A restartless add-on mustn’t require a restart before installation/uninstallation.
Is it allowed for a restartless add-on to require a soft restart (browser restart or add-on disabling/enabling) on add-on preferences changes?
I don’t know what you mean by ‘allowed’ but my addons use simple-prefs and because I don’t expect the prefs to change much, or at all, I didn’t bother to write the code to detect changes. So I think it’s up to you to decide whether it matters.
If you have to restart it is totally acceptable. In one of my addons I have to use platform API, and the effect does not take place till after restart. I was crazy though and put in tons of effort to fake the effect until user restarts it. I should have just prompted user saying “x will not take affect till next browser restart”.
The current recommended tech for addons is bootstrap style (restartless). Just because you need a restart, does not mean we want you to use the old overlay style addon. I think we do strongly discourage overlay style addons.
In summary - If you need a restart it is totally acceptable.
1 Like