Please allow some form of WebUSB, even if only for "Firefox Developer Edition"

[Indigo]

Regarding the current state of Firefox and WebUSB, I have four thoughts:

1. Yes, Mozilla's concerns regarding the security risks are valid, but not insurmountable.
2. In my experience, this is the single W3C noncompliance that impedes my use of Firefox.
3. In my experience, an increasing number of companies/organizations are leveraging WebUSB, from core-functionality of end-user hardware to enterprise-level troubleshooting, configuration, and support.
4. If Mozilla permits the use of unsigned plugins for its Firefox Developer Edition because of the reasonable expectation that its users understand the risks, it stands to reason that the same could be said for WebUSB.

---

The three prior times WebUSB has been mentioned on connect.mozilla.org:

• "Fully support Web USB and Web Serial"
  I support the spirit behind this post. I'm one of those "makers" who would benefit from both feature sets.
  My post is specifically suggesting a (temporary?) compromise regarding WebUSB by allowing Firefox Developer Edition users a means to access it until such a time that Mozilla is satisfied with working the kinks out.
• "We want BlueTooth back" (Only mentioned in the responses.)
• "Bring back PWA (progressive web apps)" (Only mentioned (burred) in the responses.)

---

My argument in brief:

If Mozilla permits the use of unsigned plugins for its Firefox Developer Edition because of the reasonable expectation that its users understand the risks, it stands to reason that the same could be said for WebUSB.

[Jon]

Thanks for submitting an idea to the Mozilla Connect community! Your idea is now open to votes (aka kudos) and comments.

[Honza]

Thank you for reaching out! While I like the proposed idea, there has been a long discussion about Mozilla's position on WebUSB Web Specification:

You can follow up on standards-position repo:

https://github.com/mozilla/standards-positions/issues/100

and also here on Connect

https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/fully-support-web-usb-and-web-serial/m-p/62

[Tyeth]

Hey the GitHub issue has been locked for over a year.

All the objections from Mozilla seem to be around permission dialogues being not informative enough to help users understand the security implications of allowing a site to access hardware. That's a UX issue, not a reason to avoid implementing.

[adokitkat]

This. For example nowadays there are a handful of tools which use WebUSB API to connect to microcontrollers (embedded devices) like ESP32 to flash new firmware on them just from the browser (using JS libraries), instead of having the user to download and install something on their PC... Plus you can use your phone instead of a computer.

I still have to use Chrome/derivates because of this feature missing...

[Anutrix]

@HonzaPointing to a closed ticket at https://github.com/mozilla/standards-positions/issues/100 is of almost no use to anyone.

Still waiting on this since forever. There's so many devices like digital keyboards(Yamaha) and IoT/MCUs(ESP32 series) that make use of WebUSB API.
If security is concern, then add it behind a flag for now on about:config and maintain a list of whitelist domains to user can add as needed.

[Devnol]

Every argument against WebUSB/Serial is completely valid, however there's ways of implementing it to avoid user "coercion" in terms of consenting to giving hardware access.
Some have been mentioned by others too
- Having it only on Developer Edition
- about:config flag you have to manually enable
- Popup with I understand the risks or similar.
This isn't an issue of the protocol but a UX issue like someone else said.
On behalf of everyone I implore you to reconsider your stance on implementing it, as many people need it for their work.

I've needed it for programming MCUs, calibrating gamepads etc.
Last month I had to unbrick a phone and to flash it I had to download Vivaldi to get android web flashing to work. I liked Vivaldi actually but I do not want to switch away from Firefox or have multiple browsers taking up space on my laptop.