The chrome.storage API is an API that store persistent data, get and modify the data. In our opinion it is one of the most important API used in chrome extensions projects. See the Chrome Storage API documentation for more info Unlike a lot of the other APIs we’ve looked at in previous articles chrome.storage works in all parts of the extensions; content…

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The chrome.alarms API is an API use to schedule code to execute at a preset time and/or periodically. See the Chrome Alarms API documentation for more info. How is Chrome Alarms API different from setInterval or setTimeout? setInterval and setTimeout are functions that are used to schedule code to run in the future and periodically as well. However the difference become apparent when we start…

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The chrome notifications API is responsible for displaying different types of what is called rich notifications in your users’ system tray. Chrome Notifications API works well with the Web-push Notifications (Google Cloud Message) but more on that in our next article about Understanding Chrome Extensions GCM. Although we can choose what kind of template of…

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The chrome.gcm API to enable the extensions to send and receive messages via Firebase’s Cloud Messaging (FCM). Official Documentation here: https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/reference/api/gcm What is GCM or FCM? https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FsioEY4tWmLI%3Ffeature%3Doembed&display_name=YouTube&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DsioEY4tWmLI&image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FsioEY4tWmLI%2Fhqdefault.jpg&key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=youtube Well the first, Google Cloud Messaging and Firebase Cloud Messaging are the same thing, so let’s get that out the way. FCM is an improvement of GCM. According the Firebase Team, FCM is a reliable no-cost way…

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The chrome.cookies API enables extensions to create, retrieve, edit and remove cookies from a specific and/or all domains. You can see Google Chrome Documentation on it: https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/reference/api/cookies What are Internet Cookies 🍪 ? Simply put internet cookies are small files save on your browser that usually hold data specific to your computer. They are linked to a particular domain/website. Cookies…

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The chrome.browsingData API deals with removing browsing data from the local user’s browser. This includes caches, cookies, downloads, passwords, history and many more. You can see a comprehensive list of browser data the chrome extension can remove using this API here: https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/reference/api/browsingData#method-remove How to declare it in Manifest.json { … “permissions”: [ “browsingData”, ], …} How to clear Browsing Data You’ll…

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The chrome.management API enable the extensions to retrieve details and manage other installed extensions on the client’s browser. Essentially, the chrome.management can enable, disable or uninstall other extensions in browser. For more info you can see Google Chrome Documentation on it: https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/reference/api/management How to declare it in Manifest.json { … “permissions”: [ “management” ], …} How to get other Extension…

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The chrome.commands API is used to enable the chrome extension run actions from keyboard shortcuts. You can bind a defined-command with a combinations for keyboard keys. Let’s show you had it is done. You find the official documentation by the Google Chrome Team here: https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/reference/api/commands How to Declare it in Manifest.json You’ll notice the commands keyword is not in permissions array. {…

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By using the chrome.sidePanel API you can render your own HTML in the chrome browser’s side panel alongside the loaded website. Official Documentation: https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/reference/api/sidePanel Why Use it? How to declare it in Manifest.json Use the sidePanel keyword in permissions to use the chrome.sidePanel API function in code like so {… “permissions”: [ “sidePanel” ],…} Use the side_panelkeyword outside permissions to define default settings for the…

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The chrome.tts API is used to convert text into audible speech generated by the text-to-speech system. It takes advantage of the already built in TTS capabilities of the operating system. The official Chrome Extensions documentation on TTS is here: https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/reference/api/tts How to declare in the Manifest.json {… “permissions”:[ “tts” ],…} How to generate Speech from text Run a…

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