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Google remotely deletes The Great Suspender Chrome extension after malware accusations
And it's gone from the Chrome Web Store, too
The popular Chrome extension The Great Suspender has been itself suspended from Google's Chrome Web Store. The extension is also being remotely disabled on customer's devices, with a warning that it is "dangerous" and "may contain malware." Reportedly, this is because of some sketchy changes that happened when the extension traded hands last year, including tracking code discovered in the extension.
Google has been working on an updated version of the Chrome extension API, named 'Manifest V3,' for over two years at this point. After extension developers rallied against some of the proposed changes, Google went back to the drawing board, and now the final documentation for Manifest V3 is available to developers.
Firefox for Android brings back general extensions support, here's how to set it up
Finally, I can use AMP to HTML again
The brand new Firefox for Android rolled out to everyone last month, but it still lacks the broad extension support that made the original browser so popular. To quote Douglas Adams, "this had made many people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move." Thankfully, experimental support for sideloading any Firefox extension has now arrived in the Nightly branch.
Mozilla promises expanded extensions support following controversial Firefox Android update
The newest Firefox updated removed all but a small selection of add-ons
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Mozilla has been working on a rewritten version of Firefox for Android, designed to be faster and easier to maintain, and it started rolling out to the stable channel last week. Even though the new version is absolutely an upgrade in some areas, replacing the older browser before the newer codebase had all the same features has proven to be an unpopular move.
Chromebooks managed through Google Family Link can now install any extensions
You need to approve extensions on the device, though
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Earlier this month, Google whitelisted a few extensions for kids' Chromebooks managed via Family Link, like Zoom, Hangouts, and some educational tools — only installable with parental permission, of course. This makes life easier for those who need to rely on video conferences for learning during these stay-at-home times, but it's still a tiny selection. To improve the situation, Google is now testing support for all extensions on managed Chromebooks in Chrome OS 83+ (we tested using Dev 83 and 84).
Google reveals privacy and security improvements coming soon to Chrome
Browser-level DNS settings, improvements to extensions, and more are on the way
Google Chrome hasn't implemented the extreme level of tracker/ad blocking that we've seen in other web browsers over the past few years (I'm sure Google's position as an advertising company has nothing to do with that), but it has been taking small steps. Google has proposed new web standards that would make fingerprinting and cross-site tracking much more difficult, and now the company is announcing some browser-level features that aim to improve privacy and security.
The Chrome Web Store is still something of a wild west — seemingly every month, there's a story about some popular extension stealing user data or doing something else it's not supposed to do. Google has already made several policy changes lately, and its next target is spammy extensions.
Chromium-based Kiwi Browser is now completely open source
Other browser devs can use its code to implement extension support
Kiwi made a name for itself as one of the only browsers that support extensions on Android. The app has also innovated on other parts of the Chromium base by adding a custom implementation of dark mode and by shipping with another take on a bottom bar interface that looks a lot like Google's early attempts at that design. Over the weekend, the developer has decided to make the software open source in order to share these achievements with others interested in building Chromium-based browsers.
The Chrome Web Store is undergoing a transformation, as Google seeks to phase out Chrome apps entirely. Extensions are still sticking around, but now the company has placed a ban on paid extensions, leaving some developers frustrated.
You might not have heard about it before, but we have a browser extension that adds a few nice features to the web Play Store: Toolbox for Google Play Store. It offers APKMirror integration, easy beta program joining/leaving, and more. You've already been able to download it on Chrome, Opera, and Firefox, and now we're introducing support for the new Microsoft Edge.
Back in October, Wladimir Palant, developer of the popular AdBlock Plus browser extension, published a blog post outlining how extensions from security company Avast/AVG were collecting massive amounts of data from users. In a somewhat-belated response, Google has now removed some of Avast's extensions from the Chrome Web Store.
Samsung Internet Browser is one of the few examples of OEM-designed apps that many people want to use over Google's equivalents. Ever since Samsung officially started supporting non-Galaxy phones, the browser has become one of the most popular for Android, thanks to its (minimal) extensions support, excellent dark mode, and fast Chromium-based core. Now the browser is adding support for even more types of extensions, but there are a few catches.
Google Tasks sometimes feels like an afterthought, shoved into the sidebar at sites like Google Calendar and Gmail. If you rely on its to-do list functionality, but you'd like something with more of a standalone feel, a new Chrome extension turns Google Tasks into its own full-screen thing. The aptly named "Full Screen for Google Tasks" gives you a bigger and better interface that Google should have provided in the first place, though it isn't perfect.
Google Images recently tweaked how its results were displayed, replacing the old in-list expanding layout for viewing a given image with a new pop-out sidebar. If accommodating this change is too much for you to bear, there is a way to revert to the old layout, via an open source "Google Images Restored" extension/add-on for Chrome and Firefox.
Earlier this year, Google got the internet riled up when it tentatively planned to remove the APIs that content blocking extensions — including ad blockers — use. The proposed replacement API wouldn't be as powerful or flexible, so both users and developers forwarded their complaints to Google. However, the company is mostly sticking to its guns.
If you haven't heard about it before, we have a browser extension called Toolbox for Google Play Store, which adds plenty of useful features to the Play Store website. It can automatically look up if an app is available on APKMirror, check for an app testing program (and tell you if you're enrolled), and more. Version 2.5 is now rolling out to Chrome and Firefox, with the Opera release pending approval.
One of Chrome's most useful features is its Chromecast integration. You can manually cast a tab to your TV, and some sites implement their own Cast button. Google hasn't made this functionality available in other browsers, but at least one person is trying to solve that. Developer Matt Hensman is working on 'fx_cast,' an extension that brings Chromecast support to Firefox.
Almost precisely four years ago, Google rolled out a new Chrome App for Hangouts. Initially named "Ultra Violet" during testing, the app brought a bubbly and fun transparent UI with Facebook-style Chat Heads to Google's instant messaging platform. We hope that you didn't depend on it too much, though. According to a recent update to a support document, the Hangouts Chrome app will stop working "soon." Those of us still using Hangouts on the desktop are urged to migrate to the Head-less Chrome extension.
The desktop Play Store site was updated in March, and perhaps the most annoying aspect of the new design was the screenshot gallery. Even though the full-screen lightbox is nice, the embedded gallery requires constantly clicking the left/right arrows to scroll. We updated our Toolbox browser extension to support the new Play Store site last month, and a new update vastly improves the screenshot gallery.
The Chrome Web Store is a hotbed of sketchy browser extensions, with seemingly little intervention from Google (except for the occasional crack-down). The company already takes down extensions that secretly mine cryptocurrency, but now it is going a step further. Starting today, all extensions that mine cryptocurrency will be barred from the Chrome Web Store.