The Curious Case of the Enpass Extension for Microsoft Edge

At Enpass we’ve been in quite a conundrum since last few weeks, and thought we’ll share it with the people who matter – our users.  

We released a preview extension for Microsoft Edge for Enpass sometime back, and have had quite an enthusiastic response from the community (Thank you!). Some in the media patted us on our backs – it was another win after the much appreciated Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app. 

We were planning to release the Enpass browser extension for Edge in stable version 5.3, but sometimes, things don’t work out the way you’ve planned. And that’s what compels us to write this post stating that Edge extension of Enpass will stay in Beta due to couple of issues.

Lets step back for a moment, though. Each feature that we bring to different editions of the Enpass app are aimed at adding to the convenience of the users and improving the user experience. Under the hood, as a sacred rule, everything should work in a way to maintain the sanctity and security of user data.

Since Enpass is an offline password manager, it requires some sort of local communication channel with the Edge extension to share data for autofilling. The connection is generally through localhost web-socket.  

Unfortunately, we don’t have any official APIs to connect Edge extension with Enpass app installed on same machine.  

Of course, that roadblock didn’t deter our developers. As a workaround solution for the beta release, we enabled the LoopbackExemption for Edge browser to let it connect our traditional Enpass desktop app. Following is the command being used to disable Edge loopback isolation: 

As per Microsoft it reduces security, and can make Edge vulnerable.  We want you to be aware of all possible risks involved with using Enpass extension for Edge, and they are being discussed here in our forums.

Not listed on Windows Store

Since the Enpass extension is not available on Windows Store as yet, you need to install it by enabling Developer mode in Edge and use the Load Extension option. Though we’ve requested Microsoft to let us submit the Edge extension on Windows Store, yet we aren’t sure how much time it will take for legit listing of the Enpass extension on the Store.  

We’re also not sure if Microsoft would allow the extension in its current form, and maybe make us wait till the company provides appropriate APIs for communication between Edge extension and the UWP app.

The Edge extension still remains a part of the beta experience, and will be updated on a regular basis till we get an appropriate and mainstream solution to the above issue.  

To get the Beta version 5.3.1, please have a look here to understand the associated risks, and don’t forget to join our Beta program to get regular beta updates.

It’s our humble request to Microsoft to provide an API to allow Edge extensions to communicate with a UWP App. We explored if we could use Application Services APIs, but those are not available yet for Edge extensions.  

We have also posted this request, with the specifics, here on MSDN Forums. We request the developer community to back us on this, or if you think you have any kind of suggestion, we’d appreciate if you can give us a shout at support@enpass.io.