14 DAY TRIAL // Mozilla has released the fourth update to the recently launched Jetpack SDK. Four new high-level APIs have been introduced in Jetpack SDK 0.4 and several other bigger features. Some of the APIs and changes planned for the 0.4 release have been deferred to the upcoming Jetpack SDK 0.5, scheduled to come about a month from now.
“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,” Mozilla announced on the Mozilla Labs blog.
The new Page Worker API enables extensions built for the Jetpack platform to create an invisible frame to be used for loading specific web pages. The Widget API, another addition, aims to create a consistent experience with adds-ons from the user-experience point of view.
The Simple Storage API allows add-ons to store persistent data locally. This makes it available across application restarts. Finally, the Private Browsing API enables add-ons to know if the user has activated the feature or not.
Jetpack SKD 0.4 also comes with a couple of big changes in how the platform and add-ons built on it work. New add-ons created with the SDK will no longer require a Firefox restart in the latest nightly builds. This has been one of the major goals for the Jetpack platform and one of Chrome’s big advantages over Firefox. Another update is the Unforgeable ID, which adds a unique ‘cryptographic identifier’ to add-ons in a way that ensures that an updated version comes from the same source as the original.
Jetpack SDK 0.5 is scheduled for release on June 23. Some of the plans for the upcoming version include Electrolysis integration, the project that provides out-of-process plugins in Firefox, a Tabs API, as well as the completion of deferred APIs like Localization.
Jetpack SDK 0.4 is available for download here on Softpedia.