January 2021

Chrome Manifest V3 extension uploads enabled

ChromeGoogle's web browser — built on Chromium and the most widely used browser worldwide. 88 stable enabled Manifest V3 extension uploads to the Web Store in January 2021 — replacing persistent background pages with service workers; mandatory Manifest V2 deprecation came years later.

What it was for

Google ChromeManifest V3 changed how ad blockers, password managers, and dev tools hook into ChromeGoogle's web browser — built on Chromium and the most widely used browser worldwide.: extensions became more sandboxed and declarative. The shift sparked years of debate between Google (security, performance) and extension authors (filtering power), and other ChromiumGoogle's open-source browser project — the foundation for Chrome, Edge, and other modern browsers. browsers inherited the model.

Companies

  • Google

Why it's here

MV3 redefined what browser extensions could do in the world's most-used browser.

Why it mattered

It forced every extension developer to rewrite for service workers and new permission models.

What it solved

Google argued legacy extension APIs were too permissive and hurt battery life and security.

Media

  • Google Chrome
    ImageGoogle Chrome

    Google, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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