Samsung wants Chrome for Android to get extension support

I don't know if you noticed it or not, but users have practically no complaints about mobile Google Chrome, unlike the desktop one. The version for smartphones does not put an extra load on either the processor, or on the memory, or on the battery life, while the desktop version just let loose. As a result, users even started joking that the 1.5 TB of RAM, which Apple equipped the top-end Mac Pro computer, will easily stretch 3-4 tabs in Chrome, but no more. Affected by the too extensive set of functions of the browser, which scans the computer for viruses, and even has its own applications in the form of extensions. There weren't enough of them on smartphones.

Samsung wants Chrome for Android to get extension support

Chrome extensions for Android? Why not

Despite the fact that mobile Chrome does not support extensions, many users were willing to sacrifice the resource intensity of the browser, if only they were allowed to install third-party tools to extend functionality. Due to the fact that the Chromium engine, on the basis of which Chrome is built, is open and distributed completely free, independent developers began to experiment on creating an alternative version of Chrome, but with support for extensions. The result of these efforts was the Kiwi browser, which Samsung became interested in.

Chrome extensions for android

Samsung wants Chrome for Android to get extension support

Kiwi Browser supports Google Chrome desktop extensions

Apparently, after assessing the prospects for Kiwi, Samsung representatives contacted the browser developer and offered him a joint work on improving the Chromium engine. The plans of the company were to modify the engine so that it would support extensions by default, and all browsers that are based on it could work with them out of the box. As a result, browser functionality will grow quite significantly and will probably be able to compete with the desktop versions.

The plan for integrating extensions into mobile Chromium is not empty words. The developers are already working on improving the engine, as can be seen from its program code. True, it is still difficult to say how long it will take, not to mention the fact that there are no guarantees that Google itself will approve the developments of enthusiasts and will use them in the further development of Chrome for Android. Eventually, Google could have added support for extensions to the smartphone browser itself, but somehow it didn't.

Browsers for Android with extensions

Samsung wants Chrome for Android to get extension support

Some changes have already been made to the Chromium code to provide support for extensions

The changes that Samsung and developer Kiwi plan to make to Chromium will have a positive effect not only on Chrome, but also on all other browsers on this engine. These include Yandex Browser, Samsung Internet, which is standard for all smartphones of the South Korean brand, and Microsoft Edge, with which Microsoft re-entered the browser market, hoping win some tangible share on it. So if you wanted to use the 'full' Chrome counterpart on Android, it won't be long.

If you want to test how desktop extensions work in what is essentially a mobile version of Chrome, you can download it from Google Play.

Why Google did not add extensions to Chrome for Android did not happen is not surprising. Extensions are, in fact, applications that are installed on the browser and, accordingly, make it consume more resources. The more extensions, the greater the load that Chrome will place on the device. But if modern computers, which have powerful hardware and batteries, and are often completely permanently connected to the power supply network, at the very least can pull it out, then smartphones are unlikely to cope with it without harming themselves. So maybe it's good that Google didn't spoil mobile Chrome on its own?

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