Will Safari ever support WebExtensions api? - safari

My web extension works with Chromium browsers, Firefox, Edge, but as I understand - it is impossible now just to open the same codebase with Safari browser?

Update 2021
The Safari support for WebExtensions was released in 2021 and is available from Safari 14 (shipped with macOS Big Sur). WebExtensions for Safari are published in the App Store. Documentation here: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariservices/safari_web_extensions
Original answer
We cannot possibly know this for sure, but Apple is currently not planning to support (a version of) the WebExtensions API. The name of the standard/specification is Browser Extension.
Apple is not part of the W3C group which attempts to make a cross browser standard: https://www.w3.org/community/browserext/participants
For more general info on the Browser Extension W3C working group, see
https://browserext.github.io/browserext
The provisional spec can be found here: https://browserext.github.io/browserext/

In macOS Big Sur, Safari will support the WebExtensions API:
New support for the WebExtensions API and migration tools allows developers to bring Chrome extensions to Safari — letting you personalize your browsing experience with new Safari extensions from your favorite developers.

Related

Is Spartacus 2.0 compatible with IE11 and Edge?

is Spartacus 2.0 compatible with IE11 and Edge?
or can we have a list of compatible browsers with versions ?
thanks
Based on official documentation:
On the desktop, Spartacus supports Chrome with automated tests, and in general, Spartacus supports evergreen browsers. By default, Spartacus does not support IE11 because IE11 is missing certain modern browser features, such as support for CSS variables.
Spartacus supports browsers on mobile and tablet platforms as follows:
On iOS-based devices, Spartacus is tested with Safari and Chrome. Although other browsers are not tested, Spartacus should work with any iOS browser, because all iOS browsers use the Webkit-based iOS browser engine.
On Android-based devices, Spartacus is tested with Chrome, which is based on Chromium and the Blink layout engine. Any Android browser that uses the same engine will likely work with Spartacus. Other browsers using different browser engines are not tested, but those browsers that use Webkit should work as well.
You can find out more details here - https://sap.github.io/spartacus-docs/spartacus-faq/#which-browsers-does-spartacus-support.
But in practice:
You can support IE by self if you will not use #spartacus/styles library, cuz Angular fully supports IE 11.

Will the Add-ons disappear and be useless for Google apps on 2017-2018?

I was trying to publish a new version of an Add-on that was already created, but when I tried to publish it, in the Developer Dashboard and on the top of the page a warning message was shown:
As of November 21st, 2016, all newly published packaged or hosted apps are restricted to Chrome OS, and are not available to users on Windows, Mac or Linux. Existing apps will continue to be available on all major platforms and will continue to receive updates. - More Info
Note: This change does not apply to Google Drive Apps or Add-Ons for Google Apps.
So if you click on the "More Info" button you will see more additional information.
So all of this should be a problem to me because I have important applications that I need everyday, so I wonder if there is any other alternative way to keep working with add-ons.
Thank you!
AFAIK, this change (if Google decides to proceed with it) would only apply to Chrome Apps (see my answer here).
In the Chromium Blogpost (also the link for More Info in your post), it mentioned:
In the second half of 2017, the Chrome Web Store will no longer show Chrome apps on Windows, Mac, and Linux, but will continue to surface extensions and themes.
Add-ons weren't specifically mentioned, but as already included in your post, Add-ons that are for Google Drive Apps or any Google Apps in general (e.g. Docs, Sheets, etc.) are the exception.
If you're add-on is associated with a non-Google App, it is possible that you will be affected with the change. Seeing as the Chrome App will be removed, the associated Add-ons would follow.
You probably already know the differences between a Chrome App, an Extension, and an Add-on, but for future readers that are not familiar, might as well post this link to a YouTube video that explains Apps vs Extensions vs Add-ons.

IndexedDb in a Web Worker in the latest Safari?

I have an existing app which runs on fine in earlier versions of Safari and makes use of an indexedDB polyfill to store data. Most of this activity takes place in a web worker so WebSQL can be accessed from the web worker.
However, I am now trying native indexedDB access using Safari 6.2 and although indexedDB can be referenced in the "main" work thread, when i try to access "self.indexeddb" or "indexeddb" they both come back as undefined.
Has anyone been able to access indexedDB in a web worker in the newest versions of Safari?
Has anyone been able to access indexedDB in a web worker in the newest versions of Safari?
IndexedDB is accessible from Web Worker since Safari Technology Preview Release 5:
Safari Technology Preview is a version of Safari for OS X, distributed by Apple, that includes a cutting-edge, in-development version of the WebKit browser engine. It’s a great way to test upcoming WebKit features and give feedback to the people building them when it’s most useful — early in development.
Released on May 15, 2016. The release notes state:
Enabled IndexedDB in Web Worker scripts
Safari Technology Preview requires a Mac running OS X 10.11.4 or later.
Release 5 of Safari Technology Preview covers WebKit revisions 200418–201083.
References
Introducing Safari Technology Preview
Safari Technology Preview: Release Notes
Release Notes for Safari Technology Preview 5
Webkit Bug 149953 – Modern IDB: WebWorker support
What's New in MacOS
Primary Key issue on iOS8 implementation of IndexedDb
indexeddb on iOS 8 - Broken Bad

WebRTC: Is it supported in Safari & IE browsers?

I would to develop video streaming usign WebRTC. I have not heard about the browser compatibilities. Does it work in IE & MAC systems? Please advice the pros & cons of it.
It works great on Mac systems using Firefox or Chrome. Safari doesn't support WebRTC yet.
IE doesn't support WebRTC also. Nevertheless, Microsoft claimed that IE will support WebRTC when standard had been finalized.
Regarding IE, take a look here, also: Which version of Microsoft Internet Explorer support WebRTC?
Rather than [just] providing an answer that will surely go out of date at some point, let me point you to CanIUse.com:
http://caniuse.com/#search=webrtc
Currently, as of 2015-08-14, WebRTC is still completely missing from Safari (OS X & iOS) and from IE (including Edge).
Safari
Apple announced support for WebRTC in Safari 11.
You can download the latest beta version of Safari 11 at the following link:
(You need to sign in with your Apple ID) https://developer.apple.com/safari/download/
Microsoft Edge
Edge supports webRTC with the help of adapter.js.
Internet explorer
You'll need a 3rd party plugin, like Skylink or Temasys.

How does Google Chrome affect product owners developing web apps?

If my app has been tested in Firefox 3, Safari 3 & IE 7 will it need additional testing for Chrome?
If there are areas that'll need further testing -- then are there any online guides I could share with my designers & developers?
At what point will Chrome be considered to have sufficient market share to be treated as a mainstream browser?
If it's working fine on Safari, it will probably work on Chrome as well. The only difference is the JavaScript engine, but I've yet to see a real world example of some legitim JavaScript code not working on Chrome.
Personally I test my stuff with Chrome because I use Chrome intensively for development. It is good practice to test your pages with at least one WebKit (or KHTML) based browser though.
Chrome uses the WebKit rendering engine, which is also used in Safari and some other small browsers. Overall with both Chrome and Safari gaining in market share it is definately a browser to test (you only really need to test one). It's very standards compliant and is constantly having updates to keep up with new CSS drafts.
Webkits main Site - http://webkit.org/
Browser Market Share
http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers are good places to look for market share of browsers although they show very different responses on Chrome.
According to Wikipedia roughly 7.96% of poeple are using WebKit based browsers however W3C shows that in November only 5.8% did.
Theoretically, because Google Chrome uses the same engine as Safari (WebKit), you've already tested. But Google has made several changes to the engine, including rewriting the JavaScript interpreter completely. Additional testing never hurts and it wouldn't take long to confirm that everything works as expected.
Now that GMail suggests people switch from IE to Firefox and Chrome, I'm guessing we'll see IE lose more and more market share to those browsers. Chrome doesn't have much of a user-base now, but I can imagine that will change.
Better test on it. I've already run across sites that work in Safari but don't in Chrome. I have IE8b2, FF3, Safari, and Chrome all installed on my machine. Not for testing reasons, but because of the websites that I visit. Takes all 4 of those to get all the websites to show right...
if you don't have PNG24 with opacity changed from CSS, all things should be fine.
However, i always try in all modern browsers (ie6/7, ff2/3, opera 9.x, safari and chrome).
According to Wikipedia, Chrome has a 0.78% usage rate right now. Depending on your audience the actual number of users might be low, and not really require testing.
Chrome uses the WebKit engine, which as I recall is the same engine used by Safari. So in theory, if your site works for Safari it should work for Chrome, as well.
Refer to this Google's Chrome page for details.
Chrome already got a small percentage of the community. However as far as I know, Chrome follows the standards from W3C and all websites that work in IE6, IE7 and FF2 / 3 has worked perfectly for me.
So by that said, i think you should already be testing your applications in chrome as well.
Always test in these browsers nowdays:
Internet Explorer 6, 7, 8
Firefox 2, 3
Chrome
Opera
Safari
Lynx