Google will block local extensions in Chrome 33 for Windows, disable existing ones not in the Chrome Web Store

Google today announced it will block local Chrome extensions on Windows as of version 33. As a result, Windows users will only be able to use extensions for the company’s browser that they install from the Chrome Web Store.

In a FAQ, the company is reminding developers how exactly this change will affect their projects:

• Users can only install extensions hosted in the Chrome Web store, except for installs via enterprise policy or developer mode.
• Extensions that were previously installed, but not hosted on the Chrome Web Store will be hard-disabled (i.e the user cannot enable these extensions again), except for installs via enterprise policy or developer mode.

Google originally announced the policy changes in November, saying they would go into effect in January. Chrome 33 beta was indeed released last month, but the stable version won’t arrive until later this month or even early March.

See also – Google brings Chrome apps to Android and iOS, lets developers submit to Google Play and Apple’s App Store and Google is working on a way to run Chrome apps without the full Chrome process

Image Credit: Miguel Saavedra