How to handle updates which require a future version of Firefox? [answered]

Add-ons addons.mozilla.org
#1

I updated my addon - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/mudcat-browser-tools/ - to a webextension. I marked it compatible with Fx 56 because one of the APIs - options_ui on Android - is only available in 56.

I expected the new version to only appear in the listing if the user is using Fx 56 or above, but that’s not what happens. The listing says ‘unavailable for Fx 52’ or whatever, and there’s no indication that there is an earlier, compatible version. This is misleading and will be offputting to a potential new user, or an existing user installing on a new device. (On desktop, it’s also labelled 'compatible with Fx 57+ which I know means it’s a webextension but is also misleading. Android does at least say it needs 56.)

Can this be improved? An option to specify that a new version should only be offered to a compatible browser - because the earlier version still works?

I thought I might disable the new version, and re-enable it once Fx56 was released. There is a ‘delete/disable’ button on the ‘manage - all versions’ page. The resulting popup explains what happens if you delete it, but not if you disable it.

Does it do what I want - disappear until I re-enable it and offer a user the previous latest version? Or is the user presented with the webextension version and told it’s disabled? I don’t want to try it in case it’s irrevocable and I have to get it re-reviewed.

#2

Go to Manage My Submissions and click Compatibility. From there, you can set a different compatibility for desktop and a different compatibility for android.

#3

[quote=“Kenny_D, post:2, topic:17109”]
Go to Manage My Submissions and click Compatibility…
[/quote]I suspect you didn’t read my question.

#4

Does your WebExtension work on latest FF on the desktop? If it does then you can set a lower compatibility on it for desktop, then on the android side you can set it to 56+. Otherwise I can’t think of a better way to solve your problem.

Edit: Hmm I guess that would still show that it’s incompatible on the latest android as well. So in this case, I would probably make a note in the description with a direct link to the older version (not sure if this will work).

#5

It does, as it happens. I know I can make the problem disappear on desktop by making it immediately compatible, but I would still have the problem on android.

Also I want to post a single announcement on the relevant forum covering both desktop and android - users may have both.

#6

Like I said in my edit, you can right click on the Add to Firefox button for older versions and copy link. Then you can paste that link for Android.

Example

#7

Thanks for the suggestion, Kenny. It’s rather a kludge - and as I said I want both desktop and android versions to appear at the same time.

So my questions stand:

  • can/should the AMO UI be changed to avoid this problem?
  • does ‘disable’ solve the problem?
#8

I’m not sure exactly but I’m going to say no. There should be mods here that should know better.

#9

Compatibility for legacy add-ons is a fairly complex problem, so AMO won’t be changed to accommodate this use case.

Yes, it does what you would expect, and you can re-enable it later on.

#10

Thanks.

So - for anyone who is a similar situation - when you get the ‘approved’ email, disable the addon until you’re ready to release it.