Is there a way to contact my Chrome extension users? - google-chrome

My Chrome extension was taken down from the webstore after a copyright violation complain. I tried reaching the complainant and sorting out the matter but he is not responding.
I am contemplating launching a new copy of the extension but I don't want to lose my existing user base. Is there a way by which I could notify the existing users to install the new version?
Getting a list of users to send a mass email or a mechanism to notify them from the official site would do.

Related

Best way to send push notifications from the server to a chrome extension?

I'm making a chrome extension for a classified ads website. With the chrome extension users will be able to get latest lists from their watched categories/search query.
I am already working on a websocket server to send notifications to users, but this way I have to always have a socket connection open to every user.
My second approach was to use Firebase, but this will run the notification only when a user clicks the icon (as I've read), and I would rather have this done from my server
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Are there any other possible solutions to send notifications to a chrome extension without the user clicking on the icon?
You can use Google's push infrastructure ― the very same that powers Android push notifications ― Google Cloud Messaging.
Note: Firebase Cloud Messaging is presented as an upgraded version of GCM; while true, it's not natively supported by Chrome in a way that GCM is.
chrome.gcm API is the one that works with it. See its documentation, as well as GCM documentation, for details.
There's even a tutorial: Implementing GCM Client on Chrome
But in a nutshell, your extension will register as a subscriber with GCM, pass the subscription ID to the server, and then the application server posts messages to GCM using those IDs.
You should also be able to use Firebase, if you're willing to implement it using the generic JS SDK; "this will run the notification only when a user clicks the icon" sounds pretty nonsensical ― a background page should be able to keep a listener alive and react, which is probably how your system works now. I would still recommend a native API, which should be compatible with Event pages.
Have you looked at the chrome.notifications API? It allows you to create rich notifications using templates and show these notifications to users in the system tray.
https://developer.chrome.com/apps/notifications
You can have a connection to your socket server in the background script, listen for messages from your socket server and trigger an event that shows the notification.

Possible ways to deploy an application to Windows Phone Store using automated tool/process

Is it possible to submit a new app or update an existing app to Windows Phone store with any automate process instead of uploading it manually?
Please suggest the solutions for the same.
I found few automated tools for ios application submission like fastlane
Not possible at the moment and no indication about such feature coming.
There may be such functionality soon.
From https://blogs.windows.com/buildingapps/2016/03/31/announcing-new-dev-center-capabilities-to-increase-app-revenue-and-streamline-management/:
The new Windows Store submission API will be made available in
preview, beginning today and rolling out in waves. This new API offers
a subset of functionality provided by Dev Center as a REST API and
supports these actions for published apps: submitting updates,
modifying metadata, and adding/removing in-app products. You can
request access to the preview through the “Feedback” tab in Dev Center
by selecting “Submission API” in the “Suggestions” tab. Access will be
granted in waves, beginning with a small group of developers. Build
session: https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2016/B839

"Can't install company app" on Windows Phone 8

I've developed a company app for Windows Phone 8, and have gone through all the recommended steps to set it up for installation. I have a Symantec code-signing certificate, and I have generated my Application Enrollment Token and my signed XAP, which I am hosting in a public folder on OneDrive. I generated the XAP using the BuildMDILXap.ps1 script, which ran without errors. I haven't bothered with a company hub app, since we're only distributing a single app.
The AET loads OK on the phone, and asks if I would like to add the workplace account. I click "add", the dialogue box disappears, and no error comes up. There is no confirmation message, however I don't know if I should expect one.
When I load up the XAP, I get the message "Can't install company app. There's a problem with this company app. Contact your company's support person for help."
The phone has been developer unlocked (which of course isn't necessary), and I've had the app side-loaded and running on it successfully before. It was uninstalled before attempting the above, however.
I'm not sure what to do from here. I've tried recompiling and re-signing the XAP and re-generating the AET, but nothing seems to work.
After fruitlessly trying to solve this problem, I found a workaround that does what I need.
It turns out that you can post apps to the public app store, but hide them from searches, essentially making them private to anyone that doesn't have the link. That solves my first problem, getting the app published in a way that my client can access without me needing to have developer licenses for each of their phones.
The downside with that solution is that you still have to wait a few days for an update to be approved, which isn't the greatest when you're still beta-testing and need to make quick changes. However, Microsoft also have a beta program for Windows Phone apps. By designating the app as Beta, submission happens automatically within 2 hours, but you have to restrict access to specific Microsoft accounts. The latter isn't a problem because the number of devices using the app is relatively small.
This removes the need for a corporate app store in my case, and saves the expense of a certificate and the fiddling around that goes with it.

How to notify user that an HTML5 offline web app needs updating?

I am creating an HTML5 offline web app for use on iOS and Android.
Is there a mechanism for notifying the user that an update is available - e.g., a red dot on the application's shortcut icon? If there isn't, would I be able to achieve this maybe with push notifications or some other way?
I understand that I can use the manifest file to declare which files the app should attempt to update from the server - but my client is asking if the app would be able to visually notify to the user of the need to update.
No, None of the app's code will run unless you launch the app, at which point it will automatically update based on the manifest if you are online. If you are off line then there is no way for the app to check if it needs to be updated.

How to publish new version of Chrome Extension only to testers

I have a chrome extension with a lot of users, and I want to update it. I have everything ready but I need to test the update in order to make sure that the current users won't lose the data. Is there any way to publish the new version only to the trusted testers?
I created a tester group.
I insert trusted testers e-mail accounts.
I am signed to Google Chrome browser under the testing account
I am signed to Google Chrome webstore under the testing account
But I still can't see the new version. The button "Publish to tester accounts" is only on the unpublished extension.
The only way I was able to publish a new version to testers is by doing exactly that, creating a new version specifically for testing.
The way that the dashboard is currently set up you would have to un-publish your current application before you can publish it to the test accounts, and that is something I doubt you want to do.
So in your case, I'd do the following
Set up a 'testing' version of your application with your current code.
Publish it to your test group and have them use it for a while until
they have the data you are concerned about.
Update the 'testing' version with your changes and see if the data
is missing.
Google has recently solved this with a new update.
So right now there is a option to publish the new version just to the testers.
The extension will be hidden for a while, but when you publish it again to public, it is all done.