“Maintenance of Safari Extensions is also about to get even worse”
And then: “All four of the other browsers use effectively the same APIs — Safari is potentially going to change that in some ugly ways” and To develop a Safari extension may eventually require Xcode” (emphasis mine).
So it implies that Apple is forcing a switch to the Safari App Extension model, but there doesn’t seem to be any evidence of that. Both the traditional extension model and the new app extension model are supported side by side right now.
While I agree that the review process is ridiculous, I think the author is disingenuous or uneducated on a few of the key points of the article.
> First, you can auto update extensions distributed via your own web server. It says so right in Apple’s docs how to do it:
Only Safari extensions installed from the Safari Extensions Gallery can be
updated automatically. [0]
> So it implies that Apple is forcing a switch to the Safari App Extension model, but there doesn’t seem to be any evidence of that.
The future of extensions development takes place in Xcode [1]
As of Safari 10.0 on macOS 10.11.5, Safari extensions are created as app
extensions in Xcode. New extensions are wrapped in a containing macOS app and
are distributed and sold on the App Store. If you have created an extension
with the methods described in this document, consider transitioning to the new
extensions model. [2]
> Both the traditional extension model and the new app extension model are supported side by side right now.
http://luckyrobot.com/limitations-shaped-stealth-fighter/