41–50 of 224 posts
Here's mine: https://apps.apple.com/app/id1532523816 It runs the exact same underlying code as for Google Chrome/Firefox etc. I converted to Safari 14 using a one liner: `xcrun safari-web-extension-converter /app/path`
I use Safari on the laptop because it's most efficient but it doesn't block all ads like ublock origin does. Particularly for YouTube so I need to use Firefox with ublock for viewing videos. I tend to not trust extensions otherwise and would really prefer Safari to have built in total ad blocking - zero tolerance for any ads at all.
Is Safari a privileged process on OSX? Could someone develop a ptrace-style solution to disable signing and allow installation of Firefox WebExtensions?
In addition to the money argument raised in another comment, the Apple development experience is a major annoyance when all you need is a couple lines of JS. I have an extension idea; it's literally a single line of JS. However, to get it into Safari, I need to create a (useless, and empty) Mac app with a specific configuration in Xcode that'll allow it to appear in the "extensions" list in Safari. Then I need to dea…
Probably less annoying, but there's still a time and effort cost to publishing on both Chrome and Firefox as well. They don't have the same policies, the APIs have differences, they have their own bugs, and the submission/review process is different for each. It's a real drag, compared to pushing updates to a website.
Also, with the Chrome store right now, once you push an update for review, there's no way to replace it with a newer update until the (up to 3 weeks) review process finishes so say goodbye to pushing quick fixes, automated deploys and fast iterations. It's ridiculous.
The most popular web extensions are those that deprive sites of direct and indirect revenue, which necessarily means they can’t charge for the service or their userbase would revolt and steal their rule sets (which is easy to do for a web extension). Having to pay money for such things goes against the grain of those users, and the sort of breakage that people think is acceptable for content blockers isn’t quite as a…
> What browser extensions other than content blockers exist, that have any significant user base and value, that isn’t already met by better and more capable native apps on macOS and iOS, and somehow could charge people money for the extension with their willing cooperation? Language-learning extensions are reasonably popular, though most aren’t making the big bucks. Grammarly is probably one winner of note.
In addition to the money argument raised in another comment, the Apple development experience is a major annoyance when all you need is a couple lines of JS. I have an extension idea; it's literally a single line of JS. However, to get it into Safari, I need to create a (useless, and empty) Mac app with a specific configuration in Xcode that'll allow it to appear in the "extensions" list in Safari. Then I need to dea…
> I have an extension idea; it's literally a single line of JS. However, to get it into Safari, I need to create a (useless, and empty) Mac app with a specific configuration in Xcode that'll allow it to appear in the "extensions" list in Safari. Then I need to deal with all the signing & App Store distribution stuff if I actually want to distribute it. Probably less annoying, but there's still a time and effort cost…
Maybe it's because I don't have many users, or don't use any minification, or something else?
I'd like to publish for Safari but it's a much higher bar. Similar to the old Edge extensions which required Microsoft Store hoop jumping.
We are working on a new native macOS browser based on Webkit with native web extension API support built in. We have uBlock origin and many others extensions working already. By doing this we get best of both worlds - performance and energy use of Webkit and extensions from chrome/firefox. Screenshot: https://ibb.co/7V8sfyX We are open for beta testers. Please email me if interested with short background and area of…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I have an extension idea; it's literally a single line of JS. However, to get it into Safari, I need to create a (useless, and empty) Mac app with a specific configuration in Xcode that'll allow it to appear in the "extensions" list in Safari. Then I need to deal with all the signing & App Store distribution stuff if I actually want to distribute it. Probably less annoying, but there's still a time and effort cost…
I push my extension to Firefox, Chrome, and Edge. Updates for me take less than five minutes to upload and appear within an hour or so. Maybe it's because I don't have many users, or don't use any minification, or something else? I'd like to publish for Safari but it's a much higher bar. Similar to the old Edge extensions which required Microsoft Store hoop jumping.
Do you automated this or are there manual steps?
> Updates for me take less than five minutes to upload and appear within an hour or so.
https://developer.chrome.com/docs/webstore/faq/#faq-listing-...
"Review times vary; some reviews complete in a few hours, others take many days, and in some cases a review can take several weeks. ... If your item's status says "pending review" for more than three weeks, you should contact support."
Reviews are meant to take longer if you ask for e.g. permission to all URLs (which a large number of popular extensions need to because of lack of permission granularity). Maybe your extension isn't impacted here? There's no guarantee the next update won't get trapped in the review queue either, which is not going to be fun when a critical fix is pending.
Here's mine: https://apps.apple.com/app/id1532523816 It runs the exact same underlying code as for Google Chrome/Firefox etc. I converted to Safari 14 using a one liner: `xcrun safari-web-extension-converter /app/path`
I get a blank page. Running Mojave 10.14.6, Safari 14.0.2