With the release of macOS Big Sur, Apple’s Safari browser will offer support for more types of web extensions and Apple will make it easier for developers to port their existing extensions from other browsers.
While Safari already supports extensions, it has a limited number of them available, especially when compared to Google Chrome or Firefox.
During a WWDC developer session earlier this week, Apple announced Safari Web Extensions. The browser will adopt an extension API similar to that offered by competing browsers, such as Chrome and Firefox.
Meet Safari Web Extensions
When you create a Safari Web Extension, you can help people get common online tasks done more quickly and efficiently. We’ll show you how to build a new Safari Web Extension and host it on the App Store, as well as how to use the safari-web-extension-converter tool to migrate existing extensions from other web browsers like Chrome, Firefox, or Edge with very little effort.
This means Safari will support a much broader range of extensions. While Safari currently only allows share extensions or content blockers. However, macOS Big Sur Safari will make it easier for developers to create extensions using JavaScript, HTML and CSS.
Extensions will be packaged with native apps, although the apps can simply be placeholders to allow for approval through the Mac App Store. Tools in Xcode 12 will make it easier for extension developers to port existing browser extensions to Safari.
(Via AppleInsider)
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