I have an unlisted Firefox extension that currently works well on Firefox 42. However I know that from version 44 afterwards, unlisted extensions will be rejected. Hence, during the experimental phase, I wonder how can I test my unlisted extensions on Firefox version 44 and afterwards? Below are some options, please help to advise:
There is a way to let Firefox know that my experimental extension is just an experimental so it accepts to install as usual or
I have to get my extension signed although it just an experimental one. There are two cases over here:
2.1. I just need to get my extension signed just one time; and for the following times, I donât need to get the updated extension signed any more or
2.2. I have to get signed for every time I have an update for my extension?
Please correct me if I am wrong but I understand that from Firefox version 44, changing the preference to allow signature enforcement just can be applied for Nightly and Developer, we cannot do that on Beta or Stable version. Please advise.
I have another case when I have my add-on v1.1.1 get signed so it can be installed on stable Firefox version 44. Later when I update it to be v1.1.2, do I need to get signed again to be able to install? Please advise.
That is correct!, now version 44 is in developer, so that you can test the addon changing the pref to false.
Now I think the answer is Yes, but in the future maybe not, depends of this extract of wiki for automate the process.
Will there be an upload and signing API so I donât have to manually upload each new version of the add-on?
This isnât currently part of the plan for the first version of this project. However, we have received enough requests for this feature that weâre looking into ways to make this happen.
I think if you add a or b (e.g. 1.1.1a) to the new extension version then when you upload it will have a tick box asking if you would like to upload as Beta and thus wonât be live for the general public.
Betas are visible to the public, can be installed by anyone, and have their own channel where updates will be automatically applied. However, they arenât exactly displayed front and centre, so 99% of people will never know about them.
When the preference is no longer an option for beta and release, Mozilla have promised an âunbranded buildâ that addon developers can use to test unsigned addons. It will be functionally identical to the equivalent beta or release version except that it wonât enforce signing. Such a build is not yet published, but it is on the to-do list: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1135781