Support themes from the Chrome Web Store - Discussion

Microsoft

We have heard your desire to install and use the custom themes that are available on the Chrome Web Store.  We have been working to make them work seamlessly on the next version of Microsoft Edge.  We have hit some snags along the way, with some extensions behaving in unexpected ways.  We are dedicated to providing our customers with a good user experience and so we want to work through these issues before we publish a target date.  In the meantime, we are always trying to learn more about how and why, you our customers, really use these products.  In this spirit, we would love to know how you use custom theme extensions.  For example, do you use them to personalize your browser, and make it feel more yours?  Do you use them in different profiles, so that you can tell at a glance which persona you are using while browsing the web?  Do you use them to make the browser easier to use or more accessible?  Is there something that you do with theme extensions that we haven’t even though of?  What is missing from this experience that we could add to make it truly delightful?

61 Replies

@Elliot Kirk   that is great news, for me it is to personalize my browser

Hi, thanks for sharing!

I think the most beautiful theme that developers can create is to enable Transparent or Acrylic style for the Edge insider UI, it's a highly requested feature.

one more thing is that please create an option so we can choose a separate color for Edge insider's top bar. currently it gets its color from the Windows 10's color but I want a separate color for Edge insider browser window. Google chrome allows this which is convenient.
for example I use purple for my Windows color and it looks nice on all apps and programs but on Edge insider browser, in the top bar, there are tabs with texts and buttons, so that limits my choice of colors and forces me to choose a color that would make those texts more clear.
if you implement this option, I would just set Edge insider top bar color to black and the rest of my apps use the Windows 10's color. Thanks

@Elliot Kirk 

Translucent Topbar as in Original Edge would be great

@MarsMas what does personalization mean to you? What aspects of Chrome themes or theming overall are important for you? Some examples: custom background, texture, color in the frame, avatars for the browser profile, etc.?

@IrinaL  it means color, looks, appearance, skins and if possible start page

@Elliot Kirk 

I mean, it's like a wallpaper to me: the default is fine, but after a while, you want a visual update.

 

My only "concern": be aware of compatibility and performance degradation. Some themes attempt to do too much (i.e, rearrange the chrome) and that can cause sites to break. As long as it has the developmental impact of changing a wallpaper on your desktop, then I'd actually love to have a few new colors beside beige and dark gray.

 

Using it between different persona's (you mean profiles?) would actually be kind of useful, but I think Edge would need to properly add containers (e.g., Firefox containers) if we're talking about different tabs.

@Elliot Kirk 

I used themes in Chrome a while ago, mostly to give it a unique look instead of bland white. I don't really plan to use any particular theme in Edge besides the Edge Classic (Fluent / Transparent) theme. However, there was something in Chrome that I always hated... no Theme History.

 

Without theme history, I can't try out new themes or compare more than two themes at a time (unless I create multiple profiles, I guess). Being able to visually see how many recent themes I can revert to,clipboard_image_1.pngwould also be great.

 

Last I checked, Chrome's theme history was just a "revert" button, and there was no way to temporarily preview a theme. I've lost some pretty cool and hard to find themes because of this. Theme History is a really important feature, so something like Windows 10's recent backgrounds and recent colors would be extremely well appreciated.

 

I stopped exploring theme options in Chrome because I knew I could lose the theme I liked best.

Acrylic / Transparent theme...I could only wish to have it in the new Edge insider... :crossed_fingers:
Themes? I loved the idea, that was something that was needed, this and being able to choose a background image.

@Elliot Kirk 

Don't know about themes, but I care about apps available on chrome webstore like authy extension .
These apps are also not supported on chromium edge, and those are just like extensions but apps of highly importance to me. I'm sending them feedback since first canary build, but they aren't listening to this important bug of chromium edge.
I'm just hoping they would fix it someday.

And Google keep, neither the extension nor the app works in Edge insider canary.
I would gladly use a Microsoft equivalent but they need to release a standalone Sticky notes app for Android and also an standalone website to easily access Sticky notes on web.
currently it's inside outlook.com but the user interface is so bad because Outlook.com is made for Emails and not for notes keeping.

a separate domain such as notes.Microsoft.com or Notes.office.Microsoft.com is so much better.
Solution is not some alternative to every bug, it is something microsoft should fix and that's why we have dev and canary versions to give them feedback to fix the bugs.
I hope they fix this one soon.
I wasn't giving alternatives.
I don't think it's a bug, but rather a missing feature.
I personally like things the way the Browser is heading, it is more than enough for what I need and have become quite conversant with most of it ~ I like the recent changes a lot particularly the settings page etc!
I have the same feelings :)

@Elliot Kirk It gives a different feel to the browsing experience.

 

Transparency, pictures and colour would be nice!

I do not care about themes as long as you make use of Fluent Design and Edge blend with the Windows system look and feel.
Thanks for the feedback! I'll pass that on to the Settings team! :)

@noahdsmith and others on the thread... Could you give us more detail on what you mean by "transparency, pictures, and colour"? Which areas of the browser are you expecting to be affected by those elements and what would be helpful/visually pleasing to see? How are you expecting to customize your browser? Which areas of the browser or functionality would you find not useful?