I’m curious why the Firefox addon update notifications are so delayed, and a bit confusing.
I just did a Firefox “Check for Updates”, to find that the update was 11 days old, and who knows how long it would have taken if I hadn’t done the check.
However, the following image shows the current version, not yet updated, listed in the about:addons. According to the Firefox “Latest version” page, that version is from 10/17. Not to mention, it says updated 11/13, one day past the release date of v2024.11.0
I have a similar situation, albeit with version v2024.6.3 (released June 22) and the date September 10 (release date for 2024.9.0) in my about:addons for Bitwarden.
Based on some tool, the extension was installed on 09/08, and then updated on 09/10. The automatic update for Bitwarden is turned off, but I allow automatic updates for all other extensions.
Based on what I have, I would guess that the date I have (09/10) was the last time FF tried to update the extension, but didn’t because the automatic update was turned off for Bitwarden. If you change the default automatic update setting to “Check for update but let you choose…” before the 11/13, maybe that’s what happened.
As for why the latest 2024.11.0 showing the date Nov 12, 2024 for you, I am at a loss. It shows Nov 13, 2024 for me on that page.
As for the delay in notification, I notice that once the release is dropped on Github, the availability in FF store is usually around a week later. In this case, the dates on Github and in FF store happen to match (I swear they used to be different). You are seeing 2024.11.0 around the right time frame.
You can observe this with 2024.11.2 (on Github 22 hours ago). You can keep going to the linked page above and see that it will take a while (3-10 days) before it becomes available in FF store. Most likely, what you see will be back-dated as well even if it just appears.
I get what you’re saying, it’s possible I suppose.
Just for the sake of conversation, are you saying you would have those, what I would consider contradictory settings, enabled at the same time? Maybe by mistake?
Two constants for me that have never changed are “Check for update but let you choose…”, and I have never set any individual addon to anything but “default”
I understand that update release notifications may be staggered due to traffic, but I’ve never seen one with that much time discrepancy. My immediate impression was “What if the update included an important security related function/feature?”, but after 11 days the only way I was notified was by a manual update check.
Just for the sake of conversation, are you saying you would have those, what I would consider contradictory settings, enabled at the same time? Maybe by mistake?
Two constants for me that have never changed are…
Did you install Bitwarden after October 17th? This part about Firefox extension-updating behavior and timestamping are guesses based on my current data on Bitwarden’s extension.
As for the extensive delay in the availability of FF extension despite BW actual release (on Github), this is unfortunately quite true, but it most likely relates to Mozilla approval process for a recommended extension. You will see this particular complaint on all the Firefox extension’s hotfixes that people usually wait for including: Firefox Extension: Can't unlock vault with PIN · Issue #6286 · bitwarden/clients · GitHub
I’ve used it for years. As you mentioned, we know it’s not at all unusual for an unspecified “approval process” period before the formal release. It’s just that this was uncommon. I speculated that with a security related device, there would be some urgency to get it out there, but maybe this wasn’t considered urgent.
I was also concerned there might be some problem on my end that I need to address.
Click on the watch/unwatch button, click on the discussion, and select which notifications you want.
In the 2024.11.0 release, there was a security feature put in (enforcing minimum passphrase), which is reverted in 2024.11.2. I personally would wait until 2024.11.2 to skip the possible inconvenience altogether.
