Gradual roll-out capabilities

[Peter_Szasz]

As Password Managers, we're continuously releasing our browser add-on for hundreds of thousands of Firefox users. We propose a solution to implement a gradual rollout of an approved version of an add-on, to allow developers to monitor upgrades and securely deliver updates to Firefox users, ensuring minimal negative impact in case of any unexpected behavior. When the incremental rollout of a new version of an add-on starts, only an adjustable percentage of users will receive the update. As the rollout progresses, all add-on users will eventually receive the update. (For example, we could start with 1% of existing and all new users, and monitor the impact of the roll-out, gradually increasing it to 5%, 10%, 50%, etc, until we reach 100%.)

We believe that this proposed improvement would not only benefit us but will contribute to a smoother and more reliable experience for all Firefox users. In fact, by closely monitoring the health of add-on upgrades and rolling out new versions over a longer period of time, developers can limit the impact of any issues that may arise with an update and take action to protect the majority of their users.

[Jon]

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[tripleo]

Interesting

[s1fly]

Good idea @Peter_Szasz. Perhaps users could opt to either adopt slowly rolled out updates or receive them immediately? This might be useful for businesses who manage a fleet of devices but doesn't change things for those who want the "bleeding edge."

[Peter_Szasz]

That's an interesting opportunity @s1fly, I can see the value. Initially we could keep the scope down but this sounds like a good next step!

[philcrosby]

The Chrome Web Store has this functionality. It's called partial rollout (docs).