Chrome Canary flags UBlock Origin ahead of Manifest V2 Extensions deprecation

Google has started to work to warn Manifest V2 Extensions deprecation in Chrome Canary, beta, and dev versions. Chrome will begin alerting about these extensions in June 2024.

Guess what, Chrome Canary has already started alerting users that UBlock Origin and other MV2 extensions may soon no longer be supported, with alternate and other options for you to act on.

Chrome and the Chrome Web Store are transitioning from Manifest V2 to Manifest V3 for extensions, citing performance and security improvements. According to the proposed timeline, Google will disable Manifest v2 extensions in Chrome 127, starting with Canary, Dev, and Beta channels.

This means affected extensions will be disabled, and users will no longer be able to install Manifest v2 extensions from the Chrome Web Store.

We previously reported that Google was working on warning users about Manifest V2 extension deprecation in Chrome pre-release versions. This change has now landed in Canary, and we’ve successfully triggered the warning message.

How will this work?

Chrome Canary will display a header at the top of the chrome://extensions page warning users that these extensions may soon no longer be supported. The message will suggest removing affected extensions or replacing them with similar ones from the Chrome Web Store.

For each affected Manifest v2 extension, Chrome will offer a Find Alternative link on the Web Store alongside menu options to Keep for now and Remove from Chrome. Selecting Keep for now removes the warning for the specific extension, but it may reappear in the future and eventually lead to the extension being disabled entirely.

The curious case of UBlock Origin

As shown in the screenshot above, UBlock Origin, which relies on Manifest v2, is included in the list of affected extensions. This has caused concern among users and developers, including those associated with UBlock Origin. While Google seems to be favoring Manifest v3 extensions, you might still be able to use UBlock Origin temporarily. However, it’s likely to become incompatible eventually.

UBlock Origin Lite

The developer has prepared a Manifest v3 version of UBlock Origin called UBlock Origin Lite. However, as the name suggests, this is a basic version and may not offer the same functionality as the full UBlock Origin extension.

Are you using UBlock Origin? What do you think about Chrome blocking the Manifest v2 extension? Let’s talk about it in the comments below.