Apple Releases Chrome and Firefox Extensions for Windows to Support iCloud Bookmark Syncing

Gee, thanks, Apple. Because Mac users never use browsers other than Chrome.

*grumble, grumble*

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evansls said:

Ok, lets see who can reverse engineer this extension so it can work on a mac and fool apple's servers into accepting the bookmarks

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Not possible (or not remotely easy), I think.

There's a very simple "supported OS" check in the extension. That's easy to disable. Unfortunately, though, the extension is running actual windows executable code, so someone will have to build and compile similar code for OSX. Since it's likely sending everything encrypted, I'm guessing this will be rather difficult.

Apparently, the Firefox extension also requires that the control panel is installed. Guess I can't use it after all.

Can't install software on my work computer.

Link is active now

hmm

How about keychain for windows? Surely that can be integrated into iCloud?

ghostface147 said:

How about keychain for windows? Surely that can be integrated into iCloud?

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Keychain was removed from the final version of ios 7. Hopefully it returns and agree this would be good.

stephendoc1984 said:

Keychain was removed from the final version of ios 7. Hopefully it returns and agree this would be good.

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That's only because Mavericks isn't out yet, which is what it relies on. We'll see though.

I'm only able to download 2.1.2 as well.... hmmm?

naborneo said:

I'm only able to download 2.1.2 as well.... hmmm?

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Same here, must still be propagating. Workaround for me was to run Apple Software Update. It downloaded the 3.0 version from there.

devsfan1830 said:

Same here, must still be propagating. Workaround for me was to run Apple Software Update. It downloaded the 3.0 version from there.

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Yes that's worked for me. Many Thanks.

Hmm, seems like bringing ice water to people in Hell, as Steve Jobs said (or something like that).

What's really messed up is that there's no SAFARI (that's right, Apple's own browser) extension for this, so Snow Leopard Macs can't make any use out of iCloud, but old Windows computers can! And if you're using Safari for Windows, you won't be able to use this, but hardly anyone uses Safari for Windows. I only use it in Boot Camp because it can't get infested by the common browser hijackers like Bing, Yahoo, Ask, Babylon, and Mixx, though it's pretty darn slow and ugly.

And the lack of an extension for Chrome for Mac could be annoying for some, but I don't see any reason to use Chrome on a Mac anyway unless your Safari is just broken or you really need some Chrome extension.

mikeorchard said:

Wait a minute...

The download site is 2.1.2. This story talks about 3.0.

Maybe that's why it isn't working with the Firefox plugin. I guess 2.1.2 is IE only.

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naborneo said:

I'm only able to download 2.1.2 as well.... hmmm?

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jclo said:

The 3.0 site doesn't seem to be showing up for everyone, I assume because Apple's servers are having difficulties due to iOS 7.

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Here is the correct link http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1455?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

Makes very little sense to have it only for Windows, but then I thought.

They figure if you're on a Mac you should be using Safari, whereas they no longer support Safari for Windows.

Oh come on Apple. Won't work with Macs.. ugh.

Why not support Chrome for Mac?

webbuzz said:

Here is the correct link http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1455?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

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Correct page, but download link is still for 2.1.2

gmcalpin said:

Color me surprised!

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Surprising indeed.... when Apple works on web browser extensions for non-Apple web browsers meant to operate on a non-Apple operating system (Windows).

But in the end I suppose Apple is thinking of the "bigger picture" here, which is to bolster the widespread use and cross-platform acceptance of iCloud.

donutbagel said:

so Snow Leopard Macs can't make any use out of iCloud, but old Windows computers can

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I think the number of Windows users using iOS5+ is likely far greater than the number of Mac users running 10.6.

And yet no love or support for their own Snow Leopard... :-(

Battlefield Fan said:

I still miss Safari for the PC.

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You might be the only one. It was always terribly laggy and crashed constantly for me on PC.

gpat said:

Steve would never have allowed this.

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Give it a rest...really not funny anymore.

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markfc said:

And yet no love or support for their own Snow Leopard... :-(

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Why would there be? Snow Leopard is over 4 years old and no longer supported for anything except critical flaws.

I ran Apple Software Update on my PC this morning. It picked up the new iCloud Control Panel and the new option to sync iCloud bookmarks with IE/Firefox/Chrome.

Choosing the 'Chrome' option in the iCloud Control Panel, a dialog pops up inviting you to install a necessary Chrome extension.

Once that was done, a moment or two later, all my iCloud and Chrome bookmarks were merged. There were a fair number of duplicate bookmarks in both systems, which was no great surprise. These are easily tidied up (on any of your devices).

NB, I'm not sure if this is a new iOS7 feature or not, but in iOS7 Safari, adding bookmarks to the 'Favourites' section gives you a lovely 'home page' when you start Safari or open a new tab. These links appear along the top of the WIndows Chrome browser.

roadbloc said:

You might be the only one. It was always terribly laggy and crashed constantly for me on PC.

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That's only because version 5 got sloppy.

Finally got 3.0 on the Windows machine.

It's a bit of a workaround, but I live in an almost all Mac enviroment at home and work, but I have one PC as my media center. So with Firefox sync, since my bookmarks are synced from my mac to my HTPC, they are now also synced with my phone since the extension is on their. seems a little over kill for not just having the extension on mac, but it does work... Now what to do about the upcoming keychain update with my lastpass account...hmmm

markfc said:

And yet no love or support for their own Snow Leopard... :-(

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It's this sort of thing that is pushing me away from Macs. All of my personal machines are now running Windows 8.1, though the family still gets Macs because it's what they're used to, and I don't want to teach them a new OS. (even though they mostly live inside Firefox and Mail)

rmwebs said:

Why would there be? Snow Leopard is over 4 years old and no longer supported for anything except critical flaws.

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There are plenty of Macs out there which can only run Snow Leopard, that are still perfectly usable today. I just recently overhauled a 7 year old MacBook, and it is surprisingly quick with 4GB RAM and a 1TB SSHD in it.

roadbloc said:

You might be the only one. It was always terribly laggy and crashed constantly for me on PC.

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Safari 5 was mostly OK when it was released, but trying to use it today is not a fun experience. It's very slow, and prone to crashing. It did get you OS X-style font rendering on Windows (useful as a web developer) and of course bookmark syncing until now. Internet Explorer syncing was not well implemented, and who used Internet Explorer back then?
IE is actually a pretty good browser now though; secure, stable, and fast. And it offers the same benefit that Chrome does on OS X - a way to use Flash without installing Flash.

Still, no update to Safari means no tab syncing, which is also making me consider a move away from iOS now too.

Apple likes the idea of keeping you inside their walled garden, but all it's done is push me away.