In a major update towards cross-browser compatibility, Firefox users are set to enjoy the benefits of importing Chrome extensions (note this is really part of the data import/migration from an existing Chrome browser installed, just for extensions that are already supported, and not installing from the Chrome web store), thanks to a new feature unveiled by Mozilla. This is a big deal because it brings us one step closer to having more compatibility between browsers.

Mozilla has been working on making extensions easier across multiple browsers, and this new feature is currently being tested.

Best part? It’s already available to all users of the latest stable version of Firefox.

Firefox itself actually has quite a few excellent extensions that you don’t find on Chromium based browsers, so I’m wondering whether Google will be responding with importing Firefox extensions into Chrome? But I’m not holding my breath at all.

See https://debugpointnews.com/firefox-chrome-extensions/

  • viking@infosec.pub
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    1 year ago

    No they don’t. They detect if an extension is installed in Chrome, and if so, automatically install the Firefox equivalent - if it exists - and migrate the data. An extension that’s chrome exclusive can’t be ported over. I just tested and confirmed this as well, instead I was the one misunderstanding the feature, but no. Can’t import any extensions not already natively existing in Firefox.

    • lowleveldata@programming.dev
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      1 year ago

      It’s the only sane way to implement this. Can’t imagine what kind of strange compatibility issues they would run into if they try to run chrome extensions directly.

    • GadgeteerZA@beehaw.orgOP
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      1 year ago

      Thanks, I see now it is actually more a migration option for some supported extensions, I’ll see if I can update the post accordingly. The title they gave was a bit misleading.

      • Link.wav [he/him]@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        Still a handy option that might persuade more users to migrate to Firefox, although I can’t imagine running so many extensions that one would ever need something like this haha