DeepSummary
The podcast episode features an interview with Oliver Dunk, a developer relations engineer at Google working on Chrome extensions. Oliver discusses the transition to Manifest V3 for Chrome extensions, which introduces changes like replacing background pages with service workers and a new declarative net request API for content filtering. He addresses concerns around performance, security, and potential abuse with the previous blocking web request API.
Oliver explains the limits on the number of rules allowed in the declarative net request API, aimed at balancing performance and enabling reasonable functionality for ad blockers and content filtering extensions. He clarifies that Google is not trying to kill ad blockers and has been working closely with the ad blocking community to address their needs within the constraints of the new system.
The conversation also covers topics like debugging extensions, accessing the DOM from service workers, potential expansion of APIs in service workers, development tools and frameworks for building extensions, and the review process for extensions on the Chrome Web Store. Oliver shares his favorite extensions, tech stack, and resources for getting started with extension development.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Chrome's transition to Manifest V3 for extensions introduces changes like replacing background pages with service workers and a new declarative net request API for content filtering.
- The declarative net request API has limits on the number of rules allowed, aimed at balancing performance and enabling reasonable functionality for ad blockers and content filtering extensions.
- Google is not trying to kill ad blockers and has been working closely with the ad blocking community to address their needs within the constraints of the new system.
- The new API allows for dynamic addition of rules beyond those bundled with the extension, addressing a key concern of the ad blocking community.
- Accessing the DOM from service workers is a challenge, but Google is exploring ways to expand the APIs available in service workers to accommodate more use cases.
- Google has a review process for extensions on the Chrome Web Store, involving both automated and manual checks to ensure security and compliance.
- There are development tools and frameworks available for building Chrome extensions, including TypeScript support and hot reloading.
- Safari is also adopting Manifest V3 and the web extension APIs, indicating a broader industry adoption of the new standard.
Top Episodes Quotes
- βYeah, the line of Def concept. I think it's cool.β by Oliver Dunk
- βAnd there are also use cases where you need rules that only apply for this specific session or that are just dynamically changed from what you submitted to the store. So there are also additional limits where you can add rules dynamically that you don't have to bundle when you're shipping to the Chrome web store.β by Oliver Dunk
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Episode Information
Syntax - Tasty Web Development Treats
Wes Bos & Scott Tolinski - Full Stack JavaScript Web Developers
4/12/24
We were wrong, Manifest V3 is a big deal. Scott and Wes sit down with Oliver Dunk from Google to dive into the intricate world of Chrome Extensions development. From dissecting Manifest V3 to exploring the evolving landscape of browser security and extension reviews, this conversation covers the present and future of browser customization.
Show Notes
- 00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
- 00:32 Who is Oliver Dunk?
- 02:00 Brought to you by Sentry.
- 03:17 Manifest V3.
- 08:59 How many rules can you add?
- 09:56 What even is a rule?
- 10:52 Is Google trying to kill ad blockers?
- 13:56 What are the bad guys doing with Chrome extensions?
- 15:17 Can a browser extension access HTTP-only cookies?
- 16:06 Is Chrome reviewing all of these extensions?
- 19:06 Is there a way to side-step Googleβs review process?
- Reddit Thread, The real threat of Manifest V3
- 20:32 Do you see the negative chatter?
- 21:18 Service workers - how do do you access the DOM?
- 23:32 Do you think weβll see more DOM APIs in service workers?
- 25:58 Do you have a favorite Chrome extension?
- 28:33 Has Google ever explored something comparable to Boost?
- SidePanel
- 33:09 Letβs talk about the development stack.
- 35:54 1Password and Chrome.
- 38:39 What is the best way to debug an extension?
- YouTube Chrome for Developers
- 40:33 Manifest V3 and the web request blocking API.
- 41:57 Known tracking payloads.
- 44:04 Do you think there is a path forward that makes ad-block developers happy?
- 44:45 Do you run an ad blocker?
- 45:20 Whitelisting and opt-ins.
- 46:38 Whatβs your tech setup?
- 47:18 What do you do to stay up to date?
- 47:51 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs.
- 51:47 Wait, is Safari adopting V3 as well?
Sick Picks
- Oliver: Defunctland YouTube, LEMMiNO YouTube
Shameless Plugs
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