Tweaking Google’s Chrome browser with extensions to serve your every
whim is one of its best features. Those optional little buttons sitting
next to Chrome’s omnibox now number in their thousands, and add all
manner of new functions to your net-navigating experience.
But where to start, with so many to choose from? Trust us, after
installing these extensions you’ll wonder how you ever lived without
them.
Pocket
Ever come across a really interesting read while busy working, vowing
to come back to it but never managing to remember? Using Pocket will
mean you never have to lose a good website ever again. More than just a
bookmarking tool, with a push of a button Pocket saves entire articles
for offline reading, syncing them up across multiple apps and platforms
so that you can pick them up again whether on the tube going to work, or
referencing them back at your desk. It’s free and one of the most-used
extension/ app combinations I have. [
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Evernote Web Clipper
Evernote is perhaps the best note-taking-and-syncing service on the
web, allowing you to jot down and archive any thoughts you have and
letting you retrieve them from any desktop, mobile or web browser
running the application. The Web Clipper extension lets you chop whole
chunks off of websites, saving them directly to Evernote’s big notebook
in the sky. [
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Hola Better Internet
Hola Better Internet laughs in the face of international web blocks.
Whether you’re travelling stateside and still need your BBC iPlayer
Doctor Who fix, or just looking to browse Netflix’s superior US-only
library, Hola uses a list of free proxy addresses to trick your browser
into believing it’s accessing the sites from another international
location. It’s free, with the trade-off being that you allow Hola to act
as a server for other users located elsewhere looking to tap into your
local services. If that irks you, there’s also a $5 / £3.20 per month
premium option that doesn’t require the server permissions. [
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StumbleUpon
The web is a big old thing these days, and trying to find a gem in
the sea of narcissistic Tumblrs or puke-inducingly-cute cat videos can
be tough. StumbleUpon lets web users submit and upvote things they
consider to be the best content out on the web. The StumbleUpon
extension offers up a toolbar that lets you visit one of those
submissions by random selection, and cast your own deciding vote on
whether more StumbleUpon users should see it or not. Over time, it
learns your tastes and favourite, throwing up just the sort of niche
weirdness that only the web could make seem tailor made for you. [
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Send To Kindle
Got a Kindle? Prefer reading on its e-ink display than on your
searingly-bright computer screen? The Send To Kindle extension is a
must-have then. Once you’ve fed it your free Kindle email address (check
your Amazon device management settings page — if you’ve got a Kindle,
it’s also got its own email address), the extension will format an
article into a Kindle-friendly layout and email it to your e-Reader free
of charge. [
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RadioPlayer
If you live in the UK and listen to the radio through your computer
lots, RadioPlayer is very handy. Offering live, catch-up and podcast
shows from 350 UK stations, it throws up a small window full of
listening options, letting you select your favourite go-to streams and
playing them right inside Chrome. [
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Checker Plus for Gmail
Need an at-a-glance look at you inbox, without having to fire up a
full email tab? Checker Plus for Gmail lets you get desktop
notifications for multiple accounts, delete, reply or star them, and get
top-line information on incoming mail. [
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Google Cast
In my opinion, there’s not much point to having a Chromecast if you
don’t use its Chrome extension. Yeah, the little dongle lets you throw
Netflix and Google Play movies wirelessly to your big screen, but you’ve
probably got a set top box or smart TV that offers similar stuff. The
Chrome extension, however, lets you mirror your browser on your TV
without the need for cables — anything you can get on Chrome, you can
get on your TV. I’ll leave your imagination to fill in the blanks there.
[
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Alientube
The YouTube comments section is the cesspit of the internet. It’s
like a members club for sexists, racists and the illiterate. Alientube
replaces YouTube comment threads with the generally-more-palatable
associated commentary from Reddit instead. [
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1password
Password management is a pain — it’s not just a matter of remembering
cat’s names and birthdays, it’s the increasingly-complex series of
capitalised letters and numbers in odd places too, for dozens of
accounts. 1Password does all that remembering for you, integrating
directly into your web browser, and also manages form data and credit
card information securely for you too.[
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TinyTiny RSS Notifier
The death of Google Reader left an RSS hole that has still really yet
to be filled. Tiny Tiny RSS Notifier isn’t quite a match for Reader,
but its discrete integration with Chrome is a lightweight alternative
that gets the job done, displaying the number of unread stories waiting
in your feeds, and changing colour to reflect that. [
Get It]
InvisibleHand
Don’t start your Christmas shopping without installing InvisibleHand.
That’s an order. This money-saving extension scans the web for cheaper
alternatives to whatever buying page you may currently be sitting on,
letting you make sure you’re getting the best deal before slapping down
the cash. It’s as if it makes every day Black Friday, without the
supermarket shopper rioting. [
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timeStats
Curious as to where all the time you’d put aside to work on your
long-gestating novel went? timeStats probably has the answers. It tracks
all the time you spend on individual websites, turning your
procrastinations into easy to read charts, letting you categorise your
distractions and, hopefully, learn how to make better use of your time
on the web. [
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Shareaholic
No need for a tab for every single social network you may be juggling
— Shareaholic offers a quick dropdown menu that lets you send a link
from any imaginable social network, straight from Chrome’s toolbar. [
Get It]
I’m a Gentleman
I’m a Gentleman takes away the chore of harvesting images from
websites, giving you three super-quick ways to download pictures.
ALT-clicking an image will save one, as will dragging one just slightly
to the left, while there’s a dedicated button for saving every single
picture present on a webpage (be warned — I mean EVERY image, including
any little buttons or dividers). It’s particularly useful for grabbing
entire galleries at one go, and is a lifesaver for anyone running a
picture-heavy website. [
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Multilogin
Need to juggle multiple accounts for a single site? Multilogin lets
you quickly jump from one persona to another, without the need to log in
and out of the same site on multiple tabs. It’s also a handy way of
getting around the pageview limits that certain websites employ to
encourage you to peek behind their paywalls…[
Get It]
Honey
Another one that’s a godsend just before Christmas, and a perfect
companion to InvisibleHand too. Honey will scour the web for discount
codes associated with the shopping site you are currently visiting,
digging out a few quid’s worth of savings for you at the click of a
Chrome toolbar button. [
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Blur (formerly DoNotTrackMe)
Blur not only conjures up complex encrypted passwords for you, but
keeps tracking cookies in check as well, meaning you wont get those
creepy targeted ads that follow you around the web, knowing better than
you do what your money wants spending on. If you’ve an iOS device with a
Touch ID sensor too, Blur’s integration on that platform allows it to
use the scanner to log in to its services too. [
Get It]
Buffer
If Shareaholic is for the casual social networker, Buffer is for
Tweet-addicted pros. Not only can you send to multiple social networks
at once from its extension button, but you can also schedule posts too.
But that’s the tip of the iceberg — Buffer’s complexities allow you to
build IFTTT rules for automatic posting on your behalf, and even offers
relatively detailed analytics breakdowns of each post’s individual
performance. [
Get It]
Source:
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2014/12/pimp-the-web-with-the-best-chrome-browser-extensions/
