Extensions list removed
tachiyomi.org
Due to extenuating circumstances.

I know Tachiyomi (and associated forks) are a popular way to browse and read manga within the community (myself included). This change means that the Tachiyomi app will no longer include access to installation of all but a select few extensions. Specifically, the only extensions allowed going forward are the “bring-your-own” services. You can see the new extension list here.

Based on some of my searching, this change seems to be in response to the threat of legal action by Kakao Entertainment (a Korean webtoon company). Tachiyomi had recently removed a couple extensions from their app (mangadex being one of them), but this change is sweeping.

Going forward, if you have extensions currently installed on your device, they are going to stay there, but will no longer be maintained. So, if something breaks for the service it is communicating with, then the whole thing breaks.

The latest version of Tachiyomi added the ability to add external extension repositories. So, this enables the option of other groups maintaining extensions in the place of the Tachiyomi devs.

Edit: For more context, there are two relevant discussions on the !piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com community. One about the mangadex extension specifically, and the other about this latest move.

  • NeshuraAEnglish
    101·
    11 months ago

    I am shocked I tell you, schocked. Who woulda thunk that blindly obeying any DMCA request, legitimate or not, would result in this? Absolutely unpredictable that companies would wildly abuse this power instead of using it responsibly…

    youtube-dl was in a similar spot and it came out unscathed because unlike the wet noodles developing Tachiyomi their devs had the spine to at least use the means available to try and avert removal, which ultimately worked.

    It’ll be interesting watching this develop further but given the devs and their decision I see a bleak future ahead, next up on the chopping block due to DMCA will be the 3rd party extension repo feature. Why would this scummy corpo stop after all? Not like they get any pushback for this blatant bullying.

    Edit: looking at the dev response to this, the project just died. Instead of talking with the community and accepting some blame they just lock down and censor. No idea how it looks like in their discord server but likely nobody there is allowed to talk about this either.

    Guess I’ll have to wait and see which fork pulls through and becomes the main one.

    • cafuneandchill@beehaw.orgEnglish
      3·
      11 months ago

      Hey, I also think that the whole ordeal sucks, but at least I’m not calling the devs names. If they removed the extensions, then there probably was a compelling reason for them to.

      Anyway, it’s been barely a day since the removal. I’d say give it several days; viable workarounds will appear one way or another

      • NeshuraAEnglish
        41·
        11 months ago

        I’m calling them names because they very clearly had no contingency plan for an event like this. You could maybe count extension repos as one but that’s really not a lot. Their entire policy was flimsy from the get go and they should have known that. I understand the devs don’t want to fight court battles and I’m not blaming them for that but they left several avenues of protection against stuff like this unused and if they clearly did not want the hassle they should not have included the extensions by default.

        We also already have a workaround: some kind stranger forked the extension repo and has committed to updating at least some of them. I expect their repo will become the new unofficial “official” one.