Chrome extension livehost

[Tuấn Anh Trần Nguyễn]

Hi Google,

I have an issue when try use livehosts chrome extension could you help me to check it,

Thanks,

Tuan Anh

[Stefan vd]

Hi Tuan,

Do you own that Chrome extension code? 

You will only see this warning when using the Chrome extension in 'developer mode' (in your Google Chrome web browser). The 'developer mode' is only good for developing the Chrome extension and not for daily use.

If you install the Chrome extension from the Chrome web store, you should not see this warning message.

Thanks,

Stefan

[Tuấn Anh Trần Nguyễn]

Hi Stefan,

I got an Chrome extension code

 ID: acedfpdooibcmmgdiipigbnehkgcljlh

And that extension need use on developer mode i need it to change file host to connect private network from my customer,

Thanks,

Tuan Anh

[Stefan vd]

Hi Tuan,

Currently, today you can not publish a Chrome extension manifest v2 to the Chrome web store, only update it. And new developers can only publish the manifest v3 Chrome extension at the Chrome web store.

Changing the manifest version from 2 to 3 will not solve this issue, because it also needs more code updates than that. For example, the background page should become a service worker, the browser button becomes an action, etc.
After analyzing this further, I see that the developer of that Chrome extension does have an Open-Source repo on Github.
https://github.com/Aioros/livehosts
I did send just an email about this issue to that Chrome extension developer (using the email from his Github profile page). So I hope he reads this.

Thanks,
Stefan vd

[Tuấn Anh Trần Nguyễn]

Hi Stefan,

Thank you so much i think now we can't do anything and waiting developer fix its thank you so much Stefan,

Thanks,

Tuan Anh

[Stefano Morciano]

Hey guys, developer of the extension here. The main issue with LiveHosts (besides having little time to work on it) is that it needs very wide permissions. Because of what it does, it basically needs access to any URL on any tab, and the Chrome store review team understandably doesn't love that. That's the main reason why it was removed from the store, and I didn't have the time to research if the same functionality could be achieved with fewer permissions.

So, to make it short: I can't promise that I'll fix it soon, but I'll start investigating if there are better ways to make it work. Tuan, I saw you opened an issue on GitHub, I'll follow up there when I have any news.

Thanks,

Stefano

[Stefan vd]

Hi Stefano,

I am glad to hear from you here at the Chromium Extension forum.

If you explain it in the Chrome web store -> Extension -> Privacy tab, then you should normally have no problem getting the Chrome extension online in the Chrome web store. For example, in my Chrome extension, I also use the "tabs" permission (and not the "activeTabs" permission) because I need to detect the current tab, but also to create a new tab.

A tip: You can update the Chrome extension with the minimum permission ("activeTabs") on 1 website URL, and then show a welcome guide to enable optional "tabs" permission. That welcome guide explains to your users how to get the full experience on all websites.

https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/reference/permissions/#implementing-optional-permissions

Thanks,

Stefan vd

[Stefano Morciano]

Hey Stefan, thanks for the info. I'm currently checking if I can actually avoid using the "tabs" permission entirely, otherwise I'll look into the optional permissions route. And I think I would also take the opportunity to migrate to manifest v3 before resubmitting the extension.

Thank you again for your help, I'll post updates here too in case anybody else is interested.

[Simeon Vincent]

Because of what it does, it basically needs access to any URL on any tab, and the Chrome store review team understandably doesn't love that.

Broad host permissions mostly just make the review process take longer. It's still reasonable for devs to request them where necessary.

I also use the "tabs" permission (and not the "activeTabs" permission) because I need to detect the current tab, but also to create a new tab.

Getting the URL or name of the current tab is a good reason to request "tabs", but you don't need that permission to create a new tab with chrome.tabs.create().

Stefano, based on your comments it sounds like you were taken down for excessive permissions. The troubleshooting guide I linked has some guidance about this violation that might be worth a look.

I also took the liberty of checking out your repo and noticed that you're requesting tabs, http://*/* and https://*/* (source). For the most part tabs only exposes a subset of the data you have access to via the broad host permissions patterns you're requesting. Unfortunately, in the past I've seen this get flagged as an excessive permissions request.

If "tabs" was identified as the excessive permission request, I'd recommend appealing the verdict using the One Stop Support form. If it wasn't, could you share more details from your rejection email?

Simeon - @dotproto

Chrome Extensions DevRel

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[Stefan Van Damme]

Hi there,

Getting the URL or name of the current tab is a good reason to request "tabs", but you don't need that permission to create a new tab with chrome.tabs.create().

Thank you for your explanation. That is true, that part "chrome.tabs.create()" you do not need the "tabs" permission. For other developers, you can see the official documentation on this page:

You can use most chrome.tabs methods and events without declaring any permissions in the extension's manifest file. However, if you require access to the url, pendingUrl, title, or favIconUrl properties of tabs.Tab, you must declare the "tabs" permission in the manifest

source: https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/reference/tabs/

Thanks,
Stefan vd

[Stefano]

Hey Simeon, thanks for checking on the situation, and you are absolutely right. The tabs permission was the main "culprit" and most probably unnecessary, but back then I couldn't find the time to check and work on it.

I am already working on a v3 version of LiveHosts that doesn't request the permission. I'll just need a bit more time to switch to declarativeNetRequest and a different JS framework for the popup. I'll keep everyone here posted. 

[Stefano Morciano]

Hello everyone, just wanted to give an update about LiveHosts. I have a working v3 version that I submitted to Google for review. In the meantime, you can find the release on GitHub if you want to load it as an unpacked extension and check that everything works correctly. I'll give an update here again once the store listing is approved.

[Stefano Morciano]

Good morning, the new version of LiveHosts has been approved and published on its original URL in the Chrome Web Store (here). I didn't have the chance to test it extensively, so feel free to let me know if you have any issues here or on GitHub. Thanks,

Stefano

[Stefan vd]

Hi there,

That is great news (a manifest v3 online). Thank you to share it here.

Thanks,

Stefan vd