This behavior is similar to existing behavior when all plug-ins are blocked by default (“Settings” => “Advanced Settings” => “Privacy - Content Settings” => “Plug-ins,” select “Block all,” and then load, for example, http://techcrunch.com).
End of 2014
Even though users will be able to let NPAPI plug-ins run by default in January, we encourage developers to migrate of off NPAPI as soon as possible. Support for NPAPI will be completely removed from Chrome in a future release, probably by the end of 2014.
Exceptions
Whitelist
The only whitelisted plug-ins are the ones mentioned in the blog post.
That list is based entirely on usage. There is no "process" for other plug-ins to be universally whitelisted.
Apps and Extensions
Apps and Extensions that use NPAPI plug-ins will not be affected by the initial January 2014 block. They have their own phase-out schedule, defined in the penultimate paragraph of the blog post. If your NPAPI plug-in is installed by a wrapper extension and then used by pages on the open web, it will not be affected by the initial January 2014 block. It will follow the Apps/Extension deprecation path instead. Note the update at the bottom of the post: as of April 2014, developers will be able to update Apps and Extensions that use NPAPI until their listings are unpublished in September. This deviation from the original schedule is to allow for security updates.
Enterprise
Enterprise administrators will be able to whitelist specific NPAPI plug-ins by adding them to the EnabledPlugins policy list, to avoid their users seeing the UI mentioned above. This, however, will not be relevant once support for NPAPI is completely removed from Chrome. Hence we recommend enterprises and enterprise app developers as well to move entirely off NPAPI by Q2 2015.
On Mac, version 39 onward, Chrome will be 64 bit only and this will imply 32 bit NPAPI plugins will stop to work on Chrome on Mac and there will be no way to whitelist it by policy. 64 bit pluginshowever can still be whitelisted and will continue to work until overall NPAPI removal in Q2 2015.
Alternatives to NPAPI
With the deprecation of NPAPI, some developers have asked which modern technologies can be used to implement features which in the past would have relied on a platform-specific NPAPI plug-in. In answer to these questions we have composed the following list of common NPAPI use cases and web platform alternatives.
In general, the core standards-based web technologies (HTML/CSS/JS) are suitable for most client software development. If your application requires access to features outside the web sandbox, myriad Chrome Extension and App APIs offer access to OS features.
Video and audio
A common use case for NPAPI plug-ins on the modern web is embedded video and/or audio. A range of modern web technologies exist to facilitate media streaming. The basic building blocks are WebRTC and media elements:
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HTML5 Media Elements. The HTML5 Specification provides a rich media platform through the <audio> and <video> elements. More complicated use cases can be achieved using the <canvas> element (for example check out the Video FX Chrome Experiment).
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WebRTC. WebRTC was designed for real time communication between peers and the technology can also be used for applications like live streaming media and data. Google’s Chromecast device uses WebRTC to stream HD video between a browser and TV.
Several features on top of these building blocks support more advanced use cases:
Adaptive Streaming
The ability to adapt media streaming to an individual consumer is critical in delivering high-quality content to a large audience. In the past this capability has been provided by technologies such as Silverlight’s smooth streaming and Quicktime’s HTTP live streaming. The Media Source Extensions to the HTML media element provide the capability to adapt a stream to an individual consumer on the modern web. Html5rocks has put together a great example of how to use the Media Source Extensions to implement some of these common use cases.
Video Conferencing
Several of the most popular NPAPI extensions including Facebook Video Chat and Google Talk provide video conferencing functionality within the browser. With the introduction of WebRTC video conferencing is facilitated directly through JavaScript APIs. The Cube Slam Chrome Experiment provides an example of peer to peer video conferencing via WebRTC.
Digital Rights Management
Encrypted Media Extensions give HTML5 video the DRM capabilities that previously would have required the use of a platform specific plug-in. The WebM project has provided a demo which performs video playback using the Encrypted Media Extensions of the video element. For more information, check out the EME HTML5 Rocks article.
Closed Captioning
WebVTT and the <track> element (a child element of <video>) enable web developers to add timed-text captioning capabilities to their HTML apps.
Communicating with native applications
Try the Native Messaging API for Chrome Apps and Extensions.
Games & 3D
Native Client (NaCL) provides a rich environment for cross-platform game development. Many games have already been ported to or designed for NaCL. A number of examples and detailed tutorials to get started with NaCL are available on the NaCL development site. The WebGL specification provides a high-performance platform for hardware-accelerated 3D graphics in the browser. Chrome experiments has an entire category dedicated to examples and demos of various WebGL use cases.
Security
Some services have relied on NPAPI-based security techniques. We recommend switching to TLS or, soon, Web Crypto.
Hardware access
In the past it has often been necessary to write platform specific plug-ins to access system hardware such as webcams, microphones, USB devices, and bluetooth. Direct access to local media streams such as webcams and microphones can now be requested directly from the web via the WebRTC Media Capture specification. Chromium also provides an App API for access to USB hardware and another API for accessing Bluetooth devices.
Screen capture
Chrome extensions can perform screen capture or streaming using either Desktop Capture for full screen capture or the Tabs API captureVisibleTab for individual tab content capture.
