Showing posts with label Browser. Show all posts
Back in the days of yore, Adobe’s Flash used to rule the internet. Everything from the tacky animations to navigation was built on Flash. Not to mention the millions of small browser based games. Of course, this was before the smartphones took over. In 2010, Steve Jobs openly banned Flash from iOS devices (and it doesn’t come installed on Macs). Soon Android followed suit and just like that, almost all of mobile web was Flash free.
To disable or not to disable?
But that’s just mobile web. Of course, the fact that developers are using HTML to code up responsive, mobile-first websites means the advantages have clearly transferred to the web at large. But still, a lot of stuff on desktop web pages does run on Flash.
Recently, there’s been a movement online to kill Flash once and for all – Occupy Flash. I’m not joking. It’s an actual movement. They have a manifesto and a website and everything. It’s like Occupy Wall Street, only this time, it might actually work.
But why does everyone suddenly want to kill Flash? What did it ever do to them, or us? Can we, the people who spend 8 hours a day essentially in the browser live without it? Read on to find out.
Why Flash Must Go
It’s not that Flash is clunky and not modern or sophisticated. Tons of legacy software still survives. It’s that Flash just went from being annoying to being downright dangerous. We all know that Flash is a battery and performance hog, especially when flash games or apps are poorly coded.
It started when the Hacking Team leaks emerged. The company known for producing malware and selling it to the highest bidder seemed to be exploiting a vulnerability in Flash that instantly put millions of users across the world in danger. When the reports came out Adobe quickly released fixes. But then a couple of days later new vulnerabilities surfaced and let me tell you,this isn’t going to end.
Since then Facebook’s Chief of Security has called for Flash’s demise. Even Mozilla has said that they’re going to disable Flash till Adobe solves all the major vulnerabilities that recently came to light.
Yes, even if we disbar everything else and just look at it from a security standpoint, Flash must go.
Force HTML5: While YouTube has now mostly switched to HTML5 videos, there might still be times (may be on other sites) where you’re served Flash videos when an HTML5 alternative clearly exists. In those moments, try these extensions to force the website to load HTML5 content.
Can Desktop Users Live Without Flash?
This is the interesting question and the answer as always comes down to – “depends”. But let me elaborate. The biggest sources of videos – YouTube, Vimeo and Facebook are not dependent on Flash. And most websites don’t use Flash anymore.
I turned off Flash a couple of days back and whenever I came across Flash based content, I didn’t care for it. It was either an embedded video in an article from big news site, or one of the annoying auto-play video ads on sites.
An in-line video I couldn’t care much about, blocked because I have disabled Flash.
If you feel like taking the plunge, type “chrome://plugins” in Chrome’s omnibox and from the plugins list, disable Adobe Flash Player. If you have Flash installed on your computer, follow these guides to uninstall it from your Mac or Windows PC.
It’s important to note here that Chrome’s version of Flash is sandboxed. In that, it runs in its own little environment inside Chrome and its code isn’t spread across your OS. This means the chances of infection when using Chrome’s built-in Flash are much less.
Flash When You Want
This is the perfect compromise. Flash stays far way most of the time, saving you from battery drain and from security issues. But when you do want it, it’s just a click away.
Most modern browsers have a click-to-play feature when it comes to plugins and the same can be achieved for Flash as well.
So for instance in Chrome, instead of disabling Flash, go to Settings -> Show advanced settingsand from Privacy, click Content settings and scroll down to Plugins. From here, select Let me choose when to run plugin content. For a detailed look at how to do this on all major browsers, check out this guide at How-To Geek.
You Should Try Giving It Up
Seriously, the days of Flash are nigh. I’m just waiting for Chrome to make a move. Once Google does that, Flash is as good as dead. But we can all do our part in the process of killing Flash and seeing it replaced by HTML5 or some other open source technologies. And it starts by you disabling Flash.
Occupy Flash.
Consider the fact that we as consumers only get to know about the vulnerabilities when a hacker/media organization highlights them. There’s a lot more going on in the background. And because Flash is a proprietary format, we’ll never really feel safe with it.
You start your day at work by opening your inbox, then check the news, some social media and click some links based on your intrigue on the topic. Before you know it, your Chrome browser is filled with tabs which outnumber the embarrassing moments the Kardashians have had on reality TV. So, how do you keep a tab on tabs?
Losing tabs in Chrome? Don’t lose your mind over it! Shutterstock
1. Tab Manager
Tab Manager is a good extension which does exactly what it sounds like. The default view gives you an icon overview of all the open tabs within the current open Window as well as other windows. There is also a search bar from where you can quickly get to a tab that you can’t otherwise find. To its right are options to Add Window, Pin Tabs, Delete Tabs and Change layout.
If you do not like the icon view layout, you need simply to click on the layout icon on the bottom right to get a different view. This view has more details about each tab with the ever-present search bar and the options to its right (like pinning and deleting tabs) also present. Right above these are also options to close the current tab and open a new one.
Where this extension excels, though, is in the ability to search and show tabs from multiple windows of Chrome. Whether you’ve got 2 (or more) windows of Chrome open, it will show you the list of all the tabs open and all you have to do is click on the tab you want to jump to and it takes you there effortlessly.
I usually like to keep 2 Chrome windows open, one for work-related tabs and the other for social media and personal mails. With Tab Manager, you can see all the tabs from all your open Chrome Windows, all in one place.
2. TooManyTabs for Chrome
Another great extension to try out is TooManyTabs, which we had spoken about a while ago. The advantage of this extension is that visually it is much nicer than the previous one and gives a card-like view which makes it easy to identify which tab is which. The whole look can be customized as well, plus there are nice options for sorting different tabs like Sort by Name, Sort by Web Address and Sort by Creation Time.
There is also a tab count on the icon itself which will always give you a quick idea of the number of tabs open.
It also gives a You are here identifier so you know where your current tab is, in the myriad of all the other open tabs within Chrome. Additionally, hitting the yellow arrow next to the top of the tab moves it to the empty Suspended Tabs section on the right. This feature is akin to pinning a tab, which temporarily closes that tab to be accessed at a later stage.
Although this extension won’t work in showing you all the open tabs across multiple windows of Chrome, it does have a nice option to to export tabs to Firefox, if you so wish to. This can be found in the Options menu of the extension and your existing tabs in Firefox don’t get affected when you do this.
There is also an option to back up your tabs as a simple text file to Google Drive, something that I’ve personally never really found useful, to be honest.
Note: We have also done a review of Tabs Outliner which might be more suited for power users
3. Quick Tabs
Quick Tabs is a lot like Tab Manager in the way it looks and handles tabs. You get all your open tabs aligned in neat rows with a search box at the top and a nice addition of Recently Closedsection at the bottom, showing the tabs you had closed recently. This is the same feature which Google Chrome also gives by default, but you don’t need to go hunting for it in Chrome’s Menu for it.
Although this extension shows the number of tabs across multiple Chrome windows, it doesn’t show it as a separate section like Tab Manager. However, it does show a tab count on the icon itself, reflecting the number of tabs open across all Chrome windows. Right-click on the icon and hit Options and you will notice some interesting choices that the developer has included.
Not all of the keyboard shortcuts might work but the developer is working on getting around the default keyboard shortcuts of Chrome to make this extension better.
Avoid Clutter
These were some of the options that we think can help any user keep a tab of their open tabs in Google Chrome. How about you? If you can think of better solutions to avoid clutter while browsing, do meet us in the comments section below.
Browsers are one of the most important apps on our smartphones. Whether you are a normal end user or a geek, you really need a good web browser on your smartphone. On high-end flagship phones with 2GB of RAM or more and GBs of internal memory, Chrome, Firefox, and other such high-end browsers do the trick.
However, I have heard my friends using devices like Moto E and Android One complaining about how browsers like Chrome hog their resources. After all, all they want is a simple web browser to read articles or browse some shopping websites. So here are three lightweight browsers you can install on your Android to browse the web like never before.
Let’s start and have a look at these browsers one after another. I have arranged the browsers in ascending order of their file size on the Play Store.
Now Browser
The Now Browser APK file is unbelievably small in size, at just 178 KB. After installation, it doesn’t take more than 4 MB and that’s just about 4% of what browsers like Chrome and Firefox take on most Android devices. But when it comes to usability and features, it will really surprise you.
The browser loads up as soon as you tap the icon and there is hardly any delay in loading the new tab page. You can browse websites, add it to bookmarks and check out history just like any other browser. The browser supports native downloading and a user can also choose if he would like to browse a website in a desktop or a mobile view. You also get incognito mode options to maintain privacy.
The page load time was also faster than Chrome. We’ll cover more about it in a table at the end of the post.
Apus Browser
Apus browser is just 600 KB in size when it comes to the installation APK and takes only 9 MB after installation. One of the most remarkable features of Apus Browser is its Navigation page. The page has the top 10 websites from your region and also gives you a glance of the top news. The default search provider for the home page can be changed from settings. You also have voice search facility powered by Google.
When it comes to features, Apus doesn’t have many options. You just get basic functionalities like bookmarks and history. You don’t have the option of private browsing, but all the browsing data can be deleted from the settings in just a single tap. The page loading time is significantly lower when compared to Chrome, but lags behind Now Browser. But in terms of graphics and looks, Apus stands ahead of the former.
KK Browser
Last but not least, we have the KK Browser at 1.2 MB in size, which installs up to 6 MB. The load time of KK Browser is next to nil when it’s not running in the memory. In the home page, you have some pinned websites along with links to most popular websites for News, music and videos.
The page loading time is bit higher when compared to other browsers, but then you get some interesting features like changing font size and user agent in KK browser. You also get the option to remember the data for forms and passwords you fill out online for faster browsing. No private browsing here either, so you have to clear your data manually when needed.
Look-wise, KK Browser is nice and the option to bookmark and share pages can be found in the three-dotted menu. Enable Text Only mode for super-fast browsing with a load time less than any of the other browsers. The night mode is an added bonus for a browser of this size.
Summing it Up
KK Browser might take some additional seconds while loading pages, but feature-wise, it’s the best you can get for just a MB. Now Browser is not great when it comes to looks, but has the lowest memory footprints and page loading times. Apus Browser is great when it comes to looks and has decent memory footprints and page loading speed.
Here’s a table to compare the page loading time for all the browsers. The time is in seconds and is an average of three sample sets after resetting the browser before every run. I used Guiding Tech and The Verge as the testing playground.
So go ahead and pick a faster, streamlined browser, but don’t forget to keep us in the loop.
Managing a calendar can help you stay on top of your schedule. But somehow the cloud era has taken this activity online and makes one open a browser to keep updated. And browsers these days have tabs and usually we end up keeping a lot of them open. Your online calendar page could well get lost in this clutter.
This article is all about a solution to bringing your online calendar to your desktop such that you may work along without a browser. We are going to show three methods/tools with the help of which you can bring your Google Calendar to your desktop.
Integrate Google Calendar with Windows Live Mail or Outlook
There is a nifty way (though not a direct one) to integrate your Google Calendar with Windows Live Mail if you have a Hotmail/Live ID registered for yourself. Our detailed article here will tell you how to do that.
It is a one way sync process but turns out to be really handy if you want a central repository of your appointments. If you are an Outlook user you may create a similar setup by using Google Calendar Sync that communicates with your Outlook configuration and downloads your calendar details.
GMinder as a Desktop Client
GMinder works as a client service to download all your details from Google Calendar such that you don’t always have to be online to access them. Download the application and set up your Google account details. Once done, you will be able to click on the Download button and sync all your data.
If you have an ICAL address then you may add other calendars as well. Besides, the tool lets you set up desktop reminders and pop-ups through Options (right click on system tray icon). You may also clear past events, refresh to download the latest or add one from your desktop.
The tool is pretty simple to use and you will be able to figure out other settings by yourself.
Google Calendar Windows Client
This tool is a typical Google Calendar client and uses your ICAL address to access your calendar details. Once you have the tool up and running you may add your calendars to it. Click on the Add button on the Calendars tab. You will be asked to enter calendar URL and give it a name.
You may also set up global Preferences like auto load calendar on startup, set reminders and save calendar for offline use.
Conclusion
The first one is a more general solution whereby you may include your Google Calendar among others in your email client. Other two are a solutions specific to Google Calendar. Give each one a try and tell us which fits you the best.
My relationship with music streaming services has been iffy at best (but still way better than Taylor Swift’s). I used to have a free Spotify account and used the desktop app that would kick me out once in a while for not living in the US. So I moved to streaming Spotify over the web.
Then, a couple of months back, Rdio officially launched in my country (India) and they brought 32 million songs along with a really good English song collection. The best part was that the premium, ad-free, offline downloads version only costs around $2. I jumped on it.
And so far, Rdio has been great. After taking ads out of the equation, I’m listening to a lot more music, discovering new albums every week, something I always wanted to do (this week it’sPet Sounds by The Beach Boys, thanks to the latest Inquisitive podcast). Look at me now Ma, I’m 23 and I’m actually paying to get my music legally. All my 0.00000001 cents, artists, you’re welcome.
If you too have switched to Rdio and prefer to listen to Rdio via Chrome (extensions! woohoo!) instead of the desktop app (the desktop app is really barebones, doesn’t support plug-ins like Spotify does, or even Chromecast) read on to find out how to totally pimp out your Rdio music listening experience.
1. Rdio Lyrics Extension
Rdio Lyrics is a really simple lyrics app that integrates lyrics right in the Now Playing screen by replacing the album art with lyrics. It doesn’t show time-synced lyrics and frankly, it’s a bit too hard to scroll but there’s a good reason to install this extension (more on that in point 5).
2. Play Music Lyrics Fetcher Extension
Play Music Lyrics Fetcher is the lyrics extension for most of you out there. It supports a boatload of music streaming services including Rdio. It shows up as a popup, looks great, is nimble and best of all, has Musixmatch like time-synced lyrics.
3. Rdio Mini Player
If you’re tired of going to the Rdio tab every time you want to change the song or see what song’s playing, try this extension. It will show a popup mini player from the extension bar and will show native Chrome notifications for song changes with Previous and Next track action buttons.
Pin the Rdio tab: I usually pin the Rdio tab along with Gmail and Messenger so I don’t need to go looking for it. Using the keyboard shortcut Cmd+2 (Ctrl+2 for Windows), I can get to the second pinned tab easily.
4. Assigning Hotkeys for Global Control
Using a Chrome extension called Musicality, you can control playback for a web based player using self-defined keyboard hotkeys. This is especially great for a Mac or Windows laptop that has media keys for Play/Pause, Previous and Next track. Global hotkey support means you can control Rdio playback from anywhere. It takes away one of the last good reason I had for installing the Rdio desktop app.
Musically supports many music streaming websites along with Rdio, like Spotify and YouTube.
5. Chomecasting Rdio
For some reason, Chromecasting Rdio from Chrome has gotten buggy recently. I hope that will be fixed soon. So I usually start Chromecasting from my phone and continue from Rdio web app. The great thing about Rdio is that you can use a Rdio client on every other device to control playback at the main device. So I can control Rdio music playing on my PC from my Phone.
Have you bought the Chromecast yet? Chromecast is one of the best things I bought. It’s $35 streaming stick that does a lot. If you haven’t bought one yet or want to more with the one you already own, check out our Ultimate Guide to Chromecast.
Another thing I do is just cast the whole tab instead of using Rdio’s built-in feature. This means I get a far less cool screen to look at but there’s an upside. And when I switch to the Now Playingscreen, boom, I’ve got song lyrics on my TV.
This is my #lifehack for getting lyrics to the big screen via Rdio. Remember that lame sounding Rdio Lyrics extension? This is where it shines. I’ve wanted lyrics to current playing Rdio song on the TV for a long time and right now this is the only way to do it.
Scrobbling Rdio
A friend of mine said I should be scrobbling to Last.fm. So I started doing it. I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to do with all that data, but I’ll figure something out (if you have any ideas, leave them in the comments below). Scrobbling Rdio to Last.fm is as simple as going to the settings and connecting your Last.fm account.
What’s Your Rdio Hot Tip?
Do you use Rdio? Have a cool Rdio tip to share? Let us know down in the comments below.
Chromebooks are awesome. Google is selling them like hot cakes. But using a Chromebook as your primary laptop comes with its own set of challenges. Take Dropbox, for instance. Many of us have Dropbox accounts that let us sync files to all our devices – except our Chromebooks. Sure, you can access the Dropbox website, but that’s an extra step. So how do you go about making access to Dropbox easier and more organized on a Chromebook?
The answer: File System for Dropbox App. With this app, your Dropbox files show up as another volume in the Chrome File Manager. Easy peasy. Let’s check out the steps.
Install the App
The app is available from the Chrome web store. This app isn’t the same as the official Dropbox App. You need to follow the link or search for File System for Dropbox.
Configure Access to Your Dropbox
File System for Dropbox shows up as a volume in your File Manager, so you must mountyour Dropbox account.
Cool tip: Check out other great ways to use Dropbox in Chrome.
After you click Mount, you’ll sign in to your Dropbox account.
Fortunately, the app supports two-factor authentication (I highly recommend it). If you have two-factor turned on, you’ll enter your security code next.
Important: Protect your accounts by enabling two-factor authentication everywhere you can.
After you authenticate your Dropbox account, you’ll give File System for ChromeOS permission to access your Dropbox.
Note that this permission request is under a different name from the app you downloaded, although the icon looks the same.
Tip: Check out all the devices and apps that have permission to your Dropbox account.
Seeing Your Dropbox in the File Manager
Head on over to the Files app on your Chromebook and you’ll see a new icon that saysDropbox and your Dropbox username. If you have lots of files, it might take a while for the files to show up. From there you can drag and drop files between your Chromebook and your Dropbox account.
Glitches and Annoyances
Every so often the app asks you to re-authenticate your Dropbox account. The author explains this in the documentation – the APIs time out. If you think you’ll want to save files directly to your Dropbox, mount your account before you begin work. Another annoyance is you can’t download directly to your Chromebook. You need to download to your Chromebook drive and then copy it over.
Conclusion
You can always download the files you need to your Chromebook from the Dropbox website. That makes native Chromebook apps and functions harder to use. If you use Dropbox, you’ve already installed it on your Mac or PC. Every other Dropbox platform supports a native file system, so don’t leave your Chromebook out of the family.
Microsoft is retiring the old, much loved-to-be-hated Internet Explorer in favor of the newMicrosoft Edge. It will be the default browser for Windows 10, from phones to desktop, and from first impressions, it doesn’t look half bad. It’s as if Microsoft actually tried to create a better product this time. Competition is wonderful, kids.
Edge will make it to the market with Windows 10, but you can try it right now if you’re signed up for Window’s Insider Program. Beware though, this is a Technical Preview. That’s a couple of steps before a public beta. Don’t install it as your main OS.
Installing Windows 10: Learn how to install Windows 10 on Mac using Parallels orVirtualBox. You can also create a custom ISO for Windows 10.
1. The Logo Looks Oddly Familiar
MS made a big deal of how Edge was totally new and awesome. Which is why most of us nearly spilled our drinks when we saw the logo… look familiar?
What is hiding in the negative space of Microsoft's new Edge browser logo?http://t.co/xlbSUE3Q05 pic.twitter.com/64rZtEwqd5— The Verge (@verge) May 3, 2015
But it makes sense. While the iconic Internet Explorer logo means crap to most of us tech geeks, it’s the symbol for internet for millions of tech inept Windows users around the world. And when they finally upgrade to Windows 10 (which, as it’s free, of course they will), they’ll see that vaguely familiar e icon and they’ll know what to do.
2. It Might Not Suck
Microsoft Edge is the fastest 64-bit browser on Octane 2.0 #build2015#msedge #JavaScript pic.twitter.com/HueVMcN2sT— Microsoft Edge Dev (@MSEdgeDev) April 30, 2015
It’s not 1997 and MS has to compete with Chrome now. Edge uses a proprietary layout engine called EdgeHTML. And it seems to be following the modern web protocols. More than IE ever did. We’ll know more about this when the final build comes out.
3. It Will Work from Phones to Desktops
Edge will scale up from 4 inch cheap Windows 10 phones to tablets to 27 inch desktops. We’re not sure how all the features would work, but we’re surely excited to find out.
4. Cortana Integration
This might be one of the best things about Edge. Cortana on the Windows Phone was the highlight of my Lumia 630 review unit. Having her integrated inside the browser is going to be extremely helpful. And from the demos, it looks like the integration is going to go far deeper than anything Google Now has attempted with Chrome.
Cortana will be always there when you search for something. She will tell you important things, like the temperature in Manhattan, without you having to launch any website.
5. Annotation and Reading Mode
There’s no shortage of annotation tools and read-later extensions on Chrome. But again, Edge’s advantage is going to be the integrated approach. You find a web page, you annotate it, take some notes and share it with your friends. They’ll also be using Edge and they can comment on the page right there.
A Chrome extension called Point is trying to do this but again, I think it will work much better with Edge.
Edge also has a reading mode where it strips the text from all formatting. You can also save pages to be read later.
6. The New Tab is Going to Be Like the Start Page
Edge’s new tab page is going to be rich with information and arranged in the same kind of tiles like the new Start menu and the old Start page.
Customizable widgets will bring you news, sports updates, weather, and more.
7. There Will Be Extensions
I can hear the productivity-oriented people asking this question already. MS knows that extensions are the cool new thing and MS is actually going out of their way to make it easier for developers to port existing Chrome and Firefox extensions to Edge. This means, hopefully, when Windows 10 launches, the big players like Evernote, Pocket, Wunderlist, and more will be there on day one.
What Do You Think of Edge?
From the looks of it, Edge might be a good browser for a lot of people who are not going to install 68 extensions to do special stuff. The built-in functionality will enhance the experience for millions across the world.
What do you think of it? Will you give it a try? Even if it’s to laugh about it at your next geek meetup? Share with us in the comments below.
