WebUSB Origin Trial results from Chrome 59
Reilly Grant
Summary
The WebUSB origin trial started in Chrome 54. Chrome 59 is the last release it is intended to be available as an Origin Trial. We have now collected various feedback and are sharing it according to the Origin Trials process. We apologize for neglecting to send an report with data specifically from Chrome 58. This summary will include data for both Chrome 58 and Chrome 59 up to the release of Chrome 60 to stable channel users on August 2nd, 2017.
The original Intent to Experiment targeted launch in Chrome 51. This was delayed and an updated schedule was posted with the Chrome 54 to 56 schedule. An Intent to Continue Experimenting was published before the Chrome 57 branch cut announcing the timeline for a second Origin Trial from Chrome 57 to Chrome 59.
As mentioned in the last update, to aid other browser vendors we have upstreamed our LayoutTests into the Web Platform Tests repository. This includes a Chromium-specific polyfill for the WebUSB Testing API that can be enabled by running Chrome with the --enable-blink-features=MojoJS,MojoJSTest flag. This should allow another implementer to reuse our test cases as long as they also implement the test API.
This is the final Origin Trial report. As we missed feature freeze for Chrome 60 Origin Trial keys will continue to be issued during the Chrome 60 stable release however we consider this feature to be shipped and it is planned to be enabled by default for all stable channel users in Chrome 61. We thank all the developers who have tested this feature and contributed their feedback to its development. We will continue to improve the quality of the implementation of this API in Chrome. Further changes to the the WebUSB API will undergo the normal Blink intent process as they will be being made to a stable web API.
Contact email
Spec and chromestatus.com entry
Previous reports
Chrome 54, Chrome 55, Chrome 56, Chrome 57
Developer interest
As of August 22nd, 2017, 89 unique origins have registered for access to the second Origin Trail. These tokens have been renewed 64 times.
For example, Santiago Torres on GitHub has built an experimental web app to generate HOTP authentication codes using a Yubikey hardware security token and the WebUSB API.
According to our survey results from renewals of Origin Trial tokens developers were investigating WebUSB for the following types of projects:
Developer feedback
Based on data from the same survey, on a scale from 1 to 5, 1 being very easy and 5 being very hard developers rated the WebUSB an average of 2.4 out of 5 for ease of use,
Requests for HID support and better debugging tools for getting their devices properly recognized by Windows remain the top complaints.
Lessons learned from our goals for experimentation
Nothing new to report. The first update included answers to our experimental questions which have remained unchanged.
Timeline
First stable release enabled: Chrome 54, October 18, 2016
Last stable release with original experiment parameters: Chrome 56, Jan 31st, 2017
Origin Trial tokens from the first experiment expire: Mar 6th, 2017 (about one week before Chrome 57 was released)
First stable release with new experiment parameters: Chrome 57, Mar 14th, 2017
Last Origin Trial tokens for the new experiment expire: August 29th, 2017 (about one week before Chrome 61 is released)
WebUSB available for all users on stable channel: ~September 5th, 2017
Usage data (UMA)
According to metrics from UMA usage continues to trend upward with calls to navigator.usb.getDevices() almost doubling since the last report to reach 5,041 calls in the last week.