Will MV2 Chrome Extensions stop working on ALL Chrome Browser Versions after January 2023

[Fergal Gavin]

Hi folks,

A question on the EOL of MV2 extensions.

We have been following the migration of Manifest V2 to Manifest V3 and some of the communications around that.

- https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/mv3/mv2-sunset/
- https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/mv3/intro/mv3-migration/

The timelines state the following:
- January 2023 - MV2 extensions no longer run in Chrome (limited enterprise exceptions)
- June 2023 - MV2 extensions no longer run in Chrome (even with enterprise policy)

The question we have is does this mean that in January 2023, MV2 extensions will no longer run in ALL Chrome browser versions (i.e. regardless of the version of the Chrome browser I have, MV2 extensions will not run in them after January 2023)?

Thanks,

Fergal.

[Simeon Vincent]

The question we have is does this mean that in January 2023, MV2 extensions will no longer run in ALL Chrome browser versions (i.e. regardless of the version of the Chrome browser I have, MV2 extensions will not run in them after January 2023)?

TLDR: No. Old versions of Chrome will be able to run MV2 extensions.

When implementing new user-facing features, we typically put the feature behind a flag so that we can run experiments and control how/when the feature rolls out to users. We're also planning to use this approach when removing support for Manifest V2 extensions. I don't know which versions of Chrome will be affected because (to the best of my knowledge) we haven't yet implemented the flag(s) or other changes. That said, we can make an educated guess.

Before I proceed, I have to say that what I'm about to say is me thinking out loud, not an official announcement from the Chromium team.

Chrome's stable channel is currently on milestone 104. If we look at the Chromium release schedule, we can see that the feature freeze for milestone 105 occurred a couple days ago but the branch won't be cut for a few more weeks. I think it's unlikely that the relevant changes will land in 105, so I'd guess milestone 106 is the earliest release that might be affected.

The Manifest V2 support timeline indicates that "Chrome stops running Manifest V2 extensions" in January 2023. According to the Chromium release schedule, milestone 108 will be in stable  on Jan 1, 2023 and 109 will reach stable on Jan 10, 2023. As such,  I anticipate that the relevant flag(s) for turning down Manifest V2 will ship in 109 at the latest.

Putting these together, it looks like the first stable release that will be affected when Manifest V2 is sunset may be as early as 106 and or as late as 109. Again, though, I have to stress that this is just me thinking out loud. Keep an eye on the What's new in Chrome extensions page for updates.

Simeon - @dotproto

Chrome Extensions DevRel

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[Fergal Gavin]

Thanks for the reply, appreciate it.

[PhistucK]

A few corrections here.

The current stable is 103, not 104.

108 will be released in November, not in January. So it is either 109 or 110 at the latest.

With that said, it would be good if you could get official information about whether versions that were released before January (109 or 110) will be affected by the Finch trial flip. 

☆PhistucK

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[Fergal Gavin]

Hi folks,

A further question on this.

https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/mv3/mv2-sunset/

This states that in January 2023, "Developers can no longer update Mv2 extensions".

However, will the Chrome Store prevent a user from downloading an existing Mv2 extension from this date (January 2023) as opposed to running already downloaded extensions?

Thanks

[Deco]

No, because it doesn't matter if the extension is downloaded or not, it can't be run either way.

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[Fergal Gavin]

Thanks for the reply.

<< it can't be run either way.>>

The previous answer would indicate that if I am on an older version of Chrome, I will be able to run the MV2 extension if I am allowed to download it (or at least there may be a flag which will allow me to do so up to a future Chrome release where it will be disallowed completely.

[Simeon Vincent]

Thanks for the corrections, PhistucK :) I intend to share more info about the Finch trial and enterprise policy override as soon as I can.

This states that in January 2023, "Developers can no longer update Mv2 extensions".

 

However, will the Chrome Store prevent a user from downloading an existing Mv2 extension from this date (January 2023) as opposed to running already downloaded extensions?

We haven't scheduled when Chrome Web Store will stop serving Manifest V2 extensions.

While Decklin is right that at the time of the Manifest V2 cutoff the latest version of Chrome won't be able to run Manifest V2 extensions, the question of what Chrome Web Store serves is still relevant for users on older versions of Chromium-based browsers. While Google officially only supports the latest Chrome release,  there are other factors that may influence what we ultimately do here.

Simeon - @dotproto

Chrome Extensions DevRel