What is the chrome object?

Question

I just stumbled on a global object in chrome called chrome, I have no idea what this object is and I haven't been able to find any information on it (this is not the same as the chrome object for apps/extensions). Is this like some sort of object that chrome uses to test out new features?

Answer 1

Given the name of the object, I would guess that the purpose of if is as a utility for Chrome extension developers, even though it exposes methods that might be useful on regular websites not within the bounds of an extension.

Some APIs seem to have a very narrow purpose, chrome.webstore.install() used for extension installation for instance. Others methods and properties, like chrome.csi().pageT to get the time since the page was loaded, could possibly be useful outside the context of an extension, but since no other browser is likely to expose them, I don't see any good use of the APIs outside there intended context.

Unfortunately, the Chrome Developer website is a bit cranky today, throwing HTTP 500, but at least according to the Google search results, you should be able to find information about the chrome.webstore and chrome.appNotifications APIs as soon as the developer site is alive and kicking again. chrome.appNotifications appears to be related to desktop notifications though.

The object seem to be a bit of a hidden treasure and I haven't been able to find a decent list, describing all the exposed APIs. So for now, the easiest way to get information about the various APIs is probably to inspect the chrome object in Dev Tools and then google for the methods that catch your eye.