The Top 5 Indispensable Chrome Extensions
Posted on 02. Feb, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey in Features
Some people find that extensions (also known as add-ins if you’re a Firefox user) to end up being meaningless bloat that simply slows down the perofrmance of their browser. But I beg to differ. Chrome has some plugins that can seriously change your web browsing experiences, and while some of these extensions are available in other browsers, the speed with the which these run along with the browsing experience differentiates Chrome from its comeptition. Not that there’s anything wrong with a little competitive drive in order to further progress technology.
1. Google Translate – We do live in a global world, and at this point language should no longer be a barrier to information access. That is essentially what this extension does. Instead of copying and pasting text into babelfish – which is what I used to do for translation – I can now click on a icon in the top of my browser and get a translation into English. No, it’s not always perfect but it does the job better than any other free translation tool out there.
2. Chromed Bird - While subjective to whether or not you use Twitter, but for those who do, Chromed Bird allows you to essentially eliminate a browser tab by having an extension that is able to keep you up to date on the latest tweets. You’re able to use this to send out messages as well as get pop-ups when you are replied to or retweeted. This is excellent for the power Twitter user.
3. Google Mail Checker Plus – This is an awesome extension for those who obsessively check their email; let’s just hope for the sake of this extension that you use Gmail. Installed as an icon in your browser, Google Mail Checker Plus will let you know if you have any new messages. It also allows you to reply, delete and compose new messages all from whatever browser window you may be in. So you can write that quick email on the fly, should you be inspired to.
4. RSS Subscription Extension – It’s great that every major site for information has an RSS feed, but it can only be useful if I am able to organize that information into my RSS reader so that I can be updated in real time the latest news and other goings-on around the web. That’s why the RSS Subscription Extension is so useful to me. When a site has a feed that is available, there is an RSS icon that is displayed in my address bar. I simply click on it and I am whisked over to the RSS reader of my choice for saving the feed. Pretty useful, and if you have never really got into RSS feeds, this extension helps out a lot.
5. TabJump – Ever experience tab-madness? If you have, then you should try Tabjump. Neatly placed in your navigation bar, TabJump allows you to better interpret the mass amount of tabs that come with modern browsing. You are able to look at full descriptions of the tabs you are looking at, plus they are also grouped as related topics. You can also reopen recently closed tabs, which often happens in mass ordeals when your system memory starts to freak out because of all the Chrome instances you have open.
Did I leave out your favorite extension that make Chrome the best browser to use or has changed your experience using the internet? Let us know.
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Review: Twitter Reactions Extension | thechromesource - Google Chrome and Chrome OS News and Forum
26. Mar, 2011
[...] they will ever be able to make money as business, but they are not going away. With extensions like Chromed Bird and now this, expect to see more utilizations of Twitter on the horizon for both Chrome browser, [...]