Browser Extensions I Can't Live Without(blog.maskys.com) |
Browser Extensions I Can't Live Without(blog.maskys.com) |
The only thing I miss is lastpass, but I've gotten used to having it run as a desktop app.
Containers in Firefox were nice, but I've also gotten used to switching accounts.
The fact that extensions get 100% access to everything on your page (including password forms) is just a no-go for me. I have to draw the line somewhere.
I trust my browser and OS more than extensions.
Your security posture is probably different than mine.
Bonus point if you download the extensions and manually review it yourself.
What I meant is that if you use a commercial OS and browser (and your ISP too) they're still going to exfiltrate your web activity to their servers.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/developers/addon/seen-it-al...
feedback welcome
You'd be waiting for chrome?
I also pasted the wrong link I figured. FF is here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/seen-it-all/
Yes it's exactly as the name implies ! It will BLINK the text you are trying to find on a page via "Ctrl+F" or "Cmd+F". I honestly can't believe I'm the only user of this extension. I can not for the live of me find half the text I'm looking for on a webpage without it blinking.
[0]https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/blink-find-finding...? utm_source=chrome-ntp-icon
All other ones are nice to haves but those are my building blocks.
Seriously though, it almost makes me look forward to sites that have captchas to feel like I’m sticking it to google instead of working for free to help them make their computer vision models better.
Had to install "privacy pass" cos of cloudflare's move to hCaptcha
Are you a robot?
I use AdBlock and LastPass, and maybe a clipper—Notion, Instapaper. But other than that, I’ve found more extensions make me less able to focus on getting stuff done, and much more focused on whether I’m using the ‘right’ tool
Download notifications - since FF has crappy notifications about finished downloads unlike Chrome, so this way I can't overlook finished download
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/gnome-downloa...
HTTPS Everywhere and uBlock origin - no need explanation
To Google Translate - since FF doesn't have built in translation service, so this way I can easily translate page through right click menu
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/to-google-tra...
but if I would be using Chrome I would need just ublock and https everywhere (although not sure if is is not redundant nowadays in both browsers)
1. Dictionary by Google. I like double-clicking unknown words for an instant definition or translation.
2. Regex search. When ctrl+F just isn't enough.
3. Duplicate Tab Shortcut Key. For those times when I click on a search engine result before pressing ctrl.
- ctrl click the refresh button (any of the navigation buttons really, although they will clone the previous or the next in the history)
- middle click the refresh button
And my favorite: “yt” key combo when using Vimium-ff.
Additionally, it’s useful because I like to keep related tabs next to each other, so I often used these methods to duplicate a tab (or ctrl/middle click on the new tab button to open a blank one next to the current tab), but now I only need to press “t” to open a new blank tab right next to my current one.
screenshot whole page (not always produce good result)
Magnifier
Or use uBo's element picker. One time job
- Dark Reader: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/darkreader/
- Feedbro: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/feedbroreader...
- uBlockO (easy/default mode): https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin...
- uMatrix (block all/whitelist mode): https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/umatrix/
- NoScript (global off; use only for XSS, ABE and CJ protection): https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/noscript/
- Multi-Container: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account...
- Temp-Container (delete all data after tab closed): https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/temporary-con...
- Decentraleyes (whitelist cdn domains in uMatrix): https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/decentraleyes...
- Clearurls: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/clearurls/
- Popup Blocker (strict): https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/popup-blocker...
- HTTPS-Everywhere: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/https-everywh...
Additionally, I know that even as non-malware extensions grow in popularity they are solicited by malware companies to integrate their software in an update. I experienced this first hand with the HoverZoom extension. [1]
[0] https://awakesecurity.com/blog/the-internets-new-arms-dealer...
[1] https://www.ghacks.net/2013/12/26/hoverzooms-malware-controv...
"all or nothing" is ridiculous as the only option - let me revoke access or restrict it to specific sites. I may not care if X has access to site Y, but giving it access to Z means giving it the keys to my life so hell no. I don't even want to use it on Z.
Thank you. I've been waiting for Firefox to add this feature for almost 2 years. For a privacy focused browser, this should be a must have, top priority.
I tried changing the "Site access" setting to "On click" -- but then the extension started acting funny or not working in some cases.
Chrome has added a more limited "activeTab" permission[2], but even that might be too much since it grants control to the tab and continues to allow permission on the same origin.
Like the GP said, even if the extension developer isn't trying to exfiltrate data, they should do more to protect users from a compromise of their extension, and browsers should give them the models to do so.
IMO, good security models can be a foundation forward to better overall security compared to desktop apps since it seems that browsers are becoming an OS of their own.
1: https://help.getpocket.com/article/912-what-permissions-does...
I think the only closed-source extension I run is lastpass, and I'm evaluating open-source alternatives.
How do people who cannot read code even cope, I don't know.
Hard pass.
I can't prevent the apps/OSes I use from gathering data about me, but that's at least one vector (although sadly a small one) I can do something about.
I disabled all extensions that I don't commonly use and am watching for now, but I have no idea how to actually tell which one did it (many of them were recently updated due to a Chrome change on August 6th or something).
0: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tree-style-ta...
Much nice I think, but had some bugs with sessions sometimes.
Vimium [1]
It lets you use keyboard shortcuts to navigate through webpages, click buttons, jump to text boxes, etc. it's been huge for me both as a productivity tool (it's significantly faster than using a mouse for navigation) and also for reducing RSI/strain on my hands.
Here's a video of it in action as you really need to see it being used to understand the different interaction model it provides.
https://youtu.be/t67Sn0RGK54?t=21
1 - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/vimium/dbepggeogba...
edit: fixed link (but if you enjoyed the writeup of data security requirements let me know).
Firefox Container Tabs. Allows me to have multiple office or gmail logins, amazon AWS console sessions, etc etc. And one to keep Facebook walled off in its own little prison. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account...
SingleFile. Allows me to save a snapshot of a page when I bookmark it (or at any other time). This means that when I encounter a page, I can automatically archive a copy to read later without worrying if the author will delete it, or the site will be unavailable. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/single-file/?...
Default Bookmark Folder. Always save new bookmarks to the same place, which is useful for keeping stuff together. I tag my bookmarks when I make them too, to make finding them again much easier. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/default-bookm...
Eno from Capital One. Lets me make a unique credit card for each site I buy from, so I can instantly tell if something is wrong if I see a bad charge. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/capital-one-e...
Tampermonkey. This lets me have a dark mode for Google search, and a bunch of other useful scripts. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tampermonkey/
At the end of the post: A comments section with spam in it.
I’m skeptical of Grammarly from a privacy standpoint. It seems to be an internet-enabled keylogger.
Are we cool with them now or are they still stealing your data? I'm not up to date
Right now I use "LanguageTool" with the Java-based server running locally. After I imported the ngrams it works good enough to be a clear improvement over Firefox's bad built in spelling/grammar checker. The UI is passable. It does randomly decide I typed another language though and tell me everything I typed is misspelled in that language.
In an ideal world I'd prefer to pay LanguageTool money for their premium product, but they have the same privacy problems as Grammarly. Heck I'd pay Grammarly if they had a more private offering, it is a good idea.
For example, these filters work really well on youtube.com
youtube.com##.ytp-pause-overlay
youtube.com##.ytp-suggestion-set
youtube.com##.ytp-endscreen-content
youtube.com###related
My Youtube list. No recommened videos on the side, unless playing a music or video playlist.
No other crap, signin prompts, etc
The days of uBlock Origin on Google Chrome are numbered. It may not work for Google Chrome when Manifest V3 is implemented (and no recourse provided for uBlock Origin). [1]
P.S: I haven't kept up with the latest developments on this since last year.
[1]: https://www.ghacks.net/2019/01/22/chrome-extension-manifest-...
At some point I’m sure they’ll start trying to bypass local DNS by forcing DNS over HTTPS to only their approved servers, at which point someone will build a MITM HTTPS proxy for home users that you can seamlessly install onto a Raspberry Pi until we see the next escalation in the never ending battle for our eyeballs.
It should be quite trivial to write an adblocker that integrates with EasyList using the new APIs.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hover-zoom%20/pccc...
Reader mode is a little surprising, doesn’t Chrome have that built in?
Google will always give only enough privacy options to give the veneer of supporting privacy, but never enough to truly allow it (e.g., anti-fingerprinting measures). You can't blame them really, it's just not their business model, but if you disagree with that model and its effects on you, you can choose a different browser.
[1] https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-enable-reader-mode-in-chr...
chrome://flags/#enable-reader-mode
chrome://flags/#enable-reader-mode
[1] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/video-speed-contro...
- Timelense preview for youtube: https://timelens.io/youtube/ (needs greasemonkey or something)
- Opens pdfs in my pdf reader right away: https://add0n.com/open-in.html?from=pdf (invert sumatra pdf on windows and you even have a dark mode: "...\SumatraPDF.exe" -bg-color #000000 -set-color-range #FFFFFF #000000 )
- (there is also one to open in chrome, really good if you are using FF but need to use google products like meet or jamboard)
- TTS with amazon polly support (if you have an AWS account): https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/read-aloud-a-text-...
- oh and mouse users should always scroll my dragging right-click IMO :) https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/scroll_anywhe...
- adblock for youtube sponsored bla bla within the video https://sponsor.ajay.app/
- backup what you typed in form fields: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/textarea-cach...
- stylish if you know CSS. I made wikipedia look more like the mobile version, make visited links visible globally, hide jira crap for sprint plannings etc.
- for good keyboard hint navigation: trydactyl (but saka keys is probably more beginner friendly)
- Show which links are fresh on news sites (e.g. on HN). FF only for now though. Just published it myself: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/developers/addon/seen-it-al....
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/fullscreen-video-t...
Saka (Tab search with ctrl-space) https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/saka/nbdfpcokndmap...
Session buddy (for when Chrome tab recovery fails) https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/session-buddy/edac...
urlNeXT (c-s-right arrow to go to the next page, increments numbers in url, works well on forums) https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/urlnext/emepkgfiam...
- Export History - Offered by: Christian Genco. Export your browser history as JSON or CSV
- Multi-highlight - Offered by: Alexius Lee. Create a list of words to highlight on the page.
- Super Simple Highlighter - Offered by: dexterouslogic.com. Configure a set of persistent webpage highlighters and tags.
--
[1]: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/export-history/hco...
[2]: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/multi-highlight/pf...
[3]: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/super-simple-highl...
- Contextlets: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/contextlets/
Adds context menu items that execute custom JavaScript. Think of it as an advanced version of bookmarklets that can use webextension APIs.
Example use case: Search for the selected text in multiple search engines in a new window with discarded tabs.
- Distill Web Monitor: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/distill-web-m...
Monitor website changes and get notification popups, email, SMS or push notifications on change. There are other alternatives that have the same basic functionality but I stayed with Distill as it is more customizable.
Since eventually switching to Chrome, I've tried vimium every now and then and always found it lacking. It usually got in the way when I didn't want it to and I'd get sick of trying to figure out how to turn it off for a particular site/just for this one interaction and just uninstall it.
It's been a year probably, so I guess I'm about due for another go.
The reason I switched to cVim was that I preferred its approach to the 'type keys to click link on page' feature.
Not something I had intended to do, but I hope the checklist was useful.
It's under "Misc" in the options, not "Auto-save"
You seem to not know what manifest v3 is actually doing.
Any adblocker with a static list of domains per-update of the crx file's manifest is useless. Users would have to install hundreds of extensions (each with dozens of domains that they themselves block), just to have the same functionality.
If any anti adblocking team of any ad network decides to just rename foo.tracker.net to bar.tracker.net, all adblocker extension users would have to REINSTALL the chrome extension manually because the manifest's list of domain is statically builtin.
Now you have to dig into the settings. And give it permission before it could work. At first I found that annoying. But upon reflection. I guess it's a necessary evil.
Edit: I misread the parent comment.
which means, effectively, that it becomes a 0.001% or worse event. arguably the whole point of privacy-focused (or even -aware) software is to increase that beyond "fork and modify"'s ratio, as far as possible, because it doesn't work in practice for the vast majority of the globe.
Didn't find it in chromium. Might look again.
Honestly, most of them. Grammarly in particular because of privacy concerns, but I avoid using any that are not both open source and high payoff.
I use Privacy Badger and NoScript. I may add Ublock Origin to cover the edge cases where I need to enable JS. Anything else is adding bloat, not cutting back on it.
NoScript in particular covers: UBlock Origin, Nano Defender, Hover+Unpaywall, and ShutUp
Most of the others, I already use something outside of a browser or don't need.
>The Declarative Net Request API now allows for the registration and removal of dynamic rules - specified at runtime rather than statically in the manifest. We’ve also added the capability to remove common tracking headers, such as Referer, Cookie, and Set-Cookie.
https://blog.chromium.org/2019/06/web-request-and-declarativ...
So if you want no extension to be able to read gmail,
Add mail.google.com or google.com to
extensions.webextensions.RestrictedDomains in about:config
An active adversary will just cheerfully block that HTTPS connection because you'll fall back to insecure silently.
So if you want no extension to be able to read gmail,
Add mail.google.com or google.com to
extensions.webextensions.RestrictedDomains in about:config
I have tried it and found nothing useful for me, but am interested to know why/how people use it.
I deleted my account and switched to BitDefender. Still getting the LastPass emails though, whenever I check my spam folder.
Also, LastPass slowed my Android phone a lot. BitDefender doesn't seem to do that.
In short, my recommendation is: stay the hell away from LastPass. They can't even handle an email system, I don't trust them at all to handle my passwords.
Their Windows application was also painfully slow.
I paid them for years but I no longer trust them, it seems to me they are incompetent as an organization even if the people who work there might or might not be smart.