In January 2019, Google unveiled its Manifest V3, a set of rules aimed at regulating the use of certain APIs by developers. These rules concern in particular the creation of extensions for the Chrome browser. Almost three years later, the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation), an essential association for the defense of digital freedoms, draws a first unflattering assessment of Google’s strategy.
No more security, and less functionality
For EFF, the Manifest V3 will not block malicious extensions, but will harm the innovation, performance and capabilities of the extensions.
The reaction from developers is very negative, according to EFF. They blame Google for the lack of functions, the many bugs, the poor quality of the documentation, and changes that make their extensions no longer work properly.
As a result, extensions no longer have access to the browser APIs and must use background JavaScript scripts which are found to be limited. As a result, extensions lose functionality and performance. The publisher’s response to the developers resulted in changes … at the margin.
The Manifest V3 also limits blocker type extensions, as they no longer have the webRequest API which allows you to monitor and modify HTTP requests. They must now use the declarativeNetRequest API, which is much more restrictive. This will constitute a serious handicap in the face of the rapid evolution of technologies used to display advertisements and use advertising cookies.
For EFF, developers should be able to choose between the webRequest and declarativeNetRequest APIs. The organization also takes issue with Google’s arguments about the performance gains Manifest V3 is supposed to provide.
Google is also criticized for hiding extensions by default in Chrome, confusing users. To access the extensions, click on the puzzle piece icon at the top of the screen. You can then display them by clicking on the pushpin icon.
Google does not set the tone, it imposes …
With more than two-thirds of browser users using Chrome, Google is enforcing its law and extension developers are being forced to follow suit. This is also the case for other browsers, even Mozilla, which must use the publisher’s new APIs.
EFF accuses Google of trying to impose its Manifest V3 within the W3C WebExtensions group, rather than working in collaboration with the other members of the group.
Thus, Google violates the design principles of the WebExtensions group, which relate to compatibility, performance, user friendliness and maintainability.
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The new extensions, which use the Manifest V2 rules, will no longer be accepted in January 2022 and the existing ones will cease to function in January 2023. The EFF believes that this is far too early and that we must wait, as long as all Manifest V3 issues will not be fixed.
Source : EFF