Allow users (of Waterfox) to be aware of a registration before the Service Worker becomes active

[grahamperrin]

Enhancement request

Please, would you consider adding a user preference that allows an icon of Service Worker Detector to be seen whilst a worker is inactive?

I reckon, there need not be a GUI to the preference. A boolean in about:config might suffice.

I can encourage someone in or around the Waterfox project to make a pull request. (I'd do so myself, but I don't have coding skills.)

Background

Firefox Quantum benefits from its page actions menu, where Service Worker Detector can present itself whilst a worker is inactive.

Waterfox 56.2.0 does not have that benefit.

Perspectives

https://www.reddit.com/comments/8hz93r/-/dyoabtb/ draws attention to the progressive, pro-Photon viewpoint of Waterfox project leader Alex Kontos – I assume that there'll be the page actions menu, and other things that are associated with Photon, in due course.

Somewhere between acceptance of service workers (my viewpoint) and blanket refusal (dom.serviceWorkers.enabled false and so on), there's a subset of users where interest in service workers overlaps with caution and sometimes, scepticism. Some people in this subset will appreciate a visual hint, from Service Worker Detector, that there's a registration.

[tomayac]

I think this is out of scope for the extension in its current form, as it's supposed to report on active Service Workers only.

You (or for what it's worth, the Waterfox folks) are free, however, to fork the extension and instead of reacting on navigator.serviceWorker.controller, that is, active Service Workers (deeplink to where this happens), listen instead for:

• ServiceWorkerRegistration.installing (docs)
• ServiceWorkerRegistration.waiting (docs)
• ServiceWorkerRegistration/onupdatefound (docs)

[grahamperrin]

@tomayac thanks!

@MrAlex94 FYI:

• https://redd.it/8m1pxr or
• (new Reddit, screenshots inline) https://new.reddit.com/r/waterfox/comments/8m1pxr/service_worker_detection_in_waterfox/

I guess that sooner or later, a question there will lead to the information here.