Summary
- Google Chrome is shifting to Manifest V3 framework, rendering V2 extensions including adblockers like uBlock Origin obsolete.
- Users face warnings and need to switch to newer V3-based extensions for comparable features.
- Manifest V3 extensions will be the only ones supported in Chrome by the beginning of next year, but enterprise users have time until mid-2025.
Google Chrome is among the first few things we install on a new computer, and although a few features of the desktop version haven’t been ported to the app, it is among the best browsers on Android too. However, a massive change has been breathing down extension developers’ necks now — a shift to the Manifest V3 framework, which would make Manifest V2 and all the extensions built around it redundant and incompatible. Google has set the ball rolling and it might spell the end of many ad-blocking extensions such as uBlock Origin.
Related
Here’s what will happen to your old Chrome extensions later this year
Update your outdated extensions or look for an alternative
Last year, Google announced plans to deprecate Manifest V2 extensions in favor of V3 designed to give users a more polished experience (via Bleeping Computer). Since June 3, Google has started rolling out a warning accompanying all Manifest V2 extensions saying they will soon stop working on stable, dev, and Canary versions of the browser. The warning is now rolling out on Chrome 127, and ad blocker reliant on V2 are victims too.
Explaining the cause for this warning now showing up for all uBlock Origin users, the project’s lead developer and maintainer Raymond Hill said uBlock Origin is reliant on V2 definitions. That’s why Chrome is showing a warning now, and suggesting users install another extension built with the new Manifest V3 framework. However, little has changed since the deprecation was first announced, and Google is still adhering to its proposed timeline. While uBlock Origin isn’t the only one affected, it is widely recognized.
Replacements and temporary fixes galore
Source: Chrome Web Store
If you’re afraid to let go of uBlock, Hill says you might forgo some capabilities, but Google Chrome’s web store already suggests switching to uBlock Origin Lite, Ghostery, or Adblock Plus. uBlock Origin Lite has been built with a Manifest V3-compliant approach, but it may not help with per-URL filtering and other features despite the developer’s best efforts to ensure features are retained from the original version.
While ignoring Google’s warning isn’t the best idea, you can defer the switch to Manifest V3 extensions. Chrome has the option to re-enable older V2 versions temporarily, but that option will go away soon as well. By the beginning of next year, Manifest V3 extensions will be the only ones in use.
Given the scale at which businesses may be affected by this change, Google is giving enterprise users time until June 2025 when the Manifest V2 deprecation will begin for users. As for ad blockers, they were created out of necessity and the lite version may recover many features of the full version in the coming months as Manifest V3 becomes the new standard. You also have the option of switching to a different browser on desktop because Firefox, for instance, doesn’t plan to follow Google’s footsteps to deprecate V2 extensions anytime soon.