Questions about Chrome Web Store payment deprecation

[Jeff Johnson]

I have an upfront paid Chrome extension, and I asked these questions here a couple of weeks ago, but I've received no response yet.

1) What happens to published upfront paid Chrome extensions on February 21, 2021?

2) If a published upfront paid Chrome extension is unpublished, what happens for the customers who already paid? Can they still install the extension from the Chrome Web Store if necessary?

3) After February 21, 2021, is it possible to provide updates to upfront paid Chrome extensions for previous customers?

Unfortunately, Google has provided almost no information or help so far to extension developers in preparation for this huge change.

[Simeon Vincent]

Hey Jeff,

Apologies for missing your questions on the first go-around.

1) What happens to published upfront paid Chrome extensions on February 21, 2021?

I'm not aware of any specific plans here so I'm reaching out internally to get clarification. 

2) If a published upfront paid Chrome extension is unpublished, what happens for the customers who already paid? Can they still install the extension from the Chrome Web Store if necessary?

Unpublishing an extension does not have any impact on users that already have the extension installed; it will remain on their devices and continue to operate as it always has. When an extension is unpublished, it is no longer available to end users. The developer and CWS know about it, but it may as well be deleted as far as the external world is concerned. More concretely, this means that no one would be able to install the extension from the Chrome Web Store and there would be no way for you to distribute updates for that extension.

That said, you may be confusing "unpublished" with "unlisted." An unlisted extension does not appear in Chrome Web Stores' search but is still accessible to those with a direct link to the extension's listing. Unlisted extensions receive updates just like their public counterparts.

3) After February 21, 2021, is it possible to provide updates to upfront paid Chrome extensions for previous customers?

I don't see a reason why not. To my knowledge paid items are essentially normal items that the CWS UI doesn't let you install unless you've purchased the item, but I believe from Chrome's point view it's just another CRX file. So long as you keep the extension on the web store it will still be possible to distribute updates for it.

Cheers,

Simeon - @dotproto

Developer Advocate for Chrome Extensions

[Jeff Johnson]

On Monday, October 5, 2020 at 7:36:37 PM UTC-5 Simeon Vincent wrote:

1) What happens to published upfront paid Chrome extensions on February 21, 2021?

I'm not aware of any specific plans here so I'm reaching out internally to get clarification. 

Thanks!

 

An unlisted extension does not appear in Chrome Web Stores' search but is still accessible to those with a direct link to the extension's listing. Unlisted extensions receive updates just like their public counterparts.

The issue with an unlisted extension is that since the extension has already been public for quite some time, the link to the extension is already "out there" in various places. So people would still be able to discover it. Maybe that wouldn't matter, but I think it depends on the answer to question 1.

At present, the extension is still public, but I set the price to the highest tier ($49.99) to (hopefully) dissuade any new buyers while I figure out what to do.

[defuhi...@gmail.com]

Dear Simeon.

I have a paid subscription for chrome extensions. There is a trial period for this. If the trial period is not available from December 01, will the "Try now" button [attached image] on the chrome web store disappear and the users can't press it?  If the users can't install it unless the users purchase it, I'm going to switch to "This item uses a custom payment solution" on the "Change payment menu" [attached image].

And then will past subscribed users be automatically renewed until February 1, 2021? https://devoper.chrome.com/webstore/webstore_api/userLicenses/getUserLicense API will return the property of "accessLevel" as "FULL" until February 1, 2021?

Thank you so much for your support and your Twitch stream.

2020年10月6日火曜日 9:36:37 UTC+9 Simeon Vincent:

[defuhi...@gmail.com]

I'm sorry for the wrong URL. The correct URL is https://developer.chrome.com/webstore/webstore_api/userLicenses/getUserLicense

Kind regards.

2020年10月6日火曜日 14:08:11 UTC+9 defuhi...@gmail.com:

[Inter Net]

Can you please clarify for me what exactly is on the date?   February 21, 2021, you mentioned?  Is something happening in the extension ecosystem that doesn't allow developers to develop premium(paid) extensions?