
Ask HN: Which browser add-ons do you use, what for and how did you discover them? - queeerkopf
I&#x27;m reevaluating my browser setup and more generally how i use my browsers (mostly Firefox and Chromium) and web habits.
I&#x27;d like some advice on which browser extensions, add-ons or even less known features improve your browsing experience :)
======
seanwilson
Related tip: Most developer extensions have the permission to read and write
data from any website you visit. I add all my developer extensions to a copy
of Google Chrome Canary instead of my regular Google Chrome app. This means I
don't have to worry about e.g. giving a malicious extension access to my bank
accounts or LastPass account. As an added bonus, developer features can appear
in Canary early.

------
Spoom
JSONView is a godsend for my development; it basically automatically pretty-
prints JSON from APIs when viewed directly, and all of our APIs output JSON.

uBlock Origin for better ad blocking.

LastPass because I believe it makes me more secure than if I shared passwords
everywhere, which would likely be the case otherwise. While it does create a
single point of failure, in case of compromise of LastPass, I would be in the
same position as I would be if one of my other logins were compromised, and I
suspect I would hear about it more quickly. On the other hand, with LastPass,
if _another_ service is compromised, it limits the damage to just that
service, whereas shared passwords would mean having to change my passwords
everywhere. The convenience of never having to remember usernames or passwords
is pretty great too.

Motorola Connect so I can use my phone without taking it out of my pocket when
I'm at a computer.

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swissRF
I use Chrome and using -

* Buffer so that I can post tweet later.

* Movietabs ([https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/movietabs/ofaifffa...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/movietabs/ofaifffanpfcpkpalipnjjehhldopcnm)) Movie fan here

* Pushbullet to sync b/w devices.

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J_Darnley
All for Pale Moon (and Firefox, duh).

Down Them All - quick, grab before it disappears due to Mozilla's horrible
plans for extensions. Useful for downloading a bunch of links or media from
one or multiple pages. Also useful for downloading executables and not have
Windows bitch about where it came from.

ReloadEvery - Reloads a page at a set interval. Occasionally useful, mostly
when waiting for something.

Resurrect Pages - Alters the error page and adds to the right-click menu to
provide a few online cache options for viewing missing content. I would love
to add a new option to use archive.is

How did I first discover these? I don't really remember, they've been here so
long. Usually by being recommended on some forum.

A smattering of common and somewhat uncommon privacy ones -- BetterPrivacy,
HTTPS Everywhere, NoScript, RefControl, RequestPolicy, Self-Destructing
Cookies, uBlock Origin

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stephenr
I use Safari on iOS and OS X, and make use of iCloud Keychain, iCloud Tabs,
Reading List and Reader View pretty much every day.

\- Set Search to DDG.

\- Set cookies to "Allow from current website only"

\- Ghostery extension on Mac, maybe replaced soon with a content-blocker
extension. [https://safari-
extensions.apple.com/details/?id=com.betterad...](https://safari-
extensions.apple.com/details/?id=com.betteradvertising.ghostery-HPY23A294X)

\- Currently trying Refine on iOS. [https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/refine-
customizable-ad-block...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/refine-customizable-
ad-blocker/id1011678834?ls=1&mt=8)

------
e12e
Firefox with vimperator for keyboard ui, firefox/mozilla sync for cross-device
access to history, tabs, passwords (with option to self-host the server part),
ublock for adblocking and noscript. In vimperator ctrl-i brings up vim for
text inputs, which made "it's all text!" redundant. Ocationally use
webeveloper.

Also use chromium for poorly designed, js-heavy and tracking/ad-optimized or
media-heavy sites like facebook, youtube or various google apps.

Don't know what I'll do if ff stable breaks vimperator - maybe move to
UZBL[u]?

On mobile the ux os worse (than desktop with vimperator) - just ff with
password manager for mobile.

[u] [http://www.uzbl.org/](http://www.uzbl.org/)

------
DanBC
Readability - through searching (also HN recommendations) because many
websites delivering text do so incompetently

Pinterest Pin It - I used to enjoy Pinterest. I recognise they engage in some
user hostile stuff, and that the mobile experience is sub-optimal.

Amazon's Add anything to wishlist bookmarklet - it's an easy way to create a
nice wishlist. I would happily use something that took me out of Amazon.

Hacker News bookmarklet - it's a nice way of submitting articles, although I
tend to do that manually nowadays.

I used to use "Track Me Not", an art plugin that generates a bunch of search
traffic. I'd use something that did this properly.

------
ljk
Firefox on Windows 7/Ubuntu

\- set search to DDG, set cookies to be removed after closing, set cookies to
"allow from current website only", check "do not track"

\- uBlock Origin + NoScript + Ghostery + Privacy Badger + Better Privacy

------
boomeasy
I use:

Hackernews Links Only: [https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hacker-news-
show-l...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hacker-news-show-
links/phckhodapplnokiepnaneoglleghgpfi)

Adds an item to the hackernews menu called "LinksOnly" which shows you how
many links are found in the comment section for an entry and when clicked,
toggles hiding comments that don't have links embedded in them.

also adds a few other things such a link highlighting, links open in new tab
and search sorts by date.

how found: I wrote it.

------
jeo1234
For Firefox I use: 1\. Disconnect, helps with privacy and trackers, heard
about while reading up on ghostery (I forget which site). 2\. Night Mode Page
Dim, makes reading at night easier on the eyes, read about it on ghacks. 3\.
NoScript, stops js from running, I think it was Krebs on Security. 4\. Privacy
Badger, another privacy tool, read about it on the EFFs website. 5\.
RefControl, allows the user to manipulate http referrer for certain sites, HN.
6\. uBLock Origin, it acts as an http firewall, friend told me about me.

------
raur
Ghostery is the only extension I use. I prefer bookmarklets for specific
actions like adding to pinboard and instapaper for instance. Being a bit of
privacy nut I don't really trust most extensions, a lot of them have quite
wide ranging permissions. That said I turn off cookies and just whitelist the
sites I want to set data on my machine so I'm not exactly typical in my use.

~~~
c0wb0yc0d3r

      Being a bit of privacy nut
    

So you use Ghostery instead of Privacy Badger? [0]

[0] [https://www.eff.org/privacybadger](https://www.eff.org/privacybadger)

~~~
raur
I do. It's more regularly updated and much simpler to use. I found myself
constantly having to play with the settings of Privacy Badger on a site by
site basis to get the experience I wanted. But YMMV.

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svepuri
I use Chrome and the following extensions 1) Wallaby - Helps me pick the
credit card which can offer more rewards for a site. 2) Pocket - To save data
for reading later. 3) Page Monitor - To monitor the changes in webpages. Eg:
It alerts me when a book is returned to the library. Helps me in taking quick
actions. 4) Selector Gadget - Helps identify the Xpath of CSS and HTML
components in a webpage.

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brudgers
By default, Firefox with noscript, ghostery, and firemacs.

Increasingly, Chromium with different "person"'s to sandbox social media sites
that track obnoxiously [e.g. Facebook, Linkedin, and Google]. Tracking is one
of the motivations for noscript and gohstery on Firefox. Chromium handles that
with less friction.

Someone told me about Chromium person's here on HN.

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kremdela
Chrome with a lot of extensions (Notably: Always Clear Downloads, AlienTube
for Youtube, Fireshot, Edit this Cookie, Ghostery, Google Analytics Debugger,
PageSpeed Insights, Postman REST Debugger, Rapportive, uBlock). But I
occasionally find myself using I use Safari for a simple, clean browsing
experience.

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tonylemesmer
Firefox - Self destructing cookies and uBlock origin. Discovered SDC via
google searches, uBlock origin was from some discussion on HN I think.

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mastermindesign
Chrome | Lastpass, AdBlock Plus, Tampermonkey, ColorZilla, Nimbus Screenshot,
Detox for facebook, Panda 4 (News and inspiration dashboard)

------
anaxag0ras
Firefox with Noscript, Ghostery, uBlock Origin, Self-Destructing Cookies,
DownloadThemAll and TooManyTabs

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eecks
uBlock (not origin because it's not available for Safari)

ClickToFlash - Flash can't autoplay

StartPage HTTPS - My Google traffic goes through StartPage

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Gustomaximus
Ghostery

Hangouts

Tabcloud

Tag Assistant

Page Analytics

Boomerang for Gmail

Google Docs offline

Google Sheets

Google Translate

Murdoch Block

Search By Image

Mouse Gestures For Chrome

