Switch to a different storage method

[SidneyNemzer]

Edit: updated with new information

Currently, snippets are saved to Chrome's chrome.storage.sync to sync data between computers. This works, but it has some limitations.

Chrome Sync Storage Limitations

• 8,000 bytes of total data

This is very low, and I didn't realize this was the case until recently.

(There are also restrictions to read/write frequency, although the autosave timer should be high enough to get around that).

Alternatives

GitHub Gist

Snippets could be stored in a private Gist on the user's GitHub.

Limitations:

• 300 snippets
• 1 MB per snippet
• Requires additional sign-in (to GitHub, in order to give Snippets access to your Gists)
  • This can be done securely, without exposing the user's GitHub login to Snippets

Google Drive

Snippets could be stored in a file on the user's Drive

Limitations:

• Requires additional sign-in (to Drive)
  • As far as I can tell, Drive's authentication flow would REQUIRE a server on my end, to handle authentication
  • This server COULD be Firebase

Firebase

I could create a Firebase application for storing Snippets

Limitations:

• Data is not encrypted in the database, and therefore viewable by the developer (me)
• 100 simultaneous users (people with Snippets open at the same time)
• 1 GB total (users might have a 0.5 MB limit?)
• 10 GB / month total data download

[SidneyNemzer]

I'm leaning toward the GitHub method right now, due to ease of setup on my end. Plus, it would allow users to quickly view their snippets without the extension

[SidneyNemzer]

For the time being, I'll stick with Chrome's Storage API. If people start to hit the limits of it, I'll come back to this.

[SidneyNemzer]

Update: I hit the limit myself. The snippets are stored as a child of the snippets key in sync storage, so ALL the snippets count toward the 8000 byte limit. The settings also have an 8000 byte limit, but I don't plan on ever having close to that many settings.

I'll be switching to Github Gists ASAP. I'll might keep the settings in the sync storage since there's no need to worry about the size limit there.

[seanvfs]

Is there an updated ETA on the switch to Github?

[SidneyNemzer]

I've made progress on the development branch, although I've been really busy lately. Sorry for the delay!

I hope to finish the Github update by April 30. Possibly sooner.

[SidneyNemzer]

Well, April 30th has come and gone. I've made a lot of progress, but the update isn't ready yet. I'll release it ASAP. New estimate is within 10 days. I hope the storage limit isn't a big issue for anyone right now!

[SidneyNemzer]

The new update is live!