Google may be doing away with some Chrome extensions; here’s what this means

Google Chrome extensions are useful, fun, and serve various purposes. Whether you’re using them to save important links, check your grammar, or even get yourself a ‘recipe of the day’, they’re easy to access and effortless to install.

However, as helpful as they are, Google might just be planning to do away with some of them. If you’re wondering why and what this means for you, read on.

Google to remove some Chrome extensions

According to Android Authority, several users using Google’s most popular ad-blocking extension uBlock have observed that the extension has stopped working for them. Additionally, some have also reported seeing a warning on how the extension “may soon no longer be supported because it doesn’t follow best practices for Chrome extensions”.

The report goes on to mention that the ‘best practices’ in this case refers to Google’s Manifest V3. This is essentially a set of rules the company sets that define how an extension should behave with a set of web pages or the browser. So, in this case, Google is currently transitioning from MV2 to MV3, and it does not support extensions like uBlock, as of today.

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While the transition has been going on for a while, Google mentioned how extensions running on MV2 will eventually stop working on your browser. The report also mentions how opting for viable alternatives might be the only temporary solution for Google Chrome smartphone or desktop users. It goes on to state that an MV3 alternative will not come with a warning notice once you download it from the Chrome Web Store page.

What should you do if an extension doesn't work for you?

If you find a Chrome extension not working for you, you might want to check if it is displaying the above-mentioned warning message. Companies like uBlock have also suggested alternatives, such as uBlock Lite, which comply with the MV3 guidelines.

However, it is hard to tell if they are completely redundant or if Google plans to resolve this issue in the future. In both these cases, it is best to find replacements that are compliant with Google’s MV3.