Cookie-autodelete: Issue #44 update: Local Storage Support Now Possible on Chrome

[vinismarques]

This is an update for Issue #44. The time has finally come.

@zero77 Technically there is "Clear localstorage for this domain" in the "Clean" dropdown menu of the popup. This does not require an API since CAD injects a content script, so it works in Chrome.

I also doubt that this bug will be resolved anytime soon.

https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=78093

_Originally posted by @mrdokenny in https://github.com/Cookie-AutoDelete/Cookie-AutoDelete/issues/44#issuecomment-363655195_

The Chromium bug #78093, opened on 2011, was fixed on March 06, 2019. I believe that it is now possible to clean local storage using what the merge #868f5aa introduced.

Thanks for this great extension!

[giorgiga]

Adding refs to the documentation (since I looked them up):

https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/browsingData#method-remove
https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/browsingData#type-RemovalOptions

The functionality is available since Chrome 74 (already released).

[swg0101]

Can't wait for this :)

[stevenxxiu]

Wish this can be implemented for localstorage/indexeddb, as have to go chrome://settings/siteData to clear it manually myself every time. Can't wait!

[kennethtran93]

You guys are in luck - Here's the first experimental version for Chrome Localstorage cleanup. Please try it out and let me know if it works for that particular site with localstorage usage.

Those looking into the 'inspect' of background page will see console.info line with what hostnames are being sent to removeLocalStorage function. I had to tack on http:// and https:// for each hostname as Chrome would complain it wasn't a valid origin otherwise.

Cookie-AutoDelete_Chrome_Dev_200326_0408.zip

[PF4Public]

for that particular site

Which one?

[swg0101]

Tried it against http://www.sharonminsuk.com/code/storage-test.html - but it doesn't seem like it is working... The manual "clear localstorage for this domain" continues to work fine, but not the automatic cleanup.

[PF4Public]

Can confirm, that manually clearing works.

Also, clearing logs do not work.

[kennethtran93]

Activity Logs / Cleaning Logs only shows cookies cleanup at this time as there's no way to undo localstorage cleanup.

[kennethtran93]

Only way to tell is to look at the storage inspector

[kennethtran93]

In Chrome's case it would be F12 -> Application tab -> Storage sidemenu.

[swg0101]

No go...

[kennethtran93]

Yup I'm actually looking into it right now.

Chrome actually requires the exact URL i.e. http://www.sharonminsuk.com in order for it to be cleared as I've just tested it.

[swg0101]

Ah, thanks! I am guessing we should probably do both http and https?

[kennethtran93]

I'll need to rework the backend somehow as it may be the case of FIrefox as well.

[kennethtran93]

Yes I'll plan for that. Aside from http and https, should file be added in? any other protocol I should take note of?

[swg0101]

I don't think so since ftp support was phased out (and not like it can set cookies anyways)...

[kennethtran93]

Alright new experimental versions. There was a localstorage bug with the Firefox one too (it didn't complain function wise, but localstorage wasn't properly removed by hostname either).
Cookie-AutoDelete_Chrome_Dev_200326_1616.zip
Cookie-AutoDelete_Firefox_Dev_200326_1616.zip

[swg0101]

Latest one works fine! Thanks!

[cryzed]

Awesome, thank you!

[kennethtran93]

3.2.0 has been compiled and ready for use in GitHub Releases. Official release platforms are all under review at this time and will auto update when approved.

[PF4Public]

Chrome actually requires the exact URL i.e. http://www.sharonminsuk.com in order for it to be cleared as I've just tested it.

Does it mean, that there is no way of deleting Local Storage of all websites by default, only adding them in rules?

For some reason, some websites are not affected by Local Storage cleaning on Chromium. Youtube for example does keep Local Storage no matter what.

[kennethtran93]

For some reason, some websites are not affected by Local Storage cleaning on Chromium. Youtube for example does keep Local Storage no matter what.

Is there a storage inspector screenshot with the localstorage in action on youtube? Is this from a fresh/empty localstorage (i.e. toggle localstorage cleanup setting).

[PF4Public]

Sure:

This storage is persisted across tab closing. Only manually deleting could it be cleaned. I presume that's the case because this is the only way to make device-id value to change.

Is this from a fresh/empty localstorage (i.e. toggle localstorage cleanup setting).

I tried toggling settings, but no changes. The mentioned sharonminsuk website behaves properly. That is, its local storage is cleaned. But not for youtube.

Could it be some undocumented feature of chromium? Cleaning others localstorage, but keeping youtube's…

[kennethtran93]

Have a try at using the latest alpha build at #713. There's debug mode as well so if you're comfortable with browser extension console you can see a lot more details including the domains that gets passed to localstorage cleaning.

Toggling the localstorage option is supposed to clear all localstorage items as we put it in as removeLocalStorage({since: 0}) which should mean all.

By the way you'll need to get the inspector to reload it again by pressing the reload button just above the key header, so I suspect it is actually cleared...

[kennethtran93]

Strange...I've tested the toggling of localstorage cleanup setting and it seems to clear it...at least on the alpha build and chrome beta.

Oh, by toggling the localstorage setting I meant the global extension setting, just to make sure we're on the right page.

Just making sure that if you do have the domain on a list to check the localstorage setting.

[PF4Public]

Strange...I've tested the toggling of localstorage cleanup setting and it seems to clear it...at least on the alpha build and chrome beta.

Including youtube?

[kennethtran93]

Just fixed a bug regarding cookie stores in chrome, in addition to localstorage cleanup on browser restart. try these build:

Cookie-AutoDelete_Dev_20200511_211217_Chrome.zip
Cookie-AutoDelete_Dev_20200511_211217_Firefox.zip

As a side note, YouTube uses indexedDB and service workers, so if you're seeing site data size after cleanup, it may be from those two.

Course I could be wrong about the size thing too...

[PF4Public]

try these build:

Cookie-AutoDelete_Dev_20200511_211217_Chrome.zip

Looks like this version does clean youtube local storage properly.

[kennethtran93]

Good to know. Thanks. Once locales are more or less finalized I'll start the release version procedures.

[PF4Public]

I have updated CAD to 3.3.1 and tried testing local storage cleanup again. But it didn't work. I tried changing options and enabled cleanup log and popup, nothing worked at all! Then I tried enabling debug and opening extension's console. There were a number of entries about type errors. Unfortunately I didnt take a screenshot and just restarted my browser. After that everything works fine. And youtube is properly cleaned.

@kennethtran93 Thanks for your efforts and patience.

[kennethtran93]

Interesting. Nothing like a restart to resolve most problems :D