Ask HN: What are the most useful Chrome extensions?

This displays a beautiful photograph on your "New Tab" page instead of a list of your most visited sites, which if you're anything like me is procrastination central. It serves as a reminder for me to slow down, stay focussed, and not obsessively check news, Hacker News, etc... (yep, it's not exactly working at the moment ;-)

It also allows you to specify a main task for the day to keep you focussed but I only occasionally use that.

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berwin 4124 days ago

I also find Earth View from Google Maps as a fun extension too. It sets your new tab to a random location on Google Maps and you can open up the location in the Maps for more in depth looks.

Earth View from Google Maps | https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/earth-view-from-go...

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artimaeis 4117 days ago

Currently | https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/currently/ojhmphdk...

Minimal new tab showing the date, time, and weather info. I'm always opening new tabs - this way I keep a little better track of time and am much more likely to know what it's like outside.

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fragmede 4124 days ago

Empty new tab page | https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/empty-new-tab-page...

When you open a new tab, instead of showing, well, anything, it just gives you a blank page.

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UniZero 4120 days ago

Benchwarmer | https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/benchwarmer-new-ta...

Great for designers. Beautifully displays top / new Dribbble submissions on new tab page.

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mfkp 4124 days ago

My essentials:

Disconnect: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/disconnect/jeoacaf...

Edit this Cookie: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/editthiscookie/fng...

HN Collapse: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hacker-news-collap...

HTTPS Everywhere: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/https-everywhere/g...

JSON Prettifier: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/json-prettifier/kc...

Postman: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/postman-rest-clien...

uBlock: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/%C2%B5block/cjpalh...

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hga 4124 days ago

I prefer the "hckr news" extension. In addition to collapse/expand, it has a "[collapse whole thread]' option so that you can do it in the middle of a thread, and most importantly, puts a vertical orange bar to the right of all new messages since I last refreshed or visited the page.

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mfkp 4124 days ago

Nice suggestion, I'll try that one out.

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mcantelon 4124 days ago

I've been using REST Console, which is useful, but sounds like Postman may have more features.

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DonnyV 4124 days ago

I highly recommend Dev HTTP Client https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dhc-resthttp-api-c...

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joshstrange 4124 days ago

Postman is an awesome tool that I highly recommend! It's awesome to be able to export your work and share it with co-workers as well.

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Zikes 4124 days ago

+1 for Postman, I use it all the time. The history feature is especially great for me.

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hamhamed 4124 days ago

My adblock is uBlock: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/%C2%B5block/cjpalh...

I also use Ghostery to block more scripts that slow sites down, and to block Google Analytics for my startup (so no faking stats): https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ghostery/mlomiejdf...

I'm also a half marketer, so I use Alexa, Similar Web, Moz toolbar, and Open SEO https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/open-seo-statsform...

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ende42 4123 days ago

µBlock is great. I used Ghostery first and then Disconnect. But with µBlock in advanced mode I can block facebook.com on all sites but facebook, twitter.com on all site but twitter, and g+ on all sites but google.

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rejfyl 4124 days ago

Ghostery does wonders and been using it for awhile now.

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lalwanivikas 4124 days ago

Streamkeys[1]: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/streamkeys/ekpipjo...

AdBlock(not ABP): https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/adblock/gighmmpiob...

And Clearly: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/clearly/iooicodkii...

Because I just can't imagine my browser without them :)

[1]: http://streamkeys.com/

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mapunk 4124 days ago

Have you tried uBlock instead of AdBlock? I've like it much better since switching

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navbaker 4124 days ago

Just curious, why specifically AdBlock and not ABP?

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hardcandy 4123 days ago

Adblock Plus has completely sold out due to their ''acceptable ads'' policy which whitelists 300+ ad feeds including most native ad networks (taboola, outbrain) and even some banner display ads now - basically, anybody who will pay them a little ransom. How can you claim to be an adblock client when you purposefully don't block the majority of ads?!

Adblock is a category of apps not a single company. There are plenty of alternatives to support. As mentioned, uBlock is excellent. I hope they don't pursue the same commercial path as they become more popular.

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petekp 4124 days ago

Google Dictionary is one I use frequently, every day. Just double-click a word to see its definition.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-dictionary-...

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donut2d 4124 days ago

On Mac you can use a 3-finger tap on a world or select "Look Up In Dictionary" from the context menu to look it up in the dictionary and Wikipedia.

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Betelgeuse90 4123 days ago

A bit off-topic but since I got a Mac and found out about this - Google Dictionary became obsolete. The Mac dictionary works offline as well so I'm able to look things up during commutes without WiFi.

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ArekDymalski 4123 days ago

TL;DR Link Preview - great for reading short summaries before you click the link. It's a shame that no so many people use it. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/link-preview/ohmam...

Diigo - much better than Evernote IMO. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/diigo-web-collecto...

Readability Redux - for distraction free reading https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/readability-redux/...

OneTab - to tame the tab chaos. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/onetab/chphlpgkkbo...

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jibberia 4124 days ago

Cloud to Butt Plus: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/cloud-to-butt-plus...

It adds just a small bit of delight to my daily tech web browsing. Highly recommended for the occasional chuckle.

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Mister_Snuggles 4124 days ago

If you're looking for one to install on a machine that a co-worker forgot to lock, I recommend nCage: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ncage/hnbmfljfohgh...

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galfarragem 4123 days ago

My top 3 of not mentioned chrome extensions:

Extensity (enable/disable chrome extensions) - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/extensity/jjmflmam...

Batch Fatkun (great image downloader) - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/fatkun-batch-downl...

[!!!] Kiwi amazon price compare (compares prices between multiple Amazon websites) - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/kiwi-amazon-price-...

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skurks 4124 days ago

Edit This Cookie - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/editthiscookie/fng...

SPOF-Matic (simulate 3rd party resources being unavailable) https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/spof-o-matic/plikh...

JSONView https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/jsonview/chklaanhf...

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cead_ite 4124 days ago

Vimium: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/vimium/dbepggeogba...

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itsamenathan 4124 days ago

Also cvim: https://github.com/1995eaton/chromium-vim

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kanzure 4124 days ago

Is there anything like Tabs Outliner but attached to the same window? More like Tree Style Tabs. At this point I may even be willing to run mitmproxy to inject an iframe into every page or something :(

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dmtintner 4112 days ago

There's TabMan. I think it has a much nicer interface https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tabman-tabs-manage...

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Gambit89 4124 days ago

This is not quite what you asked for, but you can achieve a "managed dual/side pane" with a tiling window manager, letting the window manager keep the outline on the side rather than the browser, so that you don't have to juggle windows yourself. I do this with Tabs Outliner myself and it's quite flexible for me: when I want a full screen vs a side panel, I simply switch between the layouts.

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steveridout 4124 days ago

Apologies for the shameless plug, but I've made a Chrome extension which should be useful for anyone learning a foreign language:

Readlang | https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/readlang-web-reade...

It allows you to read web-pages in your target language, translate the words and phrases you don't know, and review them all later with flashcards which include some context from the original source.

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DonnyV 4124 days ago

Checker Plus for GMAIL - access gmail emails

Send from Gmail - create an email with a link of the site your on pasted in gmail

Cool Clock - clock

Hangouts - send SMS right from the browser

Google Calendar - nice list of up coming events in calendar and create new ones

BoogleMarks - search and access your Google Bookmarks

ColorZilla - take color sample from web sites and color picker

EditThisCookie - edit and manage cookies of current site

Awesome Screen Capture - capture entire page and crop options and save options

Visual Event - see javascript code attached to DOM events and see how many events are attached to a DOM node.

IE Tab - use IE render engine in Chrome for old sites.

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kendallpark 4124 days ago

## Currently

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/currently/ojhmphdk...

beautiful extension that replaces the "New Tab" with this week's weather. It's remarkably useful to one that never can be bothered to check the weather and the design is top-notch.

## Stay Focusd

Great way to limit time on distraction sites. I have ten minutes of Facebook time a day.

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sjkaliski 4124 days ago

Point: http://www.getpoint.co/

Awesome chrome extension for sending links to friends & chatting about them.

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forgotpasswd3x 4124 days ago

This is so cool! I hope they put out Firefox and Safari versions in future.

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belowsanity 4124 days ago

Definitely going to check out Limitless since I'm currently using StayFocused.

1. Adblocker | https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/adblock/gighmmpiob...

2. Stayfocused | https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/stayfocusd/laankej...

3. Papaly | https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/new-tab-bookmark-s...

4. Codota | https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/codota/cnpdaoipdfb...

5. ZenHub for GitHub | https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/zenhub-for-github/...

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minot 4124 days ago

See also uBlock https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/µblock/cjpalhdlnbp... for ad blocking.

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belowsanity 4124 days ago

I actually have that running on Firefox. For some reason my Chrome had random memory leak spikes from uBlock.

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gorhill 4124 days ago

> random memory leak spikes from uBlock

Chromium issue 441500:

"Popup UI of extensions causes systematic memory leaks" [1]

Related?

This was finally fixed yesterday, but we will probably have to wait until Chromium 43 for the fix.

[1] https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=441500

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orangedev 4124 days ago

- Hacker news special https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hn-special-an-addi...

- New tab GRE, A new word and it's meaning shows up every time I open a new tab, looks cool too. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/new-tab-gre/bkddfb...

- Plays a random song every time I click on it, its fun https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/random-song/epeedg...

- Remove element, helps me read peacefully https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/click-to-remove-el...

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nchammas 4124 days ago

Markdown Here [1]

It lets me write stuff on Gmail/Inbox or a number of a other sites in Markdown.

Then I hit Control + Option + M (on OS X) and bam, it coverts the Markdown to neat HTML.

It's really great for writing technical emails with code snippets and stuff. You even get syntax highlighting for those code snippets, too.

[1] http://markdown-here.com/

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UniZero 4120 days ago

Magnetify - Redirect Spotify web links to software | https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/magnetify/llopembj...

Recent bookmarks - Button to show recent bookmarks | https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/recent-bookmarks/o...

Google Quick Scroll - Jumps to section on page containing your search terms | https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-quick-scrol...

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FilterJoe 4124 days ago

The Great Suspender: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/the-great-suspende...

Combined with Session Buddy: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/session-buddy/edac...

Those who routinely keep 10+ tabs open may be motivated to switch to Firefox or Opera due to slow browser start. The above 2 extensions solve the issue. I explain in more detail here:

http://www.filterjoe.com/2015/01/23/best-browsers-2015-which...

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winry 4124 days ago

JSONView is really useful to see formatted json text https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/jsonview/chklaanhf...

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olegp 4123 days ago

µBlock: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/%C2%B5block/cjpalh...

LiveReload: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/livereload/jnihajb...

StartHQ: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/starthq/ilcpdgfepi... - this is something I've been working on for a while, let's you launch web apps quickly and search inside them, like Spotlight on the Mac but for web apps

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bbrks 4123 days ago

StartHQ looks really cool, but I've just tried setting my password and got a generic 'password incorrect' error.

My password was 100 chars (mixed) in length, but I also tried shorter ones, down to 15 chars. Now for some reason, all starthq.com pages are blank so I can't reset any credentials.

Any ideas?

Edit: Fixed by clearing localstorage on the domain. Angular really didn't like whatever I did!

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olegp 4123 days ago

Sorry about the hassle. I've seen this bug in the wild before but have had a hard time trying to reproduce it. Will apply a fix that will address the symptoms, if not the root cause.

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jasdeepsingh 4124 days ago

Ghostery: Privacy Manager | https://www.ghostery.com/en/

1Password: Password Manager | https://agilebits.com/onepassword

Tape: Pixel Perfect Grid Rulers | https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tape/jmfleijdbicil...

Page Ruler Chrome: | https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/page-ruler/jlpkojj...

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stathisg 4123 days ago

Here's my list:

Postman - REST Client: This is actually an app and not just an extension, but I need to mention it since it's an amazing tool for anyone building or using APIs - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/postman-rest-clien...

Web Developer - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/web-developer/bfba...

Evernote Web Clipper: a must-have for anyone using Evernote - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/evernote-web-clipp...

Speed Dial 2: yet another new tab screen replacement - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/speed-dial-2/jpfpe...

LastPass: Switched to LastPass from 1Password, and I never looked back - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/lastpass-free-pass...

Extensity: A quite useful extension to quickly enable/disable... other extensions - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/extensity/jjmflmam...

Full Page Screen Capture - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/full-page-screen-c...

JSONView: Formats and validates JSON - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/jsonview/chklaanhf...

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uptownhr 4124 days ago

Startuptabs: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/startuptabscom/bkn...

Gethoneybadger: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/gethoneybadger/lgh...

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jaequery 4124 days ago

I second GetHoneybadger, incredibly useful for pulling up domain traffic/whois etc...

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imkevinxu 4124 days ago

Mark All as Read - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/mark-all-as-read/h...

I build this extension a couple of days ago, one-click button to mark all links as read so it's easier to scan through sites like HN or Craigslist to find what's new

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krat0sprakhar 4124 days ago

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Ilya Gregorik's Video Speed controller[0]. It is a delight to watch tech videos / presentations / tutorials on youtube and other websites.

[0] - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/video-speed-contro...

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pentium10 4124 days ago

Lazarus: Form Recovery - Autosaves everything you type so you can easily recover from form-killing timeouts, crashes and network errors. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/lazarus-form-recov...

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stcredzero 4124 days ago

OneTab.

You can very quickly "bin" groups of tabs and save them in a format which I treat as a "stack." It would be even better if the OneTab page were searchable by content behind the links, but it's not a sorely felt need. Find in the page and Google are handy enough. It also saves a lot of resources that would otherwise be used by Chrome.

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pauloteixeira 4124 days ago

Use Panda (https://usepanda.com/) Pocket (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/save-to-pocket/nil...)

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donut2d 4124 days ago

I cannot figure out how to actually use Panda. There don't seem to be any signup or download/install links on that page.

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forgotpasswd3x 4124 days ago

There is (or at least should be) a link that says "Download for Chrome" right in the center of the page.

It takes you to https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/panda-4-news-inspi...

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bearbin 4124 days ago

uBlock - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/%C2%B5block/cjpalh...

PushBullet - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pushbullet/chlffgp...

Hckr News - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hckr-news/mnlaodle...

LastPass - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/lastpass-free-pass...

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baisong 4124 days ago

Life-changing browser automation: http://crontabs.org

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avinassh 4123 days ago

Adblock Vocab, instead of ads shows GRE words and you add your own words too - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/adblock-vocab/lbfm...

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yourfriendbrett 4124 days ago

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/sleeping-corgis/ae...

Replace all the images on the web with sleeping corgis! What could be better?

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pepijndevos 4124 days ago

I'm soon releasing the most useless(but fun) extension, which will allow you to play Gen 1 and 2 Pokemon games over the internet on a real Game Boy: https://github.com/pepijndevos/TCPoke

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thescribe 4123 days ago

SafeScript: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/scriptsafe/oiigbmn... - Remove a lot of excess javascript.

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kirk21 4124 days ago

Streamus (!!) -- listen to music in your browser https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/streamus/jbnkffmin...

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spitcode 4116 days ago

Header Hacker for modifying http headers on the fly:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/header-hacker/phnf...

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alexu 4123 days ago

Craigslist Notifications https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/popup-notification...

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enji 4124 days ago

LinkMaster to make short links: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/linkmaster/mdgncmf...

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encoderer 4124 days ago

Domain Switcher: For switching between dev/stage/prod/individual ec2 hosts/etc.

Incognito Filter: Always load certain pages in Incognito mode.

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aerovistae 4124 days ago

Hands Free for Chrome, for the disabled. Lets you navigate and control nearly everything using just your voice.

Full Disclosure: I wrote it.

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koberstein 4124 days ago

I love awesome screenshot because it allows you to take a screenshot of the entire page.

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arikrak 4124 days ago

Here are my extensions: Lastpass, Adblock, Pocket, Tab scissors, Email all tabs...

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snissn 4124 days ago

Has anyone had any success launching products onto the google chrome store?

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joshstrange 4124 days ago

* Authy - Authy: Two-Factor Authentication from your PC (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/gaedmjdfmmahhbjefc...)

* EditThisCookie - EditThisCookie is a cookie manager. You can add, delete, edit, search, protect and block cookies! (http://www.editthiscookie.com/)

* Faviconize Google - Adds favicons to each link offered by Google search results (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/fijobgpmmkilncagcl...)

* Hackbook - Follow/unfollow, news feed and notifications for Hacker News (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/logdfcelflpgcbfebi...)

* HackerNew - The best Hacker News extension, making HN quicker and more useful since 2012. (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/lgoghlndihpmbbgmbp...) (IMHO HackBook > HackerNew)

* Hover Zoom - Enlarge thumbnails on mouse over. Works on many sites (Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Reddit, Amazon, Tumblr, etc). (http://hoverzoom.net/)

* HTTPS Everywhere - Encrypt the Web! Automatically use HTTPS security on many sites. (https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere)

* JSONView - Validate and view JSON documents (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chklaanhfefbnpoihc...)

* Lazarus: Form Recovery - Autosaves everything you type so you can easily recover from form-killing timeouts, crashes and network errors. (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/loljledaigphbcpfhf...)

* Mailto: for Gmail™ - Makes mailto: links open a Gmail™ compose window. Nothing more, nothing less. (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dgkkmcknielgdhebim...)

* Media Keys by Sway.fm - Media keys support for online radio and streaming music apps. (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/icckhjgjjompfgoiid...)

* Personal Blocklist (by Google) - Blocks domains/hosts from appearing in your Google search results. (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/nolijncfnkgaikbjbd...)

* Postman - REST Client (Packaged App) - (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/fhbjgbiflinjbdggeh...)

* PrettyPrint - JavaScript and CSS formatter/syntax highlighter (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/nipdlgebaanapcphbc...)

* Privacy Badger - Privacy Badger Beta release: Block Spying ads & invisible trackers (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pkehgijcmpdhfbdbbn...)

* Reddit Enhancement Suite - Reddit Enhancement Suite - a group of enhancements for browsing Reddit (http://redditenhancementsuite.com/)

* Smile Always - Redirects any www.amazon.com page to smile.amazon.com (http://www.smilealways.io/)

* stackoverflowerizer - Always redirect to stackoverflow from pages that just copy content, like efreedom, questionhub, answerspice. (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/gledhololmniapejef...)

* Stylish - Restyle the web with Stylish, a user styles manager. Stylish lets you easily install themes and skins for many popular sites. (http://userstyles.org/)

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tremendo 4123 days ago

I replaced Hover Zoom with Hover Free some time ago, after the original started betraying my trust, I enable Hover Free even on incognito mode https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hover-free/hcmnngg... My other favorite extensions: Vimium, Privacy Badger, Session Manager

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Mayra 4124 days ago

Eu quero hacker School Of Dragon

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jdmoreira 4124 days ago

xTab saved my life!

"Limit maximum number of open tabs."

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lie07 4124 days ago

uBlock, Last Pass, and Vimium.

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adad95 4123 days ago