Adding "Android" as install method, along with Chrome/Firefox/Edge

[WorldLanguages]

See my comment here. Quoting it:

I was thinking, after the MV3 upgrade and some more testing, we could add an "Android" button to our website (scratchaddons.com) next to the Chrome, Firefox and Edge install buttons.
It would link to a doc explaining which Android browsers support installing browser extensions. We should probably encourage readers to use Firefox on Android, instead of Kiwi.
In that document, we could also 1) mention TurboWarp as an online alternative 2) clarify which type of devices we try to support (related: supporting touch screen, which also affects some laptops) and 3) a small additional note on iPad and iPhone support.

Since then, our FAQ has been updated accordingly, it suggests Firefox over Kiwi.

I now suggest that our install logic detects Android and that we add an "Android" button in the install section of the homepage. It would focus on both Android phones and Android tablets.

• If the button is clicked from inside Kiwi (see how to detect Kiwi) then it should direct the user to the Chrome Web Store.
• If on Firefox for Android, it should go to the Firefox Store page for Scratch Addons.
• Else, the install button should direct users to a new (not yet created) page of our docs that encourages users to download Firefox for Android (and that mentions Kiwi, similarly to the FAQ question). As said above, the TurboWarp website and PWA should be suggested as well.

What do you think?

[BroJac5246]

When coding this, we should also keep in mind that Edge is currently (in Canary) testing allowing us to install any extension, so it should be possible for this to easily include support for Edge if they allow it in the future.

[WorldLanguages]

If Edge for Android allows Chrome Web Store downloads, then we should prefer that over the Edge store. The Kiwi detection logic could be reused in that case, most likely, as it's another Chromium fork.

[BroJac5246]

If Edge for Android allows Chrome Web Store downloads, then we should prefer that over the Edge store. The Kiwi detection logic could be reused in that case, most likely, as it's another Chromium fork.

The current alpha requires manually inputting the Edge webstore ID, so it remains to be seen how this will play out. Either way, we should have plenty of notice for new changes so I'm just putting it on the radar for now.

[Hans5958]

I'm not entirely convinced for two reasons.

1. Assuming that they are interested on SA, if they know they can install extensions on their web browsers, they will try installing the extension nonetheless. Our buttons are adequate enough to let them know that SA is installable on Chrome (Chromium-based browser) and Firefox, so one can assume that they would know that they can install it, assuming they can install addons at all.
2. This would implicitly give an responsibility of us as developers to think about the browser, which I don't think we are prepared. Otherwise, we will get sad comments that what they expected (SA works nicely on their phones) doesn't pair to what we we would have currently (SA works on their phones, but keep in mind that some parts are made with PCs first).

[BroJac5246]

Assuming that they are interested in SA, if they know they can install extensions on their web browsers, they will try installing the extension nonetheless. Our buttons are adequate enough to let them know that SA is installable on Chrome (Chromium-based browser) and Firefox, so one can assume that they would know that they can install it, assuming they can install addons at all.

Is that the case, though? Most people currently might not expect it to work, but plenty of people will try or learn about this without understanding how it works from a technical perspective.

This would implicitly give an responsibility of us as developers to think about the browser, which I don't think we are prepared. Otherwise, we will get sad comments that what they expected (SA works nicely on their phones) doesn't pair to what we we would have currently (SA works on their phones, but keep in mind that some parts are made with PCs first).

Fair. We could include a pop-up when clicking the button (and even maybe upon installing the extension) that we don't prioritize support for mobile browsers. Either way, it could be helpful to people on tablets or Chromebooks who may have access to mice/trackpads.

[WorldLanguages]

This would implicitly give an responsibility of us as developers to think about the browser

We do, multiple people were using Firefox for Android and we only came to notice as v1.38.0 completely broke the extension for it. And we fixed it through a dedicated update even though it's not "officially" supported.

[WorldLanguages]

Also, we can remove the Android button later if we want. We're not forced to keep it forever.

It's well known that Google does not like extension support on mobile due to adblockers. Of course some of our users won't know how (or if) they can install extensions on mobile. It's by design.

[WorldLanguages]

+1 from feedback:

one thing can you add it to mobile devices?

[WorldLanguages]

+1 from feedback (reading messages from last month with delay):

how to download Scratch Addons on your phone???

[WorldLanguages]

@DNin01 Have you read this issue? It's related to touch screens

I guess this is 'help wanted'

[DNin01]

I don't know what to do here. Mobile Firefox and Edge combined have a little less than 1% of the market share right now¹, and I don't know how Kiwi compares.

If you want to answer mobile browser support, I would mention Firefox, Edge and Kiwi all as options, while noting that we don't officially support mobile browsers. My next idea would be to leave it to the users to figure out how to install a browser extension on the platform they are using.

Footnotes

1. https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share/mobile/worldwide ↩