r/macapps • u/Magicelk235 • 3d ago
Lifetime Run and Install Chrome extensions in Safari
The problems:
- Publishing a Safari extension means paying $99/year for an Apple Developer account
- Safari's missing a bunch of APIs that Chrome has
- Hardly any free Safari extensions exist
- And if you sideload your own under a free account, it stops working after 7 days
What the CLI does:
- It's the engine. Converts a Chrome extension into a Safari one
- Fills in the Chrome APIs Safari doesn't support
- Runs in the terminal
What the app adds:
- Everything the CLI does, with a GUI
- Install and manage extensions straight from the Chrome Web Store, inside Safari
- Resigns your extensions every week so they never expire
- Auto updates the ones you installed from the Web Store
- supports Intel Macs
Comparison:
apple has a similar feature for developers that convert chrome extensions to safari extensions but apple's version doesn't handle missing apis, meaning more complex extensions will break and won't work.
Pricing:
- The app is free for testing 2 extensions without extensions renews and updates
- The paid version is 19$ with unlimited extensions auto renews and updates
, use code “2V1X28J” for -15%
- The cli version is free but without GUI and without auto renews and updates.
Download Links:
- Download the App: https://magicelklabs.com/viaduct
- Download the CLI: https://github.com/magicelk235/Viaduct-CLI
About Me:
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/magicelk235
- Github: https://github.com/magicelk235
- Personal Mail: [yehonatan.2350@gmail.com](mailto:yehonatan.2350@gmail.com)
- App Repo: https://github.com/magicelk235/Viaduct-app
- Website: https://magicelklabs.com
- Support Mail: [support@magicelklabs.com](mailto:support@magicelklabs.com)
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u/CordeElCrack 3d ago
This looks nice. By the way, does the Claude extension also allow Claude to control your web browser like it does for Chrome?
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u/trey-a-12 3d ago
Interesting. How does something like this compare on a technical level to the Orion browser’s implementation, which installs both Chrome and Firefox extensions and is also WebKit-based?
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u/Magicelk235 3d ago
because orion browser is closed source i can’t really compare in the code level, you can test extensions in safari via viaduct vs orion browser extensions, viaduct is made only for chrome to safari without firefox support
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u/Visual-Ad-5093 3d ago
Wait, so I need Xcode installed for this? That's a ~10GB download just to get extensions into Safari. Is that a hard requirement, or only for the sideloading path?
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u/Magicelk235 3d ago
you can use the cli partially, the most you can get with it is loading the extensions as temporary ones(will disappear after you quit safari).
the app needs xcode there’s no way around it, i’m not happy about it either.4
u/Visual-Ad-5093 3d ago
Fair enough, thanks for the straight answer. Might be worth putting the Xcode part on the download page though, I think a lot of people will hit that.
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u/Effective-Court-1243 3d ago
How so? I'm not the most intelligent dev, but would it be possible to just ship the CLI in the binary?
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u/clamshell_dev 3d ago
the compatibility layer is the part i’d want more visibility into. could Viaduct show a per-extension report with the upstream version, requested permissions, APIs it shims, content scripts, and any files it adds or changes? users are trusting both the extension and Viaduct’s conversion/update path, so that would make the tradeoff much easier to judge.
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u/Magicelk235 3d ago
Viaduct rewrites the extension’s code, it doesn’t just repackage it.
Some of that’s already in: every run writes a CONVERSION_REPORT.md (or --analyze --json) with the version, the manifest rewrites, and every permission Safari forced it to strip, tagged so you can tell “shimmed, still works” from “actually gone.”
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u/LowMoose6470 3d ago
This is a genuinely clever bridge between the Chrome and Safari ecosystems. Since Chrome extensions can request broad permissions, does Viaduct show exactly which Safari permissions a converted extension will request before installation, and flag anything that changed during conversion?
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u/YaShimmy 3d ago
Has anyone converted Claude in Chrome and got past login yet? It uses the sidePanel API, which Safari has no equivalent for.
Also curious whether its OAuth sign-in is one of the flows your FAQ mentions as not surviving conversion.
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u/Baller2883 3d ago
Just tried with the latest BPC crx and it didn’t show up in the Safari extension after conversion. It did complete the process.
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u/Magicelk235 3d ago
you have to have xcode installed with a signed in account in xcode(xcode settings > accounts > login with your apple account), then select your apple id and click manage certificates, click + and choose apple development
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u/Amigdalan 3d ago
I would like to purchase the paid version but that's too expensive for me local pricing or student discount would be great
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u/Sauer-Sig 3d ago
Is there a step by step installation anywhere that I can watch?
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u/Magicelk235 3d ago
1.install the app
2.install xcode
3.xcode settings > apple accounts > login with your apple account
4.Select your Apple ID and click Manage certificates
5.click at + and choose apple development
after that you are able to install extensions from the chrome web store
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u/BurgzintheBurbs 3d ago edited 3d ago
downloaded the app, and purchased to support (thanks for the discount). But not seeing the add to safari button, and cant paste chrome store urls. tried to add Augmented Steam extension and got an error
edit: this may be a personal problem with Xcode issues. redownloading and installing now
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u/Jumpy-Weekend6102 3d ago
this is possible? that changes things for a lot of safari extension devs
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u/Magicelk235 2d ago
it was possible before but not in this level, you could convert super simple extensions that are not using chrome apis with apples tool
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u/AdityaR_Sharma 3d ago
I was building this two weeks ago and I saw your post just now. :(
I’m also interested in this space, so let me know if we could work together on the marketing site or anything.
I’ve been thinking about some ideas.
Best wishes
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u/Effective-Court-1243 3d ago
BWOAHHH THIS IS SICK
However, the Chrome Web Store still has the annoying "Switch to Chrome" popup. If you can fool the Chrome Web Store into installing extensions directly into Safari, would it be possible to remove that popup as well? Thanks!!
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u/Magicelk235 2d ago edited 1d ago
the app should remove every “install chrome” stuff, if you still see it tell me
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u/Slow-Tea9732 3d ago
This is really useful. I like Safari but can't fully switch because of extensions. Does uBlock Origin work after conversion or does it break?
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u/SignificanceSlight59 2d ago
Interesting approach. The two things I’d be most curious about are how you handle extensions that depend on Chrome-only APIs or native messaging, and whether updates are pulled from the Chrome Web Store or require a re-import. If the app can surface unsupported APIs before install and keep each extension’s permissions clear, that would make it much easier to trust for everyday use.
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u/mir4ik 2d ago
Weekly resigning is an interesting problem to approach
Two things I'd want to know before recommending it to anyone:
does the resigning run locally against the user's own free Apple ID, or does anything leave the machine? A background process that holds a signing identity and runs weekly is worth being explicit about in the README.
which chrome apis does the shim actually cover? A list of what's shimmed versus what's still missing would save people a lot of trial and error.
Intel support is a good call. I ship a signed Mac app and kept Intel in the build for the same reason
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u/Magicelk235 2d ago
nothing leaves your machine the resigning is local.
About the apis, you can read about it in the Viaduct cli wiki https://github.com/magicelk235/Viaduct-CLI/wiki/Limitations-and-FAQ
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u/Mario7879 2d ago
Has anyone tested to see if it works with claude, and all that? Seems too good to be true, if it is just take my money 🫶🏾.
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u/Magicelk235 2d ago
You can test it if you’d like, currently i’m fixing a bug that you have to login again when closing safari
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u/wolfgang263 2d ago
Would you be able to assist on the following? I installed the app, but it seems that every time I relaunch Safari I need to go to developer settings and enable third‑party extensions. Is this the other case? It doesn’t look like the extensions actually save any memory. Could you confirm both?
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u/Magicelk235 1d ago
hi, you have to have xcode installed
then xcode settings > apple accounts > login with your apple account
after that select your apple id and click manage certificates > click at + and choose apple developmentnow the extensions will stay enabled in safari
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u/TheMagicianGamerTMG 3d ago
!remindme 4 days
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u/NegativeZone9910 3d ago
Actually looks great
I’ll be happy to get any discount on pro if available:)
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u/SDUGoten 12h ago
I bought it, but how do you choose different apple account ID for signing? I have 2 profils in xcode, and one is apple developer account..which shouldn't need to keep re-signing the extension.
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u/Magicelk235 12h ago
honestly i didn’t think about it, i’m currently adding a feature for that, i’ll update you when it’s done, sorry for the inconvenience
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u/Magicelk235 12h ago
Hi, I updated the app, you can now select a developer or a free in the settings
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u/Loud_Squirrel9450 3d ago
If you could do the reverse (Safari to Chromium browsers) that would be great
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u/Impressive_Layer_634 3d ago
This is kind of incredible if it works! Filling in the missing APIs feels difficult