CODEWITHSUNDEEP
google-chromegoogle-chrome-extensionchrome-web-store
John Sewell
John Sewell

Reputation: 924

What is the purpose of CRX file?

Chrome Store does not accept CRX file but simple ZIP file.

So I am confused why the CRX files exist? Also extracting the ZIP file and loading it unpacked option is still an option.

As far as I know Chrome does not allow extension installation other than Chrome Store.

So what is the purpose of the CRX file?

Upvotes: 5

Views: 2633

Answers (2)

Xan
Xan

Reputation: 77541

To add to the other answer: CRX has some extra metadata (it's signed with the extension's private key) compared to a ZIP. A CRX file can still be opened with a ZIP archiver though.

Since CWS does the signing itself (having the private key), it does not require a CRX.

Upvotes: 5

dan
dan

Reputation: 1984

It's possible to privately host an extension. To do this you need to host the CRX file. There's some information about this in the Google docs for hosting extensions.

If you have a managed Chromebook for example, then you can push out a privately hosted Chrome extension to users. There's an example of this in the Google help docs for managing apps/extensions under the 'Select apps and extensions for your users' section.

By privately hosting the extension it doesn't need to be in the Chrome store.

Upvotes: 6

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