How to install Chrome extensions on Android

Chrome extensions on Android

One of the biggest advantages of having a browser based on Chromium is to offer its users access to the huge library of extensions available to the Google browser. This is how on the desktop, Vivaldi, Opera and now Microsoft Edge, but we also have the opportunity to differentiate ourselves from Google Chrome.

However, Chrome for Android does not support extensions. However, another browser is well known, but also based on Chrome It has just become one of the first to achieve this feat and now it is possible to install Chrome extensions on Android.

Kiwi Browser

Kiwi Browser

This small browser for Android based on the Chromium engine is a user-independent project arnaud42 from the XDA Developers forums. It is completely free and besides being quite fast, it integrates several interesting functions like blocker for the announcements, the tracking, popups, notifications and even cryptominers, and even has its own dark mode.

From today, its latest version offers support for Chrome extensions. All you need to do is go to the extension page to install it directly or download the .crx file.

You can download the latest version of Kiwi Browser from APK Mirror, or from the Play Store (the latter will take a little longer to update to the one that supports extensions).

How to install Chrome extensions in Kiwi Browser for Android

Once you have installed the browser you just have to run it for the first time and then go to the page of the extension you want to install. Going directly to the Chrome Web Store will leave you with an "unsupported" message, but going to the page of each extension individually works.

We have tested with two of our favorite extensions: Dark Reader and uBlock Origin. Just touch the "Add to Chrome" button as you do from the desktop and you will see the confirmation message appear.

Here they will tell you the permissions that the extension needs and you only have to touch "Accept" to install the extension. Once finished this can happen two things: everything is as it was and your extension is installed, or they send you directly to the configuration page of the extension.

Another important detail to know is that if you enter chrome: // extensions from the URL bar, you can go to the management page of your installed extensions.

And, in addition to this, if you click on the hamburger menu on the left you can directly access the Chrome extensions store without problems.

Now, as noted in XDA, Kiwi supports the import of any extension for Chrome that does not depend on x86 binary code, so not all extensions will work, but a large part yes, it's a matter of testing.