Manifest V3 is the new permissions and capabilities framework for Chrome extensions
Recently Google unveiled news that it has adjusted plans to end support for the second version of the Chrome manifest, which defines the features and resources available to plugins written with the WebExtensions API.
And it is that initially, support for the second version of the manifest was scheduled to end in January 2023. The new plan change the deadline for plugins using the second version of the manifest as of January 2024.
Chrome will take a gradual and experimental approach to disabling Manifest V2 to ensure a smooth end-user experience during the removal process. We'd like to make sure that developers have the information they need, with enough time to transition to the new version of the manifest and implement changes for their users. In support of that goal, we provide more details on how Chrome will phase out support for Manifest V2.
It is worth mentioning that initially the third version of the manifesto was criticized due to the discontinuation of many plugins to block inappropriate content and security, but gradually the plugins start to be transferred to the new manifest, for example, variants of uBlock Origin and AdGuard ad blockers were recently prepared and transferred to the new manifest.
The third version of the manifesto was developed as part of an initiative to improve the security, privacy, and performance of plugins. The main goal of the changes made is to make it easier to build secure, high-performance plugins, and to make it harder to build insecure, slow plugins.
For developers who still own extensions running Manifest V2, we recommend completing the migration to Manifest V3 well in advance of the release of these versions of Chrome because those extensions may stop working at any time after the dates listed above.
The main dissatisfaction with the third version of the manifest it is related to the transfer to read-only mode of the webRequest API, which allowed you to connect your own controllers that have full access to network requests and can modify traffic on the fly.
This API is used by uBlock Origin, AdGuard and many other plugins to block inappropriate content and ensure safety. Instead of the webRequest API, the third version of the manifest offers a limited declarative NetRequest API that provides access to a built-in filtering engine that processes blocking rules itself, does not allow the use of its own filtering algorithms and it does not allow to establish complex rules that overlap each other depending on the conditions.
In three years of discussions about the forthcoming third version of the manifesto, Google took into account many of the wishes of the community and extended the originally provided declarative NetRequest API with capabilities required in existing plugins. For example, Google added support to the declarativeNetRequest API for using multiple static rule sets, filtering by regular expressions, modifying HTTP headers, dynamically changing and adding rules, removing and replacing request parameters, tab-based filtering, and creating specific rule sets. of the session.
In January 2023, in the tests of Chrome 112 (Canary, Dev, Beta), an experiment will be done to temporarily disable support for the second version of the manifest. In June 2023, the experiment will continue and possibly support for the second version of the manifest will be disabled in Chrome stable version 115.
Also, in January 2023, the third version of the manifest will be mandatory for inclusion among the recommended add-ons in the Chrome Web Store catalog. In June 2023, the Chrome Web Store will no longer publish publicly available plugins with the second version of the manifest, and previously added public plugins will be moved to the “Unlisted” category.
In January 2024, add-ons with the second version of the manifest will be removed from the Chrome Web Store and the settings will be removed from the browser to support the old manifest again.
Finally, if you are interested in knowing more about it, you can consult the details In the following link.