Web3's "Mini Programs": An In-Depth Analysis of MetaMask Snaps

MetaMask Snaps is a project with long-term ideals, but setting aside its "ideal" facade, it resembles a mini-program in the Web3 world. We can refer to it as a dApplet.

For developers, especially those in China, this concept is not unfamiliar. In recent years, terms such as "ecosystem building" and "super App" have frequently emerged, with large tech companies attempting to make the internet environment increasingly closed in order to transform from service providers to standard setters. Now, this trend has begun to spread into the Web3 arena.

As of June 2024, although Snaps has been around for nearly a year and the concept was proposed at least four years ago, the average user has almost zero understanding of it. Many users closely following the cryptocurrency market open MetaMask every day but know nothing about MetaMask Snaps. This situation reminds one of the circumstances when WeChat Mini Programs were first launched, where the entry to the features was not obvious, resulting in low usage. It was only after the entry was moved to the homepage dropdown that usage began to increase significantly. If MetaMask wants to build an ecosystem, attracting users into the ecosystem may become an important issue that needs to be addressed.

Since their inception, mini programs have sparked controversy in the internet industry. Many front-end engineers scoff at them, believing they are merely a commercial tool for internet giants to monopolize traffic and block ecosystems, contributing little to technological development. The extent to which Web3's Snaps can benefit the community remains to be seen. Browsing the documentation provided by MetaMask, it increasingly feels that future Snap developers will face many restrictions and challenges.

It has been nearly a year since MetaMask launched the public beta of Snaps, yet the number of available Snaps listed on its official website is not many, with only 68 in total as of June 2024. It is worth noting that the concept of Snaps was proposed by the official around 2020, well before the formal public beta, and Web3 companies and developers have actually had a considerable amount of time to gain an in-depth understanding of it.

Currently, there are no dedicated developers for Snaps, but there are quite a few mini-program developers in Web2. The general perception of mini-programs is that the development experience is poor. Although mini-program development uses the front-end ecosystem, it is a stripped-down version, and vendors impose restrictions on what developers can do for various reasons. The technical capabilities and documentation quality of different vendors vary significantly, resulting in developers needing to stumble through various strange pitfalls on different platforms before they can be considered "experienced."

Back to Web3, considering factors such as security, Snaps is likely to face a similar situation. It runs in an isolated security context, using "Secure ECMAScript," which effectively imposes some restrictions on the JavaScript API, such as being unable to access the DOM, Node.js, browser plugin APIs, etc.

For security reasons, a basic Snap can do very little. Most functions require obtaining the corresponding permissions first, so Snaps need to request relevant permissions from the user during installation. The available permissions include lifecycle, transactions, signatures, CRON, etc.

Compared to the flourishing Web3 ecosystem, the number of available Snaps is quite limited, and MetaMask has categorized them.

Snaps Type

MetaMask's official website categorizes Snaps into 4 types:

Account Management

This type of Snap mainly improves the security of private keys through MPC technology. Traditional methods of private key storage carry risks of forgetfulness or theft, while MPC technology can automatically split the private key and store it in different locations, only recombining it when a transaction signature is needed, and the complete private key is never generated during the process, maximizing the protection of private key security.

Currently, there are only 3 account management Snaps: Capsule, Silent Shard, and Safeheron. They use different methods to achieve private key protection, such as using device PassKey, recovery passwords, and 2FA, or by installing the app on multiple devices.

It remains to be seen how many Web3 users these Snaps can attract, as the current installation volume is not high.

interoperability

These types of Snaps mainly provide compatibility with non-EVM networks, including well-known chains like Solana, Cosmos, Near, and Sui. Currently, this type of Snaps has the largest quantity, accounting for more than half of the entire ecosystem.

Notification and Chat

Although this type of Snaps has potential, the number of users willing to send messages via blockchain is still a minority.

safe

There is a high demand for security-related Snaps, especially in the context of MetaMask's insufficient warnings against phishing transactions. These types of Snaps can provide users with richer transaction information and analysis, minimizing asset loss.

MetaMask Snaps provides transaction-insight and signature-insight permissions, allowing the Snap to read raw data during user transactions or signatures, analyze it, and present users with more detailed security explanations.

Future Outlook

MetaMask is trying to expand its business to other chain platforms through Snaps, but how far it can go remains uncertain. Referring to the development of mini-programs in the Web2 field, although many apps offer mini-program versions, their functionalities are often rudimentary and difficult to compare with native apps. With the explosive growth of mini-programs, more apps have also launched their own mini-program platforms, each consolidating their ecological barriers, making the Web world increasingly centralized.

The capital in the Web3 space will not be more sophisticated than that in Web2. If Snaps develop well, there will inevitably be more wallets following suit. At that time, Web3 developers may need to develop corresponding versions of "Snaps" for each wallet, which will be a huge challenge. However, if each vendor builds its own "Snaps" ecosystem, it is almost equivalent to having no unique ecosystem, which aligns with the concept of "decentralization."

In the future, various "Snaps-like" platforms may emerge, with significant differences between them, requiring developers to do a lot of work to achieve cross-platform compatibility. When the situation becomes intolerable, the Snaps Standard may be born, along with various "SIPs" for discussion, presenting a thriving community.

Despite doubts about the future of MetaMask Snaps, it is undeniable that it is a product built by a group of passionate developers aimed at solving real problems, rather than a scam initiated by financial experts.

However, for the majority of current MetaMask users, Snaps is not yet a necessary feature. MetaMask may need to do more work on how to promote it more effectively.