This highly-rated browser extension may soon stop working on Chrome

Google recently enhanced its Chrome security tools to protect users from malware. These enhancements won’t snatch away any feature you love to use on the browser. In the coming months, Google will also improve the overall security of extensions, but that benefit will come at the expense of a lot of popular web browser extensions exiting the Chrome Web Store, such as the uBlock Origin.

Chrome starts warning users that uBlock Origin may no longer be supported

The heart of the issue is that Google is in the process of deprecating Manifest V2 and introducing the latest Manifest V3. From security enhancements to improved performance, there are some solid advantages for developers when they migrate to Manifest V3. However, the migration isn’t that simple for the uBlock Origin developers.

uBlock Origin is one of the most popular ad blocker extensions, but it’s not Manifest V3 compliant, and it may never be. Highlighting the challenges of making the switch to Manifest V3, the company is asking users to switch to uBlock Origin Lite or whatever other alternatives they prefer if they don’t want to switch to a different browser. uBlock Origin Lite is Manifest V3 compliant but lacks the advanced customizability of uBlock Origin.

This is the only reason Google is showing uBlock Origin users the warning message that the extension may soon no longer be supported (via Android Authority). The warning banner appears on the uBlock Origin Web Store webpage for Google Chrome Canary, Beta, and Dev.

It isn’t the end of the road for uBlock Origin

The development of the uBlock Origin will continue because not everyone is following Google’s approach. For example, Firefox has no plans to ditch Manifest V2, so users should face no issues using the browser in the coming days. But for Chrome users, you may soon have to choose between ditching Google Chrome or embracing uBlock Origin Lite.

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