Chrome Extensions are a whole other world of opportunity to build web-enabled tools!
- Almost 53% of people use Chrome to access the Internet on desktop devices. see: http://gs.statcounter.com/#desktop-browser-ww-monthly-201506-201506-bar
- Chromebooks are the fastest growing segment of the PC market. In 2014 Chromebooks accounted for 14 percent of all laptop sales for both the commercial and retail channels; up 85 percent from 2013. http://betanews.com/2015/02/24/2015-is-year-of-the-chromebook/ Chrome extensions can be build out to be full-blown apps that run in every chrome enviroment.
- Because your Chrome Extensions are written in Standard Web Technologies: HTML+CSS+JavaScript you are able to re-use code your Web UI with minimal modification (provided its already modular).
Extensions are small programs that can modify and enhance the functionality of the Chrome browser. You write them using web standard web technologies (HTML, JavaScript, and CSS).
Chrome Extensions (or "Apps") allow you to create in-browser tools which add functionality to the browsing experience. In our case we want to let the person
- What are the permissions? https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/permissions
Browser Actions allow you to add an icon to the browser e.g:
Example of a simple Browser Action is an icon which, when clicked alters the page background. See: examples/make_page_red
Uses the bookmarks API to show a list of the person's bookmarks
when they click on the icon (browser_action)
See: examples/my_bookmarks
Imagine your app wants to change the icon in response to an event or a notification: That's quite easy with the following line:
chrome.browserAction.setIcon({path:"icon-notification.png"});see: examples/set_icon_path
Use the chrome.browsingData API to remove browsing data from a user's local profile.
The API only allows you to erase history, so its only useful for a limited
set of applications.
see: https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/browsingData
Using the commands.onCommand we can issue keyboard commands to trigger events in our extension.
The commands are defined in the manifest.json file as:
"commands": {
"toggle-feature": {
"suggested_key": { "default": "Ctrl+Shift+Y" },
"description": "Send a 'toggle-feature' event to the extension"
},
"_execute_browser_action": {
"suggested_key": {
"default": "Ctrl+Shift+F",
"mac": "MacCtrl+Shift+F"
}
}
}This can be useful for opening a background page (popup) to read content, e.g: imaging if your extension provided an instant messaging facility and you could see the latest messages from any page without needing to have the messenger open.
see: https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/commands
desktopCapture allows you to capture the client's screen.
see: examples/desktop_capture and: https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/desktopCapture
The signedInDevices API gives you a list of all the devices the
person has signed into using their Google account:
see: examples/my_devices API: https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/signedInDevices
So you want to show people notifications in Chrome...?
see: examples/notifications for "toast" notifier. API: https://developer.chrome.com/apps/notifications
'declarativeWebRequest' requires Google Chrome beta channel or newer
See:
- https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/event_pages
- https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/alarms#method-create
Get the page visit history: https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/history#method-getVisits
Q: Can we have both page_action and browser_action ?
A: No. But you can create multiple extensions and have them inter-communicate
see: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/14519458/google-chrome-extension-browser-page-action
and: https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/extension#event-onMessageExternal
Q: How can we check when the Tab/Page has finished loading?
A: Add an event listener:
chrome.tabs.onUpdated.addListener(function(tabId , info) {
if (info.status == "complete") {
// your code ...
}
});- Google Chrome Extensions: How to build an extension (Google Developers official): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3McMaHvlBY (from 2009 but all the info is still valid)
- Building Your First Chrome Extension: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT-b2SpFIWo
- Getting Started: Building a Chrome Extension: https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/getstarted
- How to Create a Chrome Extension in 10 Minutes Flat: http://www.sitepoint.com/create-chrome-extension-10-minutes-flat/
- How to Build a Chrome Extension: http://lifehacker.com/5857721/how-to-build-a-chrome-extension
- Developing Google Chrome Extensions: http://code.tutsplus.com/tutorials/developing-google-chrome-extensions--net-33076
- Publishing Your App: https://developer.chrome.com/webstore/publish
- Everything You Need To Know About Browser Extensions: http://www.howtogeek.com/169080/beginner-geek-everything-you-need-to-know-about-browser-extensions/
- What percentage of Internet users use browser extensions? https://www.quora.com/What-percentage-of-Internet-users-use-browser-extensions in 2010 33% of Chrome Users had extensions. I was unable to find more recent data... (please update if you find recent stats)
- Publishing a Chrome Extension? 7 Tips to Get More Downloads: http://ecquire.com/blog/how-to-get-more-chrome-extension-downloads/
- Your Chrome Extensions May Be Stealing Your Personal Info: Here's How to Stop Them: http://digiwonk.wonderhowto.com/how-to/your-chrome-extensions-may-be-stealing-your-personal-info-heres-stop-them-0150766/ (Privacy ... the reason I don't use any extensions...)
- Warning: Your Browser Extensions Are Spying On You: http://www.howtogeek.com/180175/warning-your-browser-extensions-are-spying-on-you/
- Google Chrome Privacy Whitepaper: https://www.google.co.uk/chrome/browser/privacy/whitepaper.html
- So you want to build a chrome extension: https://blog.hartleybrody.com/chrome-extension/ (BuzzKill example by @hartleybrody)
- What are Chrome Apps? https://developer.chrome.com/apps/about_apps (they're awesome!)
- Package Chrome Apps for iOS & Android using Cordova: https://github.com/MobileChromeApps/mobile-chrome-apps curious? see: issues/598
- Sadly, the Chrome Android team are not iplementing Chrome Extensions for Mobile. see: https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/35v8gi/we_are_the_chrome_for_android_team_ama/cr8alzk (probably because it would allow ad-blocking...)