14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft will introduce Edge browser extensions in the upcoming Anniversary Update due in July, but for the moment, it appears that this feature will be exclusive to PCs running Windows 10.
As far as mobile is concerned, information is pretty scarce right now, but in a recent update made to its official page, Microsoft kind of suggests that work on Windows 10 Mobile browser extensions has already started.
As spotted by Plaffo, Redmond now lists extensions for mobile device as “in development,” but the company doesn’t provide any other details, so it’s hard to tell whether the plan is to launch extensions on both PCs and smartphones at the same time or not.
Original plan was to first bring extensions on PCs
The company revealed at last year’s Build developer conference that work on browser extensions first needs to be completed on PCs and only then the development team can start looking into ways to make the add-ons available on mobile devices too.
“We first need to bring them on the desktop version of the browser,” Sean Lyndersay, member of the Microsoft Edge team, said on the sidelines of Build 2015. Charles Morris, also part of the Edge team, added that it takes more time for extensions to land on Windows phone because “it’s harder to make them work on a 4-inch screen,” as browser add-ons could come with new features that might change the browser’s UI.
At some point in the future, browser extensions will also arrive on Microsoft Edge on mobile phones, that’s for sure, especially because the browser is a universal app working on all Windows 10 devices, including PCs, tablets, laptops, and handsets. It’s all just a matter of time until this happens, so for the moment, it’s a good thing that Microsoft has already started work on the project, so expect them to land in preview stage sometime in the next few months.