14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has finally released extension support for Edge browser earlier this week as part of an insider preview build, and developers have already started porting their add-ons to work with the app.
“Turn Off the Lights,” a browser extension that fades the entire website to dark in order to watch videos “as if you were in the cinema,” is now available for Microsoft Edge too, only a few days after the software giant released support for extensions.
Keep in mind, however, that only insiders can install browser add-ons at this point, but Microsoft plans to make this feature public in the summer with the Redstone update for Windows 10.
Right now, extensions need to be manually downloaded and sideloaded, and this is the case of “Turn Off the Lights” too. Instructions on how to get it working are available on GitHub.
Extensions will be published in the Windows Store
Since they’re still in their early days on the market, extensions require some work before they can be successfully loaded in Edge browser, but once the feature goes public, Windows 10 users should be able to install them through the store.
The whole process will be performed automatically and will work similarly to store apps: users will be allowed to search for extensions, click install, and then have them loaded in the browser.
More information on extensions will be provided by Microsoft at the BUILD 2016 developer conference that kicks off this month while the public debut is expected to take place in June with the Redstone update.
Redmond hopes that the three-month gap between BUILD and the release of Redstone will be used by developers to port their extensions to Edge. And in order to make their work easier and faster, the company is also working on a dedicated application that would allow extension porting from Google Chrome to Microsoft Edge by following a few steps.