Microsoft’s Edge browser for Android may soon join the small, elite group of Android browsers offering support for extensions.
Browser researcher ‘@Leopeva64‘ posted several screenshots on X/Twitter showing parts of Microsoft’s work on Edge’s extension support that appears in Edge for Android’s latest Canary build. Canary builds, for those unfamiliar, are very early development builds of Chromium-based browsers like Chrome and Edge — typically, updates and new features start in Canary and work their way through several other testing builds before rolling out in a stable release.
The newest Canary build includes a flag that enables an extension button in Edge for Android. Another Twitter user chimed in and shared two URLs for installing extensions. Per a screenshot they shared, there are only three extensions in Edge’s extension beta so far: adblocker uBlock Origin, Dark Reader for forcing dark mode on sites that don’t have one, and Global Speed for setting a default playback speed for video and audio.
It will be possible to install extensions in Edge for Android!:https://t.co/18lG5nYyad pic.twitter.com/Sj744tPo6z
— Leopeva64 (@Leopeva64) January 31, 2024
With the extensions flag enabled, all of the required features for installing and managing extensions appear in the browser and are reportedly comparable to Edge’s desktop interface. Leopeva64’s screenshots show that users can tap the three-dot button next to an installed extension to temporarily turn it off, grant or revoke permissions, remove it and more.
While there appears to be only a small number of extensions so far, we’ll likely see that number grow quickly as the feature nears release. It’ll be interesting to see if Edge gaining extension support will pressure Google to finally do the same with the mobile version of Chrome. Google has avoided adding extensions so far despite the fact that it’d be a welcome feature for many.
Other Android browsers offer extension support, including Chromium-based Kiwi and Firefox. Android Police points out that Chromium-based browser Vivaldi considered adding extensions but ultimately decided not to because Chromium didn’t natively support extensions on Android. Vivaldi deemed that adding them came at a significant cost. That could mean Microsoft has invested heavily in making extensions work in Edge. It’ll be interesting to see if these changes make their way into Chromium, too.
Source: @Leopeva64 Via: Android Police
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