Publish to the Chrome Web Store

[mike-mo]

Summary

Maskify is currently available only on the Edge Add-ons store. Publishing to the Chrome Web Store would significantly increase discoverability, since Chrome holds ~65% browser market share and the CWS is the primary extension discovery channel.

Prerequisites

• Chrome Web Store developer account — one-time $5 registration fee
• Store listing assets (most can be reused from Edge):
  • Extension description (already written)
  • Screenshots (already generated via the screenshot workflow)
  • Privacy policy URL (already hosted on GitHub Pages)
  • Icon assets (already in the repo at all required sizes)

Steps

1. Register for a CWS developer account
2. Create a new item in the developer dashboard
3. Upload the same extension ZIP used for Edge (MV3 is fully supported on Chrome)
4. Fill in store listing metadata:
   • Category: Productivity or Privacy & Security
   • Language: English (primary), Spanish
   • Screenshots: reuse existing or retake at CWS-recommended dimensions (1280x800)
5. Submit for review (typically 1-3 business days)

Considerations

• Manifest compatibility: The current manifest.json should work as-is on Chrome. The browser_specific_settings key (if ever added for Firefox) would need to be absent or ignored.
• Review process: Chrome's review is stricter than Edge's. Key areas they check:
  • activeTab vs broad host permissions (Maskify uses tabs + storage which is fine)
  • Privacy policy must be accessible (already hosted)
  • No remote code execution (Maskify has none)
• Dual-store maintenance: Updates need to be published to both stores. Consider automating with a GitHub Actions workflow that builds a ZIP and uploads to both.
• Store listing text: Review and tailor the description for CWS — the audience may differ slightly from Edge users.
• User count visibility: CWS shows install counts publicly, which provides social proof.

Related

• Update screenshots and add localized versions #17 (update screenshots) — good to finalize screenshots before the CWS listing
• Update README install instructions and links for end users #28 (update README links) — add CWS install link alongside the Edge link