I’ve wanted to install an extension from outside addons.mozilla.org, but Firefox didn’t let me do it
So I’ve did a small research and looks like there are 3 ways to sideload extensions, but all of them suck
- Using FF Developer Edition
In the Dev Edition you can set xpinstall.signatures.required
to false in about:config, but the problem is that the Dev Edition isn’t as stable as standard FF
- Temporarily load the extension
In about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox
you can temporarily sideload extensions, but they will be removed next time you open FF, which is annoying
- Modify FF code
Lastly, I found this script which modifies the FF code, but this can break things so I don’t want to use it
I’m really annoyed that Mozilla gets to decide which extensions I can install. So… what’s the best way to sideload extensions?
Edit: thanks everyone, I’m now using a FF fork (Librewolf) which lets me sideload extensions after disabling xpinstall.signatures.required
not exaclty an answer to you question … but just fyi you could also just create an AMO account (it’s free) and upload your addon for self distribution (to not have them appear on addons.mozilla.org) and then you can download and install them into stable version persistently.
sidenote: i think instead of nightly you can also use the
unbranded
builds to have a stable version which allows you to usexpinstall.signatures.required
. ref. https://wiki.mozilla.org/Add-ons/Extension_Signing#Unbranded_BuildsOh thanks, I didn’t know about unbranded builds
Also, regular FF stores settings and profiles in
~/.mozilla/firefox
, do you know where unbranded builds of FF store them?Edit: nvm someone else in this thread said to open about:profiles, and the path to profile folder is there
yeah, i got a mozilla dev account and uploaded an extension for a joke, and it was pretty easy and fast.
I was going to do the unbranded build option but from what I could find, unbranded builds don’t get updates.
You can place the
.xpi
file in a special folder. On my linux system that is in/usr/lib/firefox/browser/extensions/
. Which would be the system wide folder. There are others which only affect the current user thkugh.The user folder is
$profile_dir/extensions/
. To open the profile directory you can typeabout:profile
in you address bar and click onOpen Directory
besidesRoot Directory
in the default profile section.I agree that this is annoying and feels somewhat similar to apple’s locked down ecosystem.
Am I missing something or is it possible you’re talking about FF mobile? On PC I just drag the XPI over a FF window and the extension gets added. I just did it today, actually. No modifying needed.
I was talking about FF on PC, but I’ll try this tomorrow
deleted by creator
No, I just assumed that it could break things
Tbf the author writes:
This script is not well tested, like at all. This script might break things, possibly important things. You should probably take a backup of your Firefox profile before using it. You have been warned.
So it’s understandable that you might think it could break things.
Compile Firefox from scratch. Use a fork of Firefox like librewolf that allows side loading.
(idk if librewolf allows it)
If you’re talking Android, I believe the F-Droid app store (which I’d recommend anyway) packages a version of Firefox (I think called “Fennec F-Droid”?) that allows the same thing as Nightly and Beta (which I assume you mean with option 1).
Also, Beta is very stable, just give it a shot. (Though your extensions might not be, especially on mobile.)
Oh and also, if you wait just a bit, every extension can be made compatible with Firefox for Android: https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2023/08/10/prepare-your-firefox-desktop-extension-for-the-upcoming-android-release/
Of course the developer will still need to make sure that it works on Android.
Wait, so will this still require creating your own collection, or are they totally opening it up? I read the link, but I’m not sure I understand it.
Totally opening up, as I understand it. Which doesn’t mean that you can install every extension, because many might not be compatible. For example, Sidebery isn’t really useful on mobile, and other extensions (especially the ones still using “Manifest V2”) can’t deal well with Android unpredictably killing extension processes in the background. But every extension developer can make their extension installable by Firefox for Android users.
People will understand that not everything is compatible, but this is still going to make it much less clunky to run add-ons that aren’t readily available now. The previous method of having to create a collection was extremely clunky and often felt like more trouble than it was worth.
Yep, absolutely! Just wanted to make sure I wasn’t interpreted incorrectly :)