your extension, which may eliminate the need to surface browser-bar buttons and the like. (FWIW: my Safari extension was a prototype that was abandoned because Safari didn't surface enough HTTP request/response access in their old API. I haven't checked yet if their Web Extension API surface includes what I needed.)
    - Nextgrid 6y ago
      > didn't surface enough HTTP request/response access in their old API. I haven't checked yet if their Web Extension API surface includes what I needed Nope, which is why uBlock Origin is still not possible.
sarakayakomzin 6y ago
unsigned by who? They mention the signing process in this comment but it sounds like unless its signed by a 1st party (Apple) it doesn't show without diving into options.
josteink 6y ago
And the "develop menu" doesn't show either unless you go in advanced settings, and select that it should be visible. Apple has no issues putting 200 hoops in front of you to get a simple thing done. This is just another one of those hoops, and another reason developers don't like doing things with Apple-technologies.

Extensions don’t appear unless you go to the develop menu and turn on ‘Allow unsigned extensions’.

by vimy 6y ago

Extensions don’t appear unless you go to the develop menu and turn on ‘Allow unsigned extensions’.

Yup, it's mentioned here: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariservices/safari_web_extensions/developing_a_safari_web_extension https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariservices/saf....

Nextgrid 6y ago
I'm fairly confident I did that. Either way, the process is very unclear - what actually notifies Safari that an extension is available and whether it's updated? With most browsers it's clear, you open a specific file with the browser, the browser loads it and that's it. To update, you open the updated version of the file. With these apps it doesn't even seem like the app itself is doing any work - there's no code in there to for example connect to an internal socket or do some IPC to notify the browser and supply it with extension files - instead it seems to be handled out-of-band by "magic".
- dwaite 6y ago
  > what actually notifies Safari that an extension is available and whether it's updated? Since extensions are made available via app extensions, it is: - installation of an app from the app store - first run of an app which is not from the app store This is actually the big reason why they require you to use apps - all system customizations (device drivers, web extensions, photo plugins, fonts, etc) are supported with an application life cycle, and support appstore-style review and updates. I haven't done enough development of safari app extensions in particular to fully understand how _live_ updates work. I typically just enabled the extension with Safari Tech Preview as the only extension, loaded on a test page, and would restart. There may well be logic now to do a page refresh when an enabled extension is updated, however. > With these apps it doesn't even seem like the app itself is doing any work - there's no code in there to for example connect to an internal socket or do some IPC to notify the browser and supply it with extension files The app extension has a global JS file loaded, and the safari.extension object allows one to send IPC to the corresponding native Mac app. This is (for example) how 1Password and other password managers integrate with the native password store. The native app is a pretty good place to put all the configuration options for your extension, which may eliminate the need to surface browser-bar buttons and the like. (FWIW: my Safari extension was a prototype that was abandoned because Safari didn't surface enough HTTP request/response access in their old API. I haven't checked yet if their Web Extension API surface includes what I needed.)
  - Nextgrid 6y ago
    > didn't surface enough HTTP request/response access in their old API. I haven't checked yet if their Web Extension API surface includes what I needed Nope, which is why uBlock Origin is still not possible.

sarakayakomzin 6y ago

unsigned by who? They mention the signing process in this comment but it sounds like unless its signed by a 1st party (Apple) it doesn't show without diving into options.

josteink 6y ago

And the "develop menu" doesn't show either unless you go in advanced settings, and select that it should be visible. Apple has no issues putting 200 hoops in front of you to get a simple thing done. This is just another one of those hoops, and another reason developers don't like doing things with Apple-technologies.