Google To Block Local Chrome Extensions On Windows Starting In January

An anonymous reader writes "Google today announced it will block local Chrome extensions starting in January, but only on the Windows platform. This means that next year, Windows users will only be able to install extensions for the company's browser from the Chrome Web Store. The changes will affect both Chrome's stable and beta channels on Windows. Google says it will continue to support local extension installs on its Dev and Canary channels, as well as installs via Enterprise policy. Chrome apps are not affected at all and will continue to be supported normally."

Comments

LastPass

[jupiterssj4]

I know that LastPass has a web app, but the local app has for more options. Hope they get this updated before January!

Or, of course extensions that google doesn't like.

[queazocotal]

For example, YouTube downloaders-

I stopped using Chrome

[Anonymous Coward]

I stopped using Chrome because it's extensions were not up to par with Firefox addons.
And now I feel less inclined to use Chrome at all.

Re:I stopped using Chrome

[ebno-10db]

I stopped using Chrome because it's extensions were not up to par with Firefox addons.
And now I feel less inclined to use Chrome at all.

Ditto. What does Google hope to accomplish with this? Switching to Firefox takes less than 5 minutes.

Well that sucks.

[Anonymous Coward]

Good thing I use Chromium.

Re:Or, of course extensions that google doesn't li

[i kan reed]

Adblock, maybe?

Non-issue

[YodaDaCoda]

I suspect that this is less about blocking YouTube downloaders, and more about blocking those extensions that appear after not un-checking the box on programs downloaded and installed from the internet. I.e. it's more for the protection of grandma who wants to download a pretty solitaire app than it is for stopping little Johnny downloading his music videos of Miley. If you're smart enough to follow a few simple instructions and install a local extension, you're smart enough to follow a few simple instructions and install the Dev channel of Chrome first.

Re:Or, of course extensions that google doesn't li

[Sir_Sri]

mediahint, Hola, anything that lets you free VPN into services that you aren't really supposed to be able to access.

Re:Sure, go ahead.

[Sir_Sri]

but how many people do you think actually use extensions from outside the store?

of the people that use extensions at all? Probably most of them, as I would think the most popular extensions are things like youtube downloaders and netflix unblockers that let you use VPN services so you can access say UK netflix from the US, and US netflix from Australia.

Re:Walled Garden: One brick at a time....

[nurb432]

Don't forget moving nearly all their stuff to the new 'Google play framework'... and all the internal hooks it brings with it, just to read mail or send a message..

Google has run off the track.

Re:Ugh

[Charliemopps]

If you don't like "walled gardens" why the hell are you using Chrome when that's clearly its sole purpose? I mean, come on, when it came out anyone with any sense knew exactly why Google wrote it, and that was due to all the activity in the firefox addon community.

Re:Walled Garden: One brick at a time....

[maccodemonkey]

Did Google recently buy a brick factory because they seem to be trying to slowly build a wall around their not-quite-as-open-as-it-once-was garden. Between this and some of the stuff they are pulling with Android (Play Store, API lock-ins) and Chromecast they seem to be all about turning down the openness lately. Come to think of it, that seems to be a trend (Skype, Twitter APIs off the top of my head, then of course that fruit company) lately.

I saw this coming from a long ways away from Google. It's classic embrace, extend, and extinguish, Microsoft style.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend_and_extinguish

"The strategy's three phases are:[11]
Embrace: Development of software substantially compatible with a competing product, or implementing a public standard.
Extend: Addition and promotion of features not supported by the competing product or part of the standard, creating interoperability problems for customers who try to use the 'simple' standard.
Extinguish: When extensions become a de facto standard because of their dominant market share, they marginalize competitors that do not or cannot support the new extensions."

Google was only committed to open source for the "extend" portion. Now that they've got more market share than Apple on mobile, and they're dominant in the browser market, they're moving on to extinguish.

Re:Or, of course extensions that google doesn't li

[AmiMoJo]

If they were planning to do that they would have started by removing all the existing extensions on their web store that let you do those things. You can install numerous YouTube downloaders, proxy managers, ad blockers etc. and the same goes for Play (Android apps).

This move is simply to block malware.