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There's still a lot to do, mainly around distribution and publishing areas: - webextensions specific storage apis to return promises but chrome still needs cal

by shash7 5y ago

There's still a lot to do, mainly around distribution and publishing areas: - webextensions specific storage apis to return promises but chrome still needs callbacks - A few UI differences between chrome's extension popup and firefox's one means you'll need to potentially leave out features for one browser. - csp policies differs between chrome and firefox(and cors too I think) - UX differences between browsers means you'll need to write extra code, and maybe a few extra tutorials. - Difference between how permissions are interpreted on different browsers - Huge huge difference between publishing on chrome vs on firefox - Safari requires xcode, and therefore macos to publish

lstamour 5y ago
That last restriction (Safari requiring Xcode) isn’t always a limitation, though. Most CI platforms support Mac for publishing apps to that platform. For instance, GitHub: https://link.medium.com/63hjdbRBQgb https://link.medium.com/63hjdbRBQgb and the Safari Web Extension command line parts are documented at https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariservices/safari_web_extensions/converting_a_web_extension_for_safari https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariservices/saf... Plus, you probably still need a Mac or a virtualized Mac (for automated tests, for example) because you’ll want to test your extension with Safari to ensure it works correctly.
- contriban 5y ago
  I don’t get your comment. You just confirmed that, indeed, you need a specific computer to publish Safari extension, which isn’t the case for Firefox and Chrome extensions. It is a limitation and it’s completely unnecessary for the end user. If they’re so lazy to have a extensions-specific store they could at least offer an automatic wrapper that they run before publishing. I should not need XCode anywhere in my build to publish web extensions.
  - brutal_chaos_ 5y ago
    I think the confusion here is need to own vs need to use.
    - jfrunyon 5y ago
      You need to own it in order to use it, and you need to use it in order to publish an extension for Safari. No confusion.
      - tehbeard 5y ago
        And before anyone claims u can just buy time on a cloud Mac... The cost for these and requirement from Apple for a min. period of 24 hours rental (something to do with Mac stadium?) mean you're funneled towards making the $2000 "investment" in a iDevice.
        lstamour 5y ago
        If you can't afford to cross-browser test, and you don't have a Mac, I'm not sure why you're building an extension for a Mac-only browser then? Someone has to test it on a Mac, register for a certificate with Apple, etc. In the end, buying a Mac is the easy part? And there are services like https://www.browserstack.com/docs/automate/selenium/add-plugins-extensions-remote-browsers#introduction https://www.browserstack.com/docs/automate/selenium/add-plug... where you can basically rent Mac VMs on cheap monthly plans. Or GitHub Actions, as I pointed to earlier, has a free tier with free minutes on an automated Mac terminal.
        contriban 5y ago
        I can’t believe what I’m reading. On one side Apple says they now offer a compatible API, on the other side you’re telling me dropping a minimum of $800 on a computer (+$100 annually) to release a free extension is the easy part. BrowserStack would be a good solution to test it, but unfortunately you also need a lot of preparation and XCode-specific knowledge to even get to a testable point, which you don’t get unless you own a Mac. The browsers that Apple claims to be compatible with don’t require anything more than WinZip.
  - lstamour 5y ago
    But you need Safari to test the extension and Safari only has these extensions on a Mac? This is Apple’s way of avoiding their store getting cluttered with extensions that haven’t been tested to work on Safari. And yes, it also encourages developers to buy Macs. It can do both…
    - saagarjha 5y ago
      Have you ever looked at the Mac App Store? It is a literal dumpster fire.
      - herpes 5y ago
        Could you give me an example of this please? I'd love to see what you're referring to.
        saagarjha 5y ago
        Here's one article about it: https://www.howtogeek.com/281849/dont-be-fooled-the-mac-app-store-is-full-of-scams/ https://www.howtogeek.com/281849/dont-be-fooled-the-mac-app-.... It's still pretty bad.
      - simondotau 5y ago
        Can you explain what you mean by “literal dumpster fire” because this doesn’t align with my own experience. I’ve used it for purchasing a number of apps recently and I saw nothing eyebrow-raising. So long as the app you want has been uploaded to the store, it works perfectly fine.
        saagarjha 5y ago
        The App Store is OK for the apps you know are on it and you search for them directly. But the rest of the store is just junk and scams, mostly.
        simondotau 5y ago
TedDoesntTalk 5y ago
Ok… but the following topics in your list have nothing to do with an API specification, which is what they say their goals is on the Goals section: > “A few UI differences between chrome's extension popup and firefox's one means you'll need to potentially leave out features for one browser. - UX differences between browsers means you'll need to write extra code, and maybe a few extra tutorials. - Huge huge difference between publishing on chrome vs on firefox - Safari requires xcode, and therefore macos to publish” Bottom line is I don’t think there is going to be an api standard around “distribution and publishing areas”

by shash7 5y ago

lstamour 5y ago

That last restriction (Safari requiring Xcode) isn’t always a limitation, though. Most CI platforms support Mac for publishing apps to that platform. For instance, GitHub: https://link.medium.com/63hjdbRBQgb https://link.medium.com/63hjdbRBQgb and the Safari Web Extension command line parts are documented at https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariservices/safari_web_extensions/converting_a_web_extension_for_safari https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariservices/saf... Plus, you probably still need a Mac or a virtualized Mac (for automated tests, for example) because you’ll want to test your extension with Safari to ensure it works correctly.

contriban 5y ago
I don’t get your comment. You just confirmed that, indeed, you need a specific computer to publish Safari extension, which isn’t the case for Firefox and Chrome extensions. It is a limitation and it’s completely unnecessary for the end user. If they’re so lazy to have a extensions-specific store they could at least offer an automatic wrapper that they run before publishing. I should not need XCode anywhere in my build to publish web extensions.
- brutal_chaos_ 5y ago
  I think the confusion here is need to own vs need to use.
  - jfrunyon 5y ago
    You need to own it in order to use it, and you need to use it in order to publish an extension for Safari. No confusion.
    - tehbeard 5y ago
      And before anyone claims u can just buy time on a cloud Mac... The cost for these and requirement from Apple for a min. period of 24 hours rental (something to do with Mac stadium?) mean you're funneled towards making the $2000 "investment" in a iDevice.
      - lstamour 5y ago
        If you can't afford to cross-browser test, and you don't have a Mac, I'm not sure why you're building an extension for a Mac-only browser then? Someone has to test it on a Mac, register for a certificate with Apple, etc. In the end, buying a Mac is the easy part? And there are services like https://www.browserstack.com/docs/automate/selenium/add-plugins-extensions-remote-browsers#introduction https://www.browserstack.com/docs/automate/selenium/add-plug... where you can basically rent Mac VMs on cheap monthly plans. Or GitHub Actions, as I pointed to earlier, has a free tier with free minutes on an automated Mac terminal.
        contriban 5y ago
        I can’t believe what I’m reading. On one side Apple says they now offer a compatible API, on the other side you’re telling me dropping a minimum of $800 on a computer (+$100 annually) to release a free extension is the easy part. BrowserStack would be a good solution to test it, but unfortunately you also need a lot of preparation and XCode-specific knowledge to even get to a testable point, which you don’t get unless you own a Mac. The browsers that Apple claims to be compatible with don’t require anything more than WinZip.
- lstamour 5y ago
  But you need Safari to test the extension and Safari only has these extensions on a Mac? This is Apple’s way of avoiding their store getting cluttered with extensions that haven’t been tested to work on Safari. And yes, it also encourages developers to buy Macs. It can do both…
  - saagarjha 5y ago
    Have you ever looked at the Mac App Store? It is a literal dumpster fire.
    - herpes 5y ago
      Could you give me an example of this please? I'd love to see what you're referring to.
      - saagarjha 5y ago
        Here's one article about it: https://www.howtogeek.com/281849/dont-be-fooled-the-mac-app-store-is-full-of-scams/ https://www.howtogeek.com/281849/dont-be-fooled-the-mac-app-.... It's still pretty bad.
    - simondotau 5y ago
      Can you explain what you mean by “literal dumpster fire” because this doesn’t align with my own experience. I’ve used it for purchasing a number of apps recently and I saw nothing eyebrow-raising. So long as the app you want has been uploaded to the store, it works perfectly fine.
      - saagarjha 5y ago
        The App Store is OK for the apps you know are on it and you search for them directly. But the rest of the store is just junk and scams, mostly.
        simondotau 5y ago

TedDoesntTalk 5y ago

Ok… but the following topics in your list have nothing to do with an API specification, which is what they say their goals is on the Goals section: > “A few UI differences between chrome's extension popup and firefox's one means you'll need to potentially leave out features for one browser. - UX differences between browsers means you'll need to write extra code, and maybe a few extra tutorials. - Huge huge difference between publishing on chrome vs on firefox - Safari requires xcode, and therefore macos to publish” Bottom line is I don’t think there is going to be an api standard around “distribution and publishing areas”