In continuation of our commitment to reduce fragmentation of the web for all developers, and to create better web compatibility for our customers, we plan to support the Declarative Net Request API and other changes proposed as part of Manifest V3.
The decision to embrace Manifest V3 changes is based on our dedication to enhance privacy, security & performance for the benefit our end users as well as to allow developers to extend & provide rich experiences in Microsoft Edge.
These changes are available for testing in the Beta and Stable channels. For more details, please refer to Prepare to update your extensions from Manifest v2 to v3.
Update as of 6/14/2022: We have updated the Manifest V3 migration timeline – From July 2022, Microsoft Edge Add-ons store will only accept new Manifest V3 extensions.
How will your extension be impacted?
If you are an extension developer, you may already be aware that the background service worker change and the introduction of the Declarative Net Request API would require you to update your extension. Please refer to the Migrating to Manifest V3 document for exact changes required to port your extensions from Manifest V2.
We believe that these changes will not compromise the capabilities of your extension or reduce the potential that the extension ecosystem has. These changes should reduce the time taken to review each submission, and improve certification turnaround time, thus reducing the overall cost of developing and maintaining extensions.
We recognize the value of content blocking extensions and appreciate the role they play in honoring user’s choice by blocking advertisements and enhancing privacy by blocking cookies and we want developers to continue to offer these capabilities.
After an extensive review of the concerns raised by content blockers and the community, we believe that a majority of those concerns have been resolved or will be resolved before Web Request API is deprecated. If you continue to face issues, we encourage you to share your feedback, where our team can engage to understand and address your feedback.
What happens next?
Once the changes are finalized in Chromium, we will share an update on our timelines to provide sufficient time for developers to make the necessary changes to their extension and publish to our store.
In the meantime, we look forward to your feedback and to addressing questions, comments, and concerns. You can reach the team on Twitter @MSEdgeDev, or via the GitHub discussion topic – Update your extensions from Manifest V2 to V3.