Add-on not listed in Android AMO site, but listed under Windows platform

Question

Our developer submitted a WebExtension add-on to AMO a while ago, which is publicly available. I could find it using search on Firefox Add-ons page. I tried to install the add-on on my mobile Firefox browser. I searched in the add-ons store, but it is not available. It appears that Firefox for Android goes to Android Add-ons page. I searched the same Android add-ons page from desktop, but the extension could not be found. I was told that the add-on was submitted last time with the "All Platforms" option selected. I could not find any documentation specific to submitting add-ons to the Android add-ons page. Are they different? Could it be a mistake during submitting the add-on? Or, is it because of the manifest file?

Here are the sections in the manifest.json file:

{
    "manifest_version": 2,
    "name": "Extension Name",
    "short_name": "EXTNSHORTN",
    "version": "0.0.1",

    "description": "some description",
    "icons": {
        "19": "images/icon19.png",
        "38": "images/icon38.png",
        "128": "images/icon.png"
    },

    "applications": {
        "gecko": {
            "id": "[email protected]",
            "strict_min_version": "48.0"
        }
    },

    "background": {
        "scripts": [
            "a.js", "b.js", "c.js", "d.js", "e.js", "f.js", "g.js", "h.js",
            "background.js"
        ]
    },

    "permissions": [
        "alarms",
        "idle",
        "tabs",
        "activeTab",
        "<all_urls>",
        "notifications"
    ],
    "browser_action": {
        "browser_style": false,
        "default_icon": "images/icon.png",
        "default_title": "same title",
        "default_popup": "popup1.html"
    },
    "content_scripts": [
        {
            "matches": ["https://www.exmple.com/*"],
            "js": ["p.js"]
        }
    ],
    "web_accessible_resources": [
        "web_accessible/*"
    ]
}

The extension name is Engrip Extension. How do we fix this so the same extension is available both for Firefox on desktop and Firefox for Android?

Answer 1

WebExtension manifest.json files do not have any method to explicitly specify which applications they are compatible with. This is information which should be specified when the add-on is uploaded to AMO. The confusion is probably that "Firefox for Android" is considered a different "Application", not a "Platform". In this context, applications are the programs into which your add-on can be loaded. For example: "Firefox", "Firefox for Android", "Thunderbird", etc. Platforms are specifically "Linux", "Mac OS X", and "Windows". Yes, Android is actually a platform, but this is just the way it is organized.

Fortunately, you can change the supported applications for the current version from the AMO control panel for your add-on.

• From the main developer console page for your add-on select "Manage Status & Versions" (in a blue box on the left, just above a separator line). The direct URL should be this
• Under "Listed versions"➞"Currently on AMO" select the most recent version. This should be "Version 0.10.9".
• On that page under "Manage Version xxx"➞"Compatibility" select "Add Another Application…"
• Select "Firefox for Android" and complete which versions you are compatible with.
• Save your changes.

It will look something like: