macOS Sonoma Drops Support for Legacy Mail App Plug-ins

With macOS Monterey in 2021, Apple introduced a MailKit framework that developers can use to build modern and secure extensions for the Mail app on the Mac. Extensions can be created to block content, perform message actions, improve security, and more.

General macOS Mail Feature
In turn, Apple said legacy Mail app plug-ins would stop functioning in a future macOS release, and it appears that time has now come. AltStore today said it confirmed with Apple during WWDC last week that plug-ins are not supported on macOS Sonoma, and that MailKit-based extensions are the only supported solution going forward.


While MailKit extensions are more secure, they have more limited functionality compared to legacy plug-ins, so not all plug-ins may live on as extensions.

Legacy plug-ins cannot be opened in the Mail app as of the first beta version of macOS Sonoma. The update will be released to the public later this year.

(Thanks, @aaronp613!)

Related Roundup: macOS Sonoma
Related Forum: macOS Sonoma

Top Rated Comments

Max Webb Avatar
16 weeks ago
I didnt even know mail had plugin support full stop.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
redheeler Avatar
16 weeks ago
Over a decade on MacOS and this is the first time I heard that the Mail app supports extensions.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
erikkfi Avatar
16 weeks ago

While MailKit extensions are more secure, they have more limited functionality compared to legacy plug-ins, so not all plug-ins may live on as extensions.
Apple loves doing this kind of thing -- see how they ruined Safari extensions -- and then they wonder why their native apps' usage stagnates rather than grows.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ddauerbach Avatar
16 weeks ago
I'm really going to miss the really really useful SmallCubed Mailsuite suite of plugins.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BarryTheWebdork Avatar
16 weeks ago

I'm really going to miss the really really useful SmallCubed Mailsuite suite of plugins.
I registered just to upvote this. SmallCubed is apparently going to release its own mail client now. So... well done, Apple.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
adrianlondon Avatar
16 weeks ago

Apple loves doing this kind of thing -- see how they ruined Safari extensions -- and then they wonder why their native apps' usage stagnates rather than grows.
I switched to Firefox ages ago for uBlock Origin support and proper cookie management/containerisation (the new '"profiles" feature doesn't come close, unfortunately).

As a consequence, I switched from Keychain to Bitwarden, which also solved a few issues I had.

As for Mail, apart from the IMAP bug in the iOS 17 beta (and an attachment bug in Sonoma which I might have fixed by deleting some caches), it does what I need and so far haven't found anything better. I've never used any Mail extensions.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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