Hi Ashley, Thanks for catching this, I'm glad to see the WebView API exposure process working :-). The context is that the web speech API is indeed old and supported on all platforms, but historically exposed only via a webkit prefix. Evan is adding on-device web speech which I understand is a desktop-only option for now (like our other built-in AI APIs <https://developer.chrome.com/docs/ai/built-in>). But as a condition for adding *anything* to this API, the API owners asked Evan to clean up some debt here and unprefix the API. I guess there's not a separate chromestatus entry for just unprefixing (I was trying to avoid unnecessary extra paperwork but failed to appreciate the platform difference), but conceptually it is separate. So API owners have approved exposing unprefixed web speech on all platforms AND adding on-device speech recognition to desktop platforms in this intent. Sound ok?
Rick On Wed, Jun 11, 2025 at 11:39 AM Ashley Newson <ashleynew...@google.com> wrote: > Looking a bit more deeply into this, am I right in understanding that > there isn't really any new API being added? it looks like unprefixing is > actually a tangent from the original scope of this I2S? So I may have > gotten confused about what's actually going on. > > I found https://chromestatus.com/feature/5908775487668224 that suggests > it's actually an pretty old API (perhaps sufficiently old that there > was little WebView documentation). > > On Wednesday, 11 June 2025 at 16:18:21 UTC+1 Ashley Newson wrote: > >> Hello, Blink and Web Speech API folks! >> >> I noticed from my Android WebView webexposed watchlist that >> https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/c/chromium/src/+/6422562 >> progresses towards the removal the "webkit" prefix from the Web Speech API. >> >> From what I understand, this I2S (and Chrome Status) only cover desktop >> platforms, and neither covers Android WebView nor Chrome on Android. >> However, both the prefixed and non-prefixed Web Speech APIs are exposed on >> these platforms, at least to the same degree as desktop. (There are some >> experimental APIs, but the existing/new stable API surface is already >> featureful and usable.) >> >> I will note that one of the demo URLs I found ( >> https://mdn.github.io/dom-examples/web-speech-api/speech-color-changer/) >> suggests that the feature generally works on these platforms, but it would >> be good to clarify what the intentions are for WebView (and Chrome on >> Android). >> >> Apologies that this is only being noticed right now. It looks like a lot >> of the pre-existing webkit-prefixed stuff predates the recent upgrades to >> Android WebView's webexposed coverage, so apps might already be relying on >> the webkit-prefixed implementation? >> >> Ashley Newson >> On Wednesday, 28 May 2025 at 16:10:31 UTC+1 Alex Russell wrote: >> >>> LGTM3 >>> >>> On Wednesday, May 28, 2025 at 8:09:48 AM UTC-7 Chris Harrelson wrote: >>> >>>> LGTM2 >>>> >>>> On Wed, May 28, 2025 at 8:07 AM Vladimir Levin <vmp...@chromium.org> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> LGTM1. Please update the TAG thread with the spec changes for posterity >>>>> On Tuesday, May 27, 2025 at 7:18:44 PM UTC-4 ev...@google.com wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Hi all, >>>>>> >>>>>> The spec changes have been merged and are live! >>>>>> https://webaudio.github.io/web-speech-api/ >>>>>> >>>>>> I believe this should be ready for Blink owners to take another look. >>>>>> Please let me know if you have any questions. >>>>>> >>>>>> Thanks, >>>>>> Evan >>>>>> >>>>>> On Wed, May 21, 2025 at 10:33 AM Evan Liu <ev...@google.com> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> Hi! We discussed this at the Audio Working Group and reached a >>>>>>> consensus :) I have a PR out to update the spec >>>>>>> <https://github.com/WebAudio/web-speech-api/pull/157> and another >>>>>>> one to update the explainer >>>>>>> <https://github.com/WebAudio/web-speech-api/pull/159> with the >>>>>>> changes. I believe this should cover the remaining issues. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On Wed, May 21, 2025 at 8:04 AM Yoav Weiss (@Shopify) < >>>>>>> yoav...@chromium.org> wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Any conclusions from the WG meeting? >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> On Wednesday, May 14, 2025 at 8:11:49 PM UTC+2 ev...@google.com >>>>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> It would definitely be better to make this change before the >>>>>>>>> feature ships, but it's up to y'all Blink owners if you think this >>>>>>>>> should >>>>>>>>> be a blocker for this intent. The Audio Working Group is meeting >>>>>>>>> tomorrow >>>>>>>>> morning so hopefully we'll be able to reach a consensus then! >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>> On Wed, May 14, 2025 at 8:04 AM Yoav Weiss (@Shopify) < >>>>>>>>> yoav...@chromium.org> wrote: >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> On Wednesday, May 7, 2025 at 8:50:12 PM UTC+2 ev...@google.com >>>>>>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Hi all, >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Thanks for the thorough review! I've opened a GitHub issue >>>>>>>>>> <https://github.com/WebAudio/web-speech-api/issues/156> for the >>>>>>>>>> remaining request. Hopefully we'll settle on an option before the >>>>>>>>>> next >>>>>>>>>> Audio Working Group meeting on 5/15! I'll update the spec as soon as >>>>>>>>>> we do. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Is this issue a blocker for this intent, or is it an option that >>>>>>>>>> can be added in a backwards compatible way later on? >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Thanks, >>>>>>>>>> Evan >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> On Wed, May 7, 2025 at 8:10 AM Alex Russell < >>>>>>>>>> sligh...@chromium.org> wrote: >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Thanks Evan and Jeff. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Evan: if we can get to API symmetry, I think that will help >>>>>>>>>> considerably. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Evan/Jeff: this seems like good advice from the TAG. When do we >>>>>>>>>> think we can get the bikeshed repain...er...develop updated names? >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Best, >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Alex >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> On Wednesday, May 7, 2025 at 12:12:29 AM UTC-7 Jeffrey Yasskin >>>>>>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> FYI, the TAG finished our review with https://github.com/ >>>>>>>>>> w3ctag/design-reviews/issues/1038#issuecomment-2853142041. We >>>>>>>>>> were generally happy with the design decisions that Evan and the WG >>>>>>>>>> have >>>>>>>>>> made, but we were still concerned that "ondevice-only" excludes some >>>>>>>>>> choices that future UAs might reasonably want to explore. We listed >>>>>>>>>> 5 kinds >>>>>>>>>> of locations that a user might want to run speech recognition (or >>>>>>>>>> heavy >>>>>>>>>> workloads in general), and we thought the WG should look at the >>>>>>>>>> concrete >>>>>>>>>> websites that want to adopt this, figure out which locations they're >>>>>>>>>> ok >>>>>>>>>> with, and pick a name based on that. We didn't think Google >>>>>>>>>> Meet's described use case for "ondevice-only" >>>>>>>>>> <https://github.com/w3ctag/design-reviews/issues/1038#issuecomment-2837046998> >>>>>>>>>> was >>>>>>>>>> even about recognition location, but it might also indicate a >>>>>>>>>> feature the >>>>>>>>>> WG might want to add. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Jeffrey >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> On Fri, Apr 18, 2025 at 11:31 AM Evan Liu <ev...@google.com> >>>>>>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Hi all, >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> We discussed the TAG feedback at the Audio Working Group meeting >>>>>>>>>> yesterday and I've posted our response here: https://github.com/ >>>>>>>>>> w3ctag/design-reviews/issues/1038#issuecomment-2815982645 >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Please let me know if anyone has any questions/comments/concerns. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> I don't think there's any particular reason to unprefix before >>>>>>>>>> shipping on-device, is there? >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Also to answer your question, Rick, I don't think there's any >>>>>>>>>> reason to unprefix before shipping on-device, so we might as well >>>>>>>>>> lump it >>>>>>>>>> together as a bundle :). >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Thanks! >>>>>>>>>> Evan >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> On Wed, Apr 16, 2025 at 10:54 AM Brian Kardell <bkar...@gmail.com> >>>>>>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Just linking this up as I see there are some questions, but the >>>>>>>>>> opening post seems to suggest there are positive signals from >>>>>>>>>> WebKit... >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> https://github.com/WebKit/standards-positions/issues/443 >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> On Wednesday, April 16, 2025 at 10:55:52 AM UTC-4 Rick Byers >>>>>>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> On Tue, Apr 15, 2025 at 8:14 PM Evan Liu <ev...@google.com> >>>>>>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Thanks for the detailed feedback, Jeffrey! We'll discuss this at >>>>>>>>>> the Audio Working Group meeting this week and I'll update this thread >>>>>>>>>> afterwards. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Thanks, >>>>>>>>>> Evan >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> On Mon, Apr 14, 2025 at 9:08 PM Jeffrey Yasskin < >>>>>>>>>> jyas...@chromium.org> wrote: >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> FYI, the TAG left comments at https://github.com/w3ctag/ >>>>>>>>>> design-reviews/issues/1038#issuecomment-2803693504. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> On Fri, Apr 4, 2025 at 10:22 AM Evan Liu <ev...@google.com> >>>>>>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Are you thinking it might be reasonable to ship in M128 (decide >>>>>>>>>> by branch on Apr 28, plan to merge any required changes before May >>>>>>>>>> 21)? >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> That sounds like a reasonable target, assuming TAG doesn't >>>>>>>>>> propose any significant changes. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> That said, if you want to, I'm supportive of shipping the unprefixing >>>>>>>>>> alone >>>>>>>>>> <https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/c/chromium/src/+/6422562> >>>>>>>>>> now, >>>>>>>>>> since you already proved to us that the unprefixed API is not an >>>>>>>>>> opportunity to make any breaking API changes. Do you prefer to >>>>>>>>>> decouple >>>>>>>>>> that, or just wait and get the whole bundle approved to ship >>>>>>>>>> together? >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Either is fine with me! Would decoupling just be a matter of >>>>>>>>>> making the changes, or would I need to create a separate Chrome >>>>>>>>>> Status >>>>>>>>>> entry, get position statements, all of the approvals, etc.? If it's >>>>>>>>>> the >>>>>>>>>> former, we might as well make the change now. Otherwise it might >>>>>>>>>> just be >>>>>>>>>> easier to bundle everything together. >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> I'm OK with just shipping the unprefixing under this same intent >>>>>>>>>> without the extra paperwork, but also it's a bit simpler if we just >>>>>>>>>> keep it >>>>>>>>>> all lumped together as a bundle. I don't think there's any particular >>>>>>>>>> reason to unprefix before shipping on-device, is there? >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Thanks, >>>>>>>>>> Evan >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> On Fri, Apr 4, 2025 at 6:51 AM Thomas Steiner <to...@google.com> >>>>>>>>>> wrote: >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> This all looks great to me! Are you thinking it might be >>>>>>>>>> reasonable to ship in M128 (decide by branch on Apr 28, plan to >>>>>>>>>> merge any >>>>>>>>>> required changes before May 21)? >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Off by one, classic. I think you meant 1*3*8 here. I know it's >>>>>>>>>> obvious now, but someone might once look back at this in ten years >>>>>>>>>> from now >>>>>>>>>> and wonder… >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> Whoops, yes of course - thank you :-). >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>> -- >>>>> >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>> Groups "blink-dev" group. >>>>> >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>>> an email to blink-dev+...@chromium.org. >>>> >>>> >>>>> To view this discussion visit >>>>> https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/d/msgid/blink-dev/858cded5-d9a5-4b7c-a727-4cd82699d5b8n%40chromium.org >>>>> <https://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/d/msgid/blink-dev/858cded5-d9a5-4b7c-a727-4cd82699d5b8n%40chromium.org?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>>>> . >>>>> >>>> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "blink-dev" group. 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