My Chrome Challenge - For 1 week, I will use nothing but the Chrome browser to do everything I need to do on a laptop
...and I want my Chrome browser to help me proactively. Enter Extensions.
I have rambled on about Chrome Extensions and Chrome Web Applications, so just in case anyone is left behind I will explain the difference between the two as far as the user is concerned.
Chrome Web Applications are essentially links to web sites which are designed to operate and look like a traditional desktop application. (For example, Google Doc Spreadsheets allow you to do on the web what you could do in Microsoft Excel on the desktop)
Chrome Extensions are utilities that usually live next to your search bar (or, more accurately, omni-box). They provide snippets of content to either aid your browsing experience by adding content to the pages you normally browse, or to give you bits of live information (like your to do list, calendar, Google+ notifications, etc). The screenshot below is a cheap plug for my up-and-coming Cyman Mark 3 Chrome Extension
Does this difference sound familiar? Those of you who use an Android device would be used to the concepts of widgets and apps. Chrome Extensions are like widgets, and Chrome Web Apps are like full applications.
So what extension options do we have here? As you can see from my screenshot, I have a number of them. The Google Calendar extension is very useful. On the icon it shows the time remaining until your next event. If you hover over it, a tool-tip shows you the next event details, and if you click on the extension icon, a pop up similar to the Cyman Mark 3 appears showing your agenda for the coming days.
One extension I have mentioned in earlier postings is "Awesome Screenshot", which takes screenshots of the active page and allows you to annotate the resulting image. You can save this locally on your machine, or on Google Drive. I have used it most of the time to take screenshots for this blog series.
Another useful extension is one that many of you may be used to already. Sometimes, you could across a page in a different language to yours, and Chrome offers to translate the page for you. Well, with the Google Translate extension, you can do that anytime you want. (This is an example of an extension which edits the page you are looking at.) Are you learning another language? Using this tool would make for good practice.
Many of the popular social network and productivity apps have extensions too which a lot of you would be familiar with. Evernote for taking quick notes and clips, Instagram for your feed, Google+ and Facebook to show many notifications you have and a preview of your feed, Todo.ly for your to do management... the list is endless! Just like Android widgets, you can have nice productive utilities on your Chrome browser to help you along.
One nifty extension I quite like is Lyrics. When you are playing a YouTube clip, or a Google Music track, it edits your web page to display the lyrics to the track! (Providing it can find it) Failing that, you can help the tool search for the lyrics - this is helpful if your music is poorly named, like "Track 4" for example. There are downsides to using extensions which act on websites they do not own - if the website changes in structure, the extension would not work too well until it is updated. For instance, as far as I could tell, this extension does not work on the new YouTube pages (which is why I have not provided the link). If Google created the extension, they would have made sure it worked with their changes. Something to bear in mind whilst Extension-shopping.
For the developers and programmers out there, there are many extensions to help you develop. I'm quite fond of JSONView, which formats JSON into a nice readable format. Or the Page Ruler extension to help you with your web site styling, making sure certain elements are aligned.
I could go on forever here. Instead, I will invite you to take a look at the extensions Chome has to offer right here!
...and I want my Chrome browser to help me proactively. Enter Extensions.
I have rambled on about Chrome Extensions and Chrome Web Applications, so just in case anyone is left behind I will explain the difference between the two as far as the user is concerned.
Chrome Web Applications are essentially links to web sites which are designed to operate and look like a traditional desktop application. (For example, Google Doc Spreadsheets allow you to do on the web what you could do in Microsoft Excel on the desktop)
Chrome Extensions are utilities that usually live next to your search bar (or, more accurately, omni-box). They provide snippets of content to either aid your browsing experience by adding content to the pages you normally browse, or to give you bits of live information (like your to do list, calendar, Google+ notifications, etc). The screenshot below is a cheap plug for my up-and-coming Cyman Mark 3 Chrome Extension
 |
| Extension Example: (Unreleased) Cyman Mark 3 which pops out from the extension icon. The other extensions either do this or open another web page on a different tab |
Does this difference sound familiar? Those of you who use an Android device would be used to the concepts of widgets and apps. Chrome Extensions are like widgets, and Chrome Web Apps are like full applications.
So what extension options do we have here? As you can see from my screenshot, I have a number of them. The Google Calendar extension is very useful. On the icon it shows the time remaining until your next event. If you hover over it, a tool-tip shows you the next event details, and if you click on the extension icon, a pop up similar to the Cyman Mark 3 appears showing your agenda for the coming days.
One extension I have mentioned in earlier postings is "Awesome Screenshot", which takes screenshots of the active page and allows you to annotate the resulting image. You can save this locally on your machine, or on Google Drive. I have used it most of the time to take screenshots for this blog series.
Another useful extension is one that many of you may be used to already. Sometimes, you could across a page in a different language to yours, and Chrome offers to translate the page for you. Well, with the Google Translate extension, you can do that anytime you want. (This is an example of an extension which edits the page you are looking at.) Are you learning another language? Using this tool would make for good practice.
Many of the popular social network and productivity apps have extensions too which a lot of you would be familiar with. Evernote for taking quick notes and clips, Instagram for your feed, Google+ and Facebook to show many notifications you have and a preview of your feed, Todo.ly for your to do management... the list is endless! Just like Android widgets, you can have nice productive utilities on your Chrome browser to help you along.
One nifty extension I quite like is Lyrics. When you are playing a YouTube clip, or a Google Music track, it edits your web page to display the lyrics to the track! (Providing it can find it) Failing that, you can help the tool search for the lyrics - this is helpful if your music is poorly named, like "Track 4" for example. There are downsides to using extensions which act on websites they do not own - if the website changes in structure, the extension would not work too well until it is updated. For instance, as far as I could tell, this extension does not work on the new YouTube pages (which is why I have not provided the link). If Google created the extension, they would have made sure it worked with their changes. Something to bear in mind whilst Extension-shopping.
For the developers and programmers out there, there are many extensions to help you develop. I'm quite fond of JSONView, which formats JSON into a nice readable format. Or the Page Ruler extension to help you with your web site styling, making sure certain elements are aligned.
I could go on forever here. Instead, I will invite you to take a look at the extensions Chome has to offer right here!
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