MV2 + MV3 extension in Chrome Web Store

[Andrew Pawson]

I am in the process of migrating (rewriting) our extension from MV2 to MV3 and am trying to put together a plan for publishing/releasing the MV3 version.

Wondering if anyone has any thoughts about issues/pitfalls/concerns – apart from the fact that users will obviously need to actively install the MV3 extension rather than simply update – that I might run into by publishing my MV3 extension as a separate/new extension in the Web Store?

🙏

[Artem Harutyunyan]

We published an MV3 version first as a separate extension, encouraged some of our users to test it, and used their feedback to stabilize it. Once we had built enough confidence, we started slowly converting our 'production' MV2 to users to MV3 by updating the main extension to the MV3 version and pushing the distribution percentage from 1% up. We did test downgrading and ensured that we had a contingency plan, but luckily we didn't have to execute it in production. 

Once we pushed MV3 to about 10%, we started observing some (long tail) issues that we haven't seen before. We took time to fix those before pushing the distribution further up. So for a few weeks, we were in a weird limbo mode where some of the users were on MV2, some were on MV3, and we couldn't add any features or fix non-MV3 bugs. I'd recommend a similar approach where you dedicate some time to doing nothing other than the MV3 transition. 

HTH

Artem.

On Mon, 28 Nov 2022 at 08:50, Andrew Pawson <and...@klue.com> wrote:

I am in the process of migrating (rewriting) our extension from MV2 to MV3 and am trying to put together a plan for publishing/releasing the MV3 version.

Wondering if anyone has any thoughts about issues/pitfalls/concerns – apart from the fact that users will obviously need to actively install the MV3 extension rather than simply update – that I might run into by publishing my MV3 extension as a separate/new extension in the Web Store?

🙏

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[A T]

Hi,

We are working on upgrading our MV2 to MV3. 

And here is our scenario:

Our issue is that we cannot replace MV2 to MV3 immediately as we have many customers that use our extension. So, we would like to incrementally roll out MV3. That is the reason why we need to have both MV2 and MV3 in the store so we can phase out MV2 gradually in 2023. Please let us know if this is a possibility. If so, it will greatly help to reduce the risk for us and our customers.

Any help and info on this is highly appreciated.

Thanks

Ananth

[Stefan Van Damme]

Hi there,

|| Wondering if anyone has any thoughts about issues/pitfalls/concerns

I wrote an article with some of my experience in upgrading to Manifest V3. That for all developers:

10 important Code Notes you Should Know When Migrating to Manifest V3

https://www.stefanvd.net/blog/2022/11/07/10-important-code-notes-you-should-know-when-migrating-to-manifest-v3/

|| And here is our scenario:

|| Our issue is that we cannot replace MV2 to MV3 immediately as we have many customers that use our extension. So, we would like to incrementally roll out MV3. That is the reason why we need to have both MV2 and MV3 in the store so we can phase out MV2 gradually in 2023. Please let us know if this is a possibility. If so, it will greatly help to reduce the risk for us and our customers.

Multiple Chrome extensions with the same functionality are not allowed. According to the Chrome Web Store policy:

Source: https://developer.chrome.com/docs/webstore/spam-faq/#definition

You can set your Chrome extension as a Beta version using Manifest V3. And place this text on the Chrome Web Store description text "THIS EXTENSION IS FOR BETA TESTING"

Then when Manifest V3 is the end of support, you can update the Manifest V3 to example stable. And hide/remove the old Manifest V2 Chrome Web Store item.

https://developer.chrome.com/docs/webstore/spam-faq/#test-version

Thanks,

Stefan vd

[ITIS Examity]

Thanks Stefan.

One last question. Is this BETA applicable for the extensions that are of type "unlisted"? And how long BETA is valid for?

Regards

Ananth

[Stefan Van Damme]

Hi Ananth,

You can set the beta version public. If you clearly mention that version is beta. See this Chrome Web Store developer guideline:

https://developer.chrome.com/docs/webstore/spam-faq/#test-version:~:text=We%20do%20allow,test%20accounts.)

If you do a Chrome Web Store, you see many Chrome extensions have a public beta version:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/search/beta

Thanks,

Stefan vd

[ITIS Examity]

Hi Stefan,

Thanks for the quick response. Unfortunately we cannot set our extension to "Public" as it is only for our customers. Is it still OK to publish the extension as "Unlisted" or "Private"?

Regards

Ananth

[Stefan Van Damme]

Hi Ananth,

|| Is it still OK to publish the extension as "Unlisted" or "Private"?

Yes. I also do that for my beta Turn Off the Lights Chrome extension Manifest V3. Only my closed beta group knows the "unlisted" link.

Thanks,

Stefan vd

[ITIS Examity]

Thank you so much Stefan for the quick response.

This helps.

Regards

Ananth

[Stefan Van Damme]

Hi Ananth,

You are welcome.

Thanks,

Stefan vd