TL;DR:

• This is a noob’s perspective on Safari Web Extension development. I did not have prior experience in this area or Apple Development ecosystem in general.
• I created a total of four Safari Web extensions in this fun experiment: fuzzy tab search, no duplicate tabs, linkding bookmarklet, redirect to invidious.
• XCode is not great for web extension authoring.
• Web extensions must undergo the same review process and adhere to the same set of requirements as regular apps in the App Store.
• Overall, the technical aspect, encompassing learning the Web Extensions API and coding, constitutes less than 10%. The remaining 90% involves dealing with XCode and various App Store review requirements.

Why Safari Web Extensions?

Earlier this year, I decided to quit my job to take a break after feeling burnt out. While employed, I exclusively used either Internet Explorer or Chrome because that’s what most customers preferred. However, on my personal computer (Macbook), I use Safari. It suffices for my light browsing needs and looks aesthetically pleasing on MacOS. Given my limited free time during employment, I rarely used my personal computer, hence Safari anyway. Now, with ample free time, I find myself using Safari more frequently. However, I miss the useful extensions I grew accustomed to on Chrome. Surprisingly, many of them are unavailable for Safari. So, I decided to create them myself.