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Firefox will get Load Temporary add-ons feature

As you may already know, Firefox 44 and above won't allow you to run unsigned add-ons. Mozilla developers decided to remove the ability to disable the signature enforcement, which can still be disabled in Firefox 43. However, it was announced that the stable branch of Firefox will get a new option which will allow the user to temporarily load unsigned extensions.

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At the moment of this writing, the mentioned feature has already landed in Firefox Nightly v46. To try it out, you need to install Firefox Nightly and then visit the new about: page by entering the following text in the address bar:
about:debugging

The result will be as follows:

Firefox 46 about debugging

Now, to load some unsigned add-on temporarily, click on the button "Load Temporary Add-on" and select the *.xpi file for the add-on. This will load the unsigned add-on temporarily. The add-on will work for the duration of the current browser session. Once you restart the browser, it will disappear.

For users who really need to use an unsigned add-on on a regular basis, this new workaround is definitely not an acceptable solution. Some add-ons require you to restart Firefox, so such extensions will not work via this feature. Only add-on developers might find this feature useful to debug and test their add-ons. This is the exact purpose for the inclusion of this feature.

It is not clear why Mozilla refuses to keep the xpinstall.signatures.required flag, so that both, users as well as developers will be satisfied. In any case, such a feature is better than not having the ability to run unsigned add-ons at all. It will become the only way to run an unsigned extension in upcoming Firefox releases. What do you think about this new option? Do you welcome this change?

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Author: Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

2 thoughts on “Firefox will get Load Temporary add-ons feature”

  1. Not @ All Sergey…
    I’ll explain myself…
    Mozilla was the alternative for users who prefer liberty above being tied to a some “here-is-how-to-surf-the-web-and-shut-the-xxxx-up”, in another word Mozilla was a gift to those who was against this “big-brotherish” browsers such as google chrome and IE … shame on them :(

    Now as I can see, Mozilla is following or bending their backs to the common general market needs, I think with such measures they will lost their supporters who are often their mainly donators

    Honestly, I quit using it since the build 42 and start using Edge for its fast performance (general web surfing) though it’s still a minimalist browser suffering a big lack of important features and Tor Browser for personal operations

    Mozilla was like your website, Winaero is the genuine choice against this weird and dumb alternative called “https://support.microsoft.com/” and so was Mozilla, it was the genuine choice against those NSA-Browsers such Chrome or IE

    By the way I’ve never take the chance to Thank you for the help you are providing with your website, with your articles, tricks and crafts I’ve got 3 laptops running on Win10 and performing very well like never seen before

    Greetings from Casablanca / Morocco and happy new year 2016 :)

  2. Mozilla should leave or put back the option to install unsigned add ons. Most of us who might use an unsigned or outdated add on,, already know what it is and if it does what it should for us. We are also aware of any potential issues. Some add ons are not being updated or we can not get them signed.

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