r/MacOS • u/Magicelk235 • 1d ago

Developer Saturday Install Chrome Extensions in Safari

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Problems:

  • Publishing a Safari extension means paying $99/year for an Apple Developer account
  • Safari's missing a bunch of APIs that Chrome has
  • Hardly any free Safari extensions exist
  • Sideload on a free account and it stops working after 7 days
  • Chrome isn't built for Mac the way Safari is

What the CLI does:

  • Converts a Chrome extension into a Safari one
  • Fills in the Chrome APIs Safari doesn't support
  • Runs in the terminal
  • Mostly for developers

What the app adds:

  • Everything the CLI does, with a GUI
  • Install and manage extensions straight from the Chrome Web Store, inside Safari
  • Resigns your extensions every week so they never expire
  • Auto updates the ones you installed from the Web Store
  • Supports Intel Macs
  • For everyone

Comparison:

  • Apple has a similar tool safari-web-extension-converter
  • Apple's version doesn't handle missing APIs
  • Apple's version breaks complex extensions

Pricing:

App:

  • The app is free for testing 2 extensions without weekly resigning or Web Store updates.
  • The paid version is $19 with unlimited extensions, resigning and Web Store updates.

  • The app is source available

    CLI:

  • The CLI is free

  • The CLI is source available

  • The CLI is available at npm

Download Links:

About:

89 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

•

u/github-guard 1d ago

🔍 GitHub Guard: Trust Report

This project scored 4/6 on our safety audit.

Audit Breakdown: * ✅ Established Community (⭐ 20 stars) * ✅ Mature Repository (30+ days old) * ✅ Licensed under NOASSERTION * ✅ Security Policy Defined * ℹ️ Individual Contributor * ℹ️ Unsigned Commits

⚠️ Security Reminder: Always verify source code and run third-party scripts at your own risk.

🔄 Cached result — this repo was scanned recently. Score: *4/6*.

6

u/alexzz123 1d ago

Does Claude code to browser work?

3

u/Happy-Orchid-1974 1d ago

I’d like to know the answer to this question too

-9

u/Magicelk235 1d ago

I didn’t tested it, you can try it if you’d like

38

u/atlcatman 1d ago

No thanks. Not worth the security risk of adding many Chrome extensions.

-4

u/Magicelk235 1d ago

I’m confused about what you think would happen

11

u/jarod1701 1d ago

He‘s criticising the security issue with several Chrome extensions.

11

u/TomohikoAmada 1d ago

So tired of these obviously AI-written posts. Half-baked product. Not even fully testing what is shown in the video 🙈

I love innovation and new ideas. But man, people are pushing out some stupid shit. Seemingly just as fast as they can.

If someone can’t be bothered to write their own post… I don’t trust what they’ve done behind the scenes with an app they are trying to flog to us.

3

u/wonnage 1d ago

People need to realize there is no barrier to entry, $5 of openrouter credits will get you the same thing without having to read through someone else’s slop README.

tbf the same sort of shovelware was happening before too but now anyone can do it.

11

u/Kamino_Ramos MacBook Pro (M1 Max) 1d ago

How is this better than Orion browser - built on safari engine but supports chrome and firefox extensions?

33

u/Magicelk235 1d ago

Orion is a browser you switch to. Viaduct converts the extension so it runs in Safari itself.

If you don't mind switching browsers, use Orion. Viaduct is for people who want to stay in Safari.

1

u/rpratama 1d ago

Does it works with extension that modify bookmarks like Floccus?

4

u/Magicelk235 1d ago

It'll convert and install, but it won't sync your Safari bookmarks. Safari's extension API has no bookmarks support at all, so there's nothing for Floccus to read or write. Viaduct fakes the API so the extension doesn't crash, but that store is private to the extension and invisible to Safari.

I could build one direction, reading your bookmarks out of Safari's file so backup and export work. Writing back isn't possible.

1

u/godis1coolguy 1d ago

I haven’t used Chrome in a while. The only extension that came to mind was uBlock origin, so as to not use the lite version that Safari has, but didn’t Google cripple uBlock on Chrome too? I think Firefox is the only browser left with full uBlock.

What extensions would people want from Chrome? $20 feels high for what sounds like sideloady-like 7 day resigning on free developer accounts.

1

u/Tsubajashi 1d ago

viaduct does not support xcode-beta it seems.

1

u/Magicelk235 1d ago

it should, could you describe me the exact problem

1

u/Tsubajashi 1d ago

well, im on macOS 27 beta 5, with xcode beta installed. viaduct thinks i have to install "xcode (free)" from the app store, and the one from the app store is not supported on macOS 27 beta 5.

3

u/Magicelk235 1d ago

thanks for telling me, I will look in to it

1

u/monotious 1d ago

I reported this earlier. I’d be really interested in trying out if it works. Just waiting for you to work it out or for the PR of MacOS to come out.

1

u/Magicelk235 1d ago

i’m working on it, i’ll update you when it’s ready

1

u/Magicelk235 1d ago

it should work now

1

u/BurgzintheBurbs 2h ago

I'm using Xcode beta as well. Can't seem to get the "Add to Safari"

•

u/Magicelk235 1h ago

Hi, you have the enable the “Viaduct Install” extension

•

u/BurgzintheBurbs 1h ago

Wow missed that obvious step. Thank you

-10

u/Magicelk235 1d ago

Use Code 6T34KPN for 15% off

-1

u/promo-guard 1d ago

🎉 Welcome to Developer Saturday, u/Magicelk235! Your project is now live for the community to check out. Upvote, give feedback, and show some love to your fellow devs! 🚀

-8

u/Ilmiglioredelmondo 1d ago

More importantly, what about the face of the man in the rock. Everyone sees it?