Google removes the FTP code from Chrome • The Register
The Chromium team has finally done it – support for File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is not only deprecated, but removed from the codebase in the latest version. stable construction of the Chrome browser, version 95.
It’s been a while since. A lack of support for encrypted connections in Chrome’s FTP implementation, coupled with a general disinterest among the majority of browser users, and better third-party alternatives available have meant the code has gone from deprecated. be completely gone.
Support for retrieving document resources via FTP was removed from Chrome 72, proxy support for FTP was removed in Chrome 76, and Chrome 86 introduced a flag to turn it off completely.
Between 76 and 86, Google tinkered with depreciation, retreating in the first half of 2020 in response to the pandemic and the workload IT teams face. However, the writing was on the wall for venerable protocol.
In version 88, it was disabled for all users, but could still be re-enabled. Now the code to support it has finally been removed once and for all, a little later than hoped.
Mozilla removed the protocol from its Firefox browser in July, and Apple doesn’t really support it in Safari.
As for Microsoft, while its Edge browser may be Chromium-based, there’s always Internet Explorer, which should still do the trick if you need a bit of retro browser-based file transfer action. And few browsers deserve the retro tag as much as IE, even though Microsoft is determined to kill him in most forms next year.
As to why FTP sparked such anger – well, the protocol is over 50 years old and comes from a more innocent time, where authentication was not what it is today. More secure options now exist (like FTPS and SFTP) and frankly Google and their friends would rather have people opt for a dedicated transfer app rather than bother with keeping the code in the browser.
There are still a good number of FTP sites (like the United States Census Bureau), although many now have alternatives for transferring files. The final ejection of the code from Chrome, which claims a huge user base, means it’s really time to move on. ®