We’re happy to announce the release of Jetpack SDK 0.4, the fourth in our regular series of releases of the SDK we’re developing to make it easy to build Firefox add-ons.
This version includes four additional “high-level” APIs that support simple and powerful add-on development:
- Page Worker – The page-worker API makes it possible for add-ons to create a permanent, invisible frame in order to load and access web pages.
- Widget – The widget API provides a visually consistent way for add-ons to show themselves in the browser and interact with users.
- Simple Storage – The simple-storage API gives add-ons the ability to easily, privately, and persistently store data across application restarts.
- Private Browsing – The private-browsing API exposes Firefox’s private browsing feature, so add-ons can detect the status of private browsing and be notified when users start or stop browsing privately.
In addition to the new high-level APIs, this version also features two major architectural improvements:
- Restartless Add-ons – Add-on bundles created by the SDK can be installed into nightly testing builds of the next version of Firefox without requiring users to restart the application.
- Unforgeable ID – Each add-on bundle created by the SDK is given a cryptographic identifier that specifies its origin in an unforgeable manner, so Firefox can verify that an update to an add-on is provided by the same source as provided its original version.
Stay tuned to this blog for posts describing some sample extensions that developers have created with these new features. And keep an eye out for additional high-level APIs and architectural enhancements that make Firefox add-on development even easier in future releases!
Get Started
- Browse the documentation.
- Download the SDK as a tarball or ZIP archive.
- Read the release notes.
- For more information about Jetpack and the SDK, check out the FAQ and the blog post introducing the SDK.
Participate
- Discuss, debate, and get help in the discussion forum.
- Chat via IRC in #jetpack on irc.mozilla.org.
- Submit a bug report.
- Grab the source code and fix a bug or add a feature.
- Myk, on behalf of Team Jetpack
