How to offer uninstall of a web browser plugin on the Mac?

Question

We have a browser plugin that has recently been ported to the Mac. During early testing, some customers experienced problems with it and wanted to uninstall. The procedure we had to give them was "Browse to /Library/Internet Plug-Ins in Finder and trash the bundle.".

Obviously this is not a workable approach for non-technical users. However, since app uninstall is so easy in OS X, there isn't any equivalent to Windows' "Add/Remove Programs".

I can't find a recommended strategy on the Apple developer site for implementing uninstalls for apps that aren't app bundles in the Applications folder.

Suggestions?

Answer 1

You can make a very small program which just removes (or moves to the trash) the old plug-in. If your plug-in needs an accompanying preference pane in System Preferences, it's one way to put an uninstall button in the pane, which some of the plugins do. See Perian's Preference Pane for example.

However, honestly, if a user doesn't understand the instruction which is

Browse to /Library/Internet Plug-Ins in Finder and trash the bundle.

I think you shouldn't ask her/him to do the beta test of a plug-in. That's a bit too risky for that user.