geolocation permission doesn't work with Manifest Version 3 Chrome Extension

[Stefan Markovic]

I want to develop an Chrome Extension which would be compatible with Manifest Version 3, but I run into problem with getting current user's geolocation coordinates, which works with Manifest Version 2, but for Manifest Version 3 it throws that navigator.geolocation is undefined.

Here are my manifest.json and background.js files:

manifest.json:

"name": "Chrome Extension MV3", "description": "Learning all about Chrome Extensions Manifest Version 3!", "version": "0.1.0", "manifest_version": 2, "background": { "service_worker": "background.js" }, "permissions": ["geolocation"] }

background.js:

navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition((position) => { const { latitude, longitude } = position.coords; console.log(latitude, longitude); });

[Cuyler Stuwe]

My guess is this is one of those permissions they gimped to “web standards” (like how we now need to use the web notification API that requires a prompt).

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[Stefan Markovic]

But the docs aren't updated accordingly then...

[Jackie Han]

navigator.geolocation is only available in web pages, not available in background workers.

https://w3c.github.io/geolocation-api/#geolocation_interface

background.js in MV3 is a service worker, not a web page. You can open an extension page to use it.

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[Stefan Markovic]

I see... so is there a way in MV3 to have an invisible page which can access regular web page APIs?
To make it easier to understand - extension I'm working on needs constant access to geolocation, as it's used to track location of device and prevent its theft.

[hrg...@gmail.com]

The only way to use APIs that are not available in a service worker is to open a visible tab or window. This is the approach that's has been officially suggested by the Extensions Team if a service worker does not suffice.

There's also a proposal to allow MV3 extensions to open headless windows, but so far it's just that, a proposal.

[Nir Nahum]

You may want to add your use case here:

https://github.com/w3c/webextensions/issues/72

[Mark Fratto]

Will those like us that use google admin to deploy extension as force installed have access to these API's in the background. Also since it no longer runs in the background our Chrome fleet extension dies when all chrome tabs are closed then only starts back up when a tab is opened.