0xChain

Reproduction Behavior

1. Install multiple supported extensions in the browser, which can be Chrome extensions or Firefox extensions (for example: [Extension A, Extension B, Extension C, Extension D, Extension E]).
2. Open a webpage (for example https://example.com) and verify that all extensions are functioning normally.
3. Switch the browser to the background and keep it running for several hours (ensure that the browser is not force-closed by the iOS app switcher). More aggressive actions can be taken, such as running a large game or opening the camera app for 4K video recording during this time to ensure that the issue can be reproduced, as such actions consume more memory. However, based on my actual experience, switching between several apps often reproduces the issue.
4. Return to the browser and observe the following issues:
   • Do all open tabs automatically refresh (possibly due to iOS system memory management causing tab discarding)?
   • Subsequently, some or all extensions become ineffective, specifically manifested as:
     • Sometimes three extensions fail;
     • Sometimes two extensions fail;
     • Sometimes all extensions fail;
     • The failed extensions are random and not fixed to any specific extension or type of functionality.
     • Failure means, as seen in the video: the extension cannot open and its functionality is lost, but some extensions can open but their functionality is still ineffective.
     • The failed functionality is manifested as having no effect or being unable to inject into the page, such as the extension's content scripts, injected content elements, or other functions not running.
5. Please note: manually refreshing the webpage does not restore the functionality of the failed extensions.
6. The only way to restore the extensions is:
   • Restart the entire browser, or:
   • Open the extension management page, disable and re-enable these extensions; of course, both operations are quite cumbersome.

Supplementary Note
1: Irrelevance of Power Saving Mode

• Whether the power-saving mode in the browser settings is turned on or off, the issue still occurs.
• This indicates that the problem does not depend on the power-saving mode, but is more likely related to iOS's background memory management mechanism or the browser's compatibility handling of extensions.
  Supplementary Note 2: Randomness
• The number of failed extensions and which specific extensions fail are not fixed each time the issue is reproduced:
  • Even when reproducing the test under the same conditions, the combination of failed extensions may still vary each time.
  • For example, in one test, extensions A, B, and C may fail, while extensions D and E continue to work; but in another test, it may be extensions A and D that fail, while the remaining extensions function normally.
  • When tested multiple times, there are also cases where all extensions fail simultaneously, with all extensions failing being the most common occurrence.

Analysis (Possible Reasons)
iOS system's memory management mechanism and background resource recycling:
* To save device resources, the iOS system may discard some memory-occupying resources (including the extension processes or tab states loaded in the browser) when the application is in the background.
* When the browser is restored from the background to the foreground, the tabs are reloaded, but the extension services may not be correctly initialized or restored.

Expected Behavior

1. Stable recovery of extension services:
   • When a tab is refreshed or reloaded, all installed extensions should resume normal operation on their corresponding pages:
     • Content Scripts should automatically re-inject to enable extension functionality.
     • The extension's Service Workers or background processes should be correctly restored to ensure normal communication between extension functionality and the page.
     • Regardless of the complexity or number of extensions, all extensions should consistently recover and avoid random failures.
2. Consistent extension compatibility management:
   • Orion should ensure that different extensions can coordinate and consistently restore functionality during page lifecycle events (such as tab refresh, background switching, reloading), avoiding partial or complete failures.
3. Elimination of random failure phenomena:
   • The recovery of extension functionality should not be affected by randomness; users should not see unpredictable behavior where certain extensions work at specific times while others fail. (This phenomenon is also reported by most users as extensions occasionally failing.)
4. No user intervention required:
   • Refreshing or automatically reloading a tab should not require users to manually disable/enable extensions to resolve the issue.
   • Users should not need to restart the browser to reactivate extension functionality.

1.3.15 (5)

18

Very close to this issue, but not quite the same ask. This encompasses it though - you may want to move it here. Moved and elaborated on from my Discord message.

Lockdown Mode is a feature in macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS that enables "extreme protections that’s designed for the very few individuals who, because of who they are or what they do, might be personally targeted by some of the most sophisticated digital threats." In non-marketing speak, this is designed to reduce the attack surface of your browser to protect against a future attack on your device. It was (most likely) made in light of Pegasus.

Apple describes that "certain complex web technologies are blocked, which might cause some websites to load more slowly or not operate correctly. In addition, web fonts might not be displayed, and images might be replaced with a missing image icon." On iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS, this applies to ALL browsers due to their reliance on WebKit - however, on macOS, you're free to use whatever browser engine you want.

When Lockdown Mode is enabled, a TON of WebKit settings are adjusted:

• ALL experimental settings are turned off - user choices are ignored
• WebGL is disabled
• The Gamepad API is disabled
• The Remote Playback API is disabled
• The File System Access API is disabled
• Picture-in-Picture is disabled
• The Web Speech API (Speech Recognition and Speech Synthesis) is disabled
• Web notifications are disabled
• The Push API is disabled
• WebXR is disabled
• Web codecs are disabled
• settings.setModelElementEnabled(false)
• The Media Devices API is disabled
• The Web Audio API is disabled
• All fonts (including SVG fonts) are blocked unless they're allowlisted
• The Web Codecs API is disabled
• WebRTC is disabled
• MathML is disabled
• pdf.js is strictly enforced for all PDFs
• settings.setSystemPreviewEnabled(false)
• The File Reader API is disabled
• The IndexedDB API is disabled
• The Web Locks API is disabled
• The Cache API is disabled
• Only .mp3, .mp4a, and .aac audio files can be played
• Only 608 and .vtt captions can be used
• Only .mp4a and H.264/AVC video files can be played
• Only a hell of a lot of media container types can be played (particularly excluding JPEG 2000)
• WebAssembly is disabled
• JavaScript's just-in-time compilation is disabled (leveraging com.apple.WebKit.WebContent.CaptivePortal to render webpages)
• Likely other things that I've missed

All of these changes are open-source. I think it would also be beneficial to remove the window.KAGI object in Compatibility Mode while Lockdown Mode protections are on.

This will impact existing workflows and the overall user experience, but only for those who are using Lockdown Mode. I expect some may be using Orion as a Lockdown Mode-free browser, but that ultimately defeats the purpose of Lockdown Mode (and shows they're missing the point completely of what it's for!)

This feature will likely help more people move from Safari. I believe Orion would be the only other browser to fully implement and manage Lockdown Mode (besides on iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS, where it's not really possible to do it like Safari does until the inevitable comes. In combination with Compatibility Mode (to blend in more with Safari), this would be a great addition to get to the point of having one browser for everything.

Should the key icon appear in the textbox with those options disabled?

I'm not sure the icon should be there.

0.99.126.3-beta (WebKit 618.1.2)

Sonoma (14)