Electron 46.0.0-alpha.2 Released With Chromium 158 and Extension Fixes
Electron 46.0.0-alpha.2 updates the framework to Chromium 158 while introducing significant stability and performance improvements for Chrome extensions, Linux, and macOS.
Electron 46.0.0-alpha.2 landed on October 26, bumping Chromium to 158.0.8120.0 via pull request #55365. You can grab it via npm install electron@alpha or pin it with npm install [email protected]. File bugs.
Most changes target Chrome extensions. Events from chrome.webRequest stop reporting a tabId of -1. Rules for chrome.declarativeNetRequest restricted to specific tabs now match properly, and requests won't stall when you use a blocking chrome.webRequest listener. Pull request #55284 addresses the webRequest and declarativeNetRequest fixes, while #55263 covers the stalled-request fix; both also backport to version 45.
Extension service workers get multiple updates. They won't stop after 30 seconds if a WebSocket is active, and navigator.clipboard is now available inside them. Restarts won't run outdated scripts when extension files change without a version bump, and session.clearStorageData() leaves loaded extension service workers registered.
Additional extension patches fix a crash during chrome.cookies.getAllCookieStores(), ensure chrome.management works with proper permissions, localize __MSG_*__ placeholders in stylesheets, and keep chrome.alarms plus persistAcrossSessions content scripts working across app restarts. Sandboxed extension pages also lose extension API process privileges.
Platform patches include a Linux fix for D-Bus crashes on disconnected buses in PR #55289, and a macOS fix for Menu.popup() failing after another menu closes in PR #55324. Both backport to versions 44 and 45. Finally, PR #55264 ensures utilityProcess emits its exit event if the app quits during launch, which also applies to versions 43, 44, and 45.