MetaMask Snaps: “Mini Programs” in the Web3 World

MetaMask Snaps is a project with grand ideals. Stripping away its “ideal” exterior, we can see it as a “mini-program” in the Web3 world, or more vividly referred to as a “dApplet”.

For developers, especially those in China, this concept is not unfamiliar. In recent years, terms like “ecosystem building” and “super App” have frequently appeared in the internet landscape, as large companies attempt to create a more closed internet environment in order to shift from service providers to standard setters. Now, this trend seems to be spreading into the Web3 domain as well.

As of June 2024, despite Snaps having existed for nearly a year and its concept being proposed for at least four years, the average user still has very limited understanding of it. Even cryptocurrency enthusiasts who use MetaMask every day may know nothing about MetaMask Snaps. However, when it is explained to them as “like mini-programs,” they often display a knowing smile.

This situation inevitably reminds people of the circumstances when WeChat Mini Programs were first launched. Due to the unclear entry points for functionality, the initial usage was very low. It was only after moving the entry point to the drop-down position on the homepage that usage began to increase significantly. For MetaMask, how to attract users to enter its ecosystem may become an important issue that needs to be urgently addressed.

Since the birth of mini-programs, they have sparked controversy in the internet industry. Many front-end engineers hold a critical attitude towards them, believing they are merely a commercial tool created by large companies to monopolize traffic and block ecosystems, contributing little to technological development. How much value can Web3’s Snaps bring to the community? After browsing the MetaMask documentation, it is easy to imagine that future Snap developers may face numerous restrictions and challenges.

It has been nearly a year since the launch of the Snaps public beta by MetaMask, but the number of available Snaps listed on its official website is not many, with only 68 as of June 2024. It is worth noting that the concept of Snaps was proposed by the official around 2020, and Web3 companies and developers have had a considerable amount of time to understand it.

So far, there have been no dedicated developers for Snaps, but the general opinion among Web2 mini program developers is that the development experience is quite poor. Although mini programs use a front-end ecosystem, they are often a stripped-down version, and various limitations require developers to go through many pitfalls across different platforms to accumulate experience.

In the Web3 space, due to security and other factors, Snaps may face similar situations. It runs in an isolated security context and uses “Secure ECMAScript,” which effectively imposes some restrictions on the JavaScript API, such as not being able to access the DOM, Node.js, and browser plugin APIs.

Due to security considerations, the basic Snaps functionality is limited. Most features require obtaining the corresponding permissions first, so Snaps need to request permissions from the user during installation. Available permissions include lifecycle, transaction, signature, and CRON, etc.

Compared to the thriving Web3 ecosystem, the number of available Snaps is relatively small. MetaMask categorizes them into several types:

1. Account Management: Mainly enhances private key security through MPC technology. Currently, there are only 3 such Snaps: Capsule, Silent Shard, and Safeheron.

2. Interoperability: Provides compatibility with non-EVM networks, including Solana, Cosmos, Near, Sui, etc. These types of Snaps account for more than half of the ecosystem.

3. Communication: Includes notification and chat functions. Although currently there are fewer users communicating via the chain, this type of Snaps still has development potential.

4. Security: This type of demand is significant, especially in terms of phishing trade warnings. Through the trading insight feature provided by Snaps, developers can present users with richer trading information, offering analysis and insights to minimize asset loss.

MetaMask Snaps provides the “endowment:transaction-insight” and “endowment:signature-insight” permissions, allowing the Snap to read raw data when the user initiates a transaction or signature, analyze it, and display more security information to the user.

MetaMask hopes to expand its business to other chain platforms through Snaps, but the ultimate effectiveness remains to be seen. Referring to the experience of mini-programs in the Web2 field, rudimentary mini-program services often cannot compare with apps, and the follow-up of new features is often lagging. If Snaps develops well, more wallets may follow suit, which could lead developers to need to create different versions of “Snaps” for each wallet, increasing their workload.

In the future, various “Snaps-like” platforms may emerge, with significant differences between them, requiring developers to invest a lot of effort into compatibility. When this situation becomes unbearable, it may give rise to the “Snaps Standard,” along with various “SIPs” for discussion, forming a thriving community ecosystem.

For most MetaMask users, Snaps may not yet be a necessary feature. MetaMask may need to do more work on how to promote it more effectively.