Chromium posts

Chrome Extensions gallery taking shape, landing page now invites devs

by Lee Mathews Nov 23rd 2009

If you're trying to get an extension gallery for your web browser off the ground, it's important reach out to developers. After all, they're the ones who will be creating the snazzy addons you plan to showcase.

So it's not surprising to see the change which took place in the Chromium nightly build recently. When you visit your extensions page and click the link to browse the gallery, you won't see the "coming soon" puzzle piece anymore.

Instead, you'll be asked to sign in with your Google account and then whisked over to the developer dashboard. Google offers the following explanation to clarify what you're looking at:

The Google Chrome Extensions gallery is currently in limited beta release to allow developers to upload their extensions. If you are a developer, you can upload your extension here. If you are looking to find and install extensions, please check back here soon!

Are you a developer? If so, the add button will allow you to upload your project. The developer agreement offers a few words about the gallery itself:

The Gallery is a publicly available site on which Developers can publish Products for distribution and use in connection with Google Chrome. In order to publish Products on the Gallery, you must acquire and maintain a valid Google account.

Most of the agreement is pretty standard redistribution/liability/takedown-related policy, though it does reveal that Chrome users will be allowed to rate extensions on the Gallery site. I think we expected that, since you can do it on the Firefox add-ons site.

The full gallery policies are available on this page in case you plan on submitting an extension.

It's apparent that the push is on - it's just a matter of time before the Chrome Extensions Gallery opens its doors to the public.

Tags: chromium, extensions gallery, ExtensionsGallery, google chrome, GoogleChrome

Filed under: Linux, Google, Open Source, Browsers

Chromium bookmark sync now cross-platform, lands on Linux

by Lee Mathews Nov 15th 2009

Jay posted yesterday about the arrival of bookmark sync on Chromium for Mac, and it appears as though Linux users have been invited to the dance as well.

After finishing the updates on my Ubuntu 9.10 dual-boot, I gave the --enable-sync command line switch a go on my 64-bit Chromium install. Sure enough, sync is now working on Linux. Head to the wrench menu and press "Synchronize my bookmarks," enter your credentials, and within a few seconds your bookmarks appear.

The change is certainly making my work day a heck of a lot easier. With the LastPass extension already handling my logins and passwords and Chromium now providing cross-platform access to my bookmarks, jumping back and forth between Linux and Windows is a much smoother process.

Chromium (and Chrome) on Linux is shaping up rather nicely. I'm in agreement with the devs on this thread - it feels speedier than its Windows counterpart. With about 80% of my computing time spent in a web browser, Linux is becoming a more compelling option for me - thanks to the Chromium project.

Tags: bookmark sync, BookmarkSync, chromium, google chrome, GoogleChrome

Filed under: Utilities, Macintosh, Google, Open Source, Browsers

Bookmark sync arrives on Chromium for Mac - here's how to make it work

by Jay Hathaway Nov 13th 2009

We've told you before about Google Chrome's slick new bookmark syncing feature, available in the Windows beta version of Chrome 4. It automatically keeps your bookmarks synced across multiple Chrome installations, using your Google Account. Well, this feature has landed in recent builds of Chromium for Mac (that's the open-source project Chrome is based on). To enable it, you'll first need to grab the latest version of Chromium.

Bookmark sync isn't on by default. To use it, you'll have to pop open your Terminal and do a little command-line magic. You'll want to right-click Chromium, show package contents, and then find Chromium inside the MacOS folder. Drag that to the Terminal, and then add the argument --enable-sync. Chromium should open, and you should see bookmarking syncing in your preferences.

Sign in with your Google account, and your bookmarks will be synced automatically to any other Chromium/Chrome browsers that you sign into. If you want to see where they're stored on the web, check a slightly strange location: a Chrome folder in your Google Docs account.

I know it seems like a lot of trouble to go through for bookmark syncing, but such is the peril of being on the bleeding edge of browser development. Bookmark syncing will very likely pop up officially in the Chrome Mac beta scheduled for early December.

Tags: bookmarks, browser, chrome, chromium, google, sync

Filed under: Developer, Google, Open Source, Beta, Browsers

Kiosk mode added in Chromium nightly build

by Lee Mathews Nov 12th 2009

Developers have a number of features they still want implemented in Google Chrome. In a recent nightly build of Chromium, one that I've seen requested numerous times on the official mailing lists has finally landed.

Kiosk mode has arrived in Chromium, though it's an awful lot like full screen mode. In fact, Mohamed Mansour says as much in his note on the source: "Kiosk mode will just hide the status bar and initially set it as full screen. "

You're left to your new tab page and bookmarks bar to navigate. As in full screen mode, control-L doesn't bring up an address bar, nor does hovering near the top edge of the browser. That's something I'd like to see addressed in future builds.

If you've been waiting to see what kiosk mode in Chrome would look like, grab a current build from the Chromium server and append the --kiosk command line switch.

Tags: chromium, google chrome, GoogleChrome, kiosk mode, KioskMode

Filed under: Google, Open Source, Browsers

Embed a (very) basic Twitter client in Google Chrome with the ChromedBird extension

by Lee Mathews Nov 5th 2009

Hot on the heels of my roundup of 15+ great extensions for Google Chrome, I've already found some more that deserve to be mentioned. First on the list: ChromedBird.

You probably guessed from the name, but yes, it's a minimal Twitter client which you can access from Chrome's main toolbar. It hides inside a little birdie button until you want to check your stream or post an update.

ChromedBird displays the last 5 tweets in your stream and allows you to post updates - and that's it. Links you paste into your updates are automatically shortened using bit.ly. Sure, it's a pretty stripped-down Twitter experience, but it's still nice to have close at hand when browsing with Chrome.

ChromeBird is a little buggy, but it's a very early build. I'll turn a blind eye, since we only get extension support in somewhat buggy dev builds (click here to download) of Chrome (or Chromium) right now anyway.

You can find the ChromedBird .crx over at ChromeExtensions.

Tags: .crx, chromium, dev channel, DevChannel, extensions, google chrome, GoogleChrome, twitter

Filed under: Google, Open Source, Browsers

Customizing Chromium with Userscripts gets way easier in nightly build

by Lee Mathews Nov 4th 2009

You won't notice this change in Google Chrome just yet, even if you're running the developer channel. But if you happen to be one of the intrepid souls who routinely download and roll the dice on Chromium nightly builds, you've now got a much easier way to install Userscripts.

In past releases, you had to manually save Userscripts into your Chromium (or Chrome) Userdata\Default folder. Not any more! Now, all you have to do is click on the .js download link for any Userscript. Once saved, Chromium automatically converts the script to a Chrome Extension.

Tags: chromium, extensions, google chrome, GoogleChrome, userscripts

Filed under: Features, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Google, Browsers, Lists

15+ great Google Chrome extensions

by Lee Mathews Nov 2nd 2009

We've already mentioned other ways to power up Google Chrome. Before extensions arrived on the developer channel, Userscripts and bookmarklets were your only options. Both are still great ways to add some kick-ass functionality to Chrome. If you're running the stable or beta builds, you may want to stick to them for now.

10 handy Userscripts for Google Chrome users
15+ handy bookmarklets for Google Chrome (and other browsers, too!)

Now, onto the extensions!

If you have a favorite that I left off, feel free to share it in the comments!
Share

Tags: add-ons, bookmarklets, browser, browsers, chrome-4, chromium, developer-channel, extensions, features, google chrome, google-chrome, GoogleChrome, lists, productivity, UserScripts, utilities

Filed under: Google, Browsers

Fittr Flickr extension for Chrome enhances your Flickr experience

by Lee Mathews Oct 15th 2009

Using Google Chrome for your day-to-day browsing? Spend a lot of time paging through photos on Flickr? You owe it to yourself to check out the Fittr Flickr extension.

Apart from chopping the Yahoo! branding off the site's logo, Fittr Flickr adds a number of very useful features. For example, keyboard navigation - that's the pop-up help screen in the image above. The hotkeys make navigating through photo sets and adding images to your favorites a breeze.

Fittr Flickr also adds expandable EXIF information below each photo, direct links to different image sizes, a "Tweet this photo" link, and a link to view the current image using Big Huge Labs' On Black. Flickr's shortened flic.kr URL to the image is also displayed.

[via CNet]

Tags: add-ons, chrome-extensions, chromium, crx, flickr

Filed under: OS Updates, Google

Yes, there's a Chrome OS folder now, but don't get your panties in a bunch yet

by Lee Mathews Oct 13th 2009

TechCrunch's MG Siegler got all excited over the weekend about the appearance of a Chrome OS build folder on Google's Chromium.org server. Yes, the snapshots are now being posted - actually, they have been since October 5th, by the look of things - but there's nothing to get excited about just yet. Sorry, MG.

For starters, what's in the folder is what's in the other top level folders - a browser build for a specific OS. This isn't Chrome OS per se, it's the Google Chrome browser build for Google's upcoming OS. You know, like the Mac, Windows, and Linux versions available for download from the very same server.

But let's move on. Assuming you're the easily excited type, the screen above shows what you get when building Chrome for Chrome OS versus Chrome on Linux. My thanks to Johnathan Frederickson, who commented on the TC post and actually played around with Google's .deb packages.

As you can see, there's really not much to look at apart from the clock and the little circle in the top left corner.
When clicked, the circle takes you to a sign-on page, currently only available internally to Google staffers in all probability. I'll wager that has something to do with the single sign-on cookie we read about a while back.

Tags: chrome, chrome-os, chromeos, chromium, google

Filed under: Google, Open Source, Beta, Browsers

Chrome gets a real extension manager in dev channel build

by Lee Mathews Sep 30th 2009

While it's not quite as "pretty" as the add-on manager built in to Firefox, at least it's there. Yes, Google Chrome has a built-in extension manager - for those of you running the developer channel build.

To access the page, just head to the wrench menu or type chrome://extensions in the omnibar and hit enter. Chrome (or Chromium) will display a list of all your installed extensions (yes, LastPass an alpha out for testing and you can read about it here on Download Squad). Any extension can be disabled, uninstalled, or reloaded (presumably in the event one decides to crash like a Sea King helicopter).

It's definitely nice to see a full-featured extension interface appear in Chrome. Now all we have to do is wait for developers to port over some of our favorite Firefox add-ons - or create some killer new ones.

Tags: chrome, chromium, crx, dev-channel, developer, extensions, google, google-chrome

Filed under: Security, Google, Beta, Browsers

LastPass extension for Google Chrome now available, and it rocks

by Lee Mathews Sep 30th 2009

A number of Download Squad readers have been echoing the same sentiment in recent posts about Google's browser: as soon as LastPass is available, we're leaving Firefox for good.

Well, gang, grab your parachutes, it's time to bail! The LastPass crew has released an alpha version of their Google Chrome extension, and it rocks. Check out the screens after the break!

Tags: 1password, add-ons, chrome, chromium, extensions, google, google-chrome, lastpass, password, password-manager, roboform

Filed under: Windows, Google, Beta, Browsers

RoboForm now available for Google Chrome, sort of

by Lee Mathews Sep 25th 2009

While it may not be the seamless solution you've been looking for, if you're a RoboForm user and have been waiting for Google Chrome integration, there's now a solution for you.

RoboForm have created a customized Chromium installer which adds a floating toolbar below the Chrome browser window. Getting set up requires two installs.

First, you'll need to load RoboForm itself (if you haven't already, of course). Next, download the RoboForm for Chromium executable from RoboForm's website. Once you've removed other Chromium instances, run the setup and launch the custom build.

A note on the download page offers this reassurance: "When Google finalizes their public extensions framework, we will make every effort to ensure that RoboForm will work for Google Chrome within a very short time."

In the meantime, RoboForm for Chromium works, even if it does look -- err -- a little different.

Tags: chromium, form-filler, google-chrome, password-manager, roboform

Filed under: Google, Browsers

Google Chrome grows up, stable build gets bumped to version 3

by Lee Mathews Sep 15th 2009

Those of you who are tired of reading about all the great features Google has been packing into Chrome's beta and developer channel builds, it's time to break out the Guinness. A fortnight after Google Chrome's first birthday, Google has bumped the stable version to 3.0.195.21.

So what does that mean, exactly? The stable version now includes features like the updated new tab page, improved omnibar, and themes support. Oh yeah, there's also the Javascript performance boost -- at last check, the V8 engine's power level was well over 9,000. Or 150% better than Chrome's first beta release, anyway.

HTML5 support has also made its way into the stable channel, making it possible to take advantage of things like the <video> tag (try it out here) and <audio> and <canvas> elements. Check out Chrome Experiment #50 to see audio and canvas at work.

Bookmark syncing and extension support still aren't included - those are still reserved for the daredevilish types running the beta and developer channels.

Insert snide remark here: Three major versions in a year, huh? At this rate, Google will be pushing Google Chrome 7 by the time Mozilla ships Firefox 4 in 2010.

Tags: browsers, chromium, google chrome, google-chrome, GoogleChrome, web browser, WebBrowser

Filed under: Utilities, Google, Browsers

Chromium Updater keeps you on the bleeding edge of Mac Chrome development

by Jason Clarke Sep 10th 2009

Mac users are tired of hearing about how Chrome is the greatest thing to hit the web since, well, Firefox. While Windows users have been happily using Chrome for a year now, the Mac version of Chrome is only now starting to reach a usable beta state. Unfortunately, Google tends not to update the official Chrome beta for Mac very often, at least compared to the multiple-builds-per-day that are occurring to Chromium, Chrome's developer build.

The latest versions of Chromium are quite usable, but you can get out of date in a matter of mere hours. Fortunately, the folks over at TechCrunch hacked together a script with an Automator process for the purposes of checking for and downloading the latest Chromium build.

The net effect is that you can now download a small app called Chromium Updater who's sole function is to update Chromium, then launch it. Of course, all the scary hand-waving beta software warnings apply: don't use a beta browser for mission critical tasks, etc. But if you feel comfortable dealing with beta software, you will probably be pleasantly surprised by the current state of Chromium, and the rate at which it improves.

Tags: beta, beta software, beta-software, BetaSoftware, chrome, chromium, firefox, google, mac version, mac-version, MacVersion

Filed under: Google, Open Source, Beta, Browsers

Extensions now enabled by default in Google Chrome dev channel, now where are they?

by Lee Mathews Sep 10th 2009

Did Google just take the next step in making extensions play a more interesting role in Google Chrome? Possibly, but at least now we can trim our command line switches down a little.
Those of you running Chrome's bleeding-edge developer channel builds can now drop the --enable-extensions switch. They're now supported by default.

Of course, that assumes you've bothered to enable them in the first place. After using Chrome almost exclusively for about a month, I found that I had amassed a nice collection of Userscripts and bookmarklets but had yet to find a truly interesting extension. XMarks is getting close, and the LastPass team is also hard at work.

New updates to the developer documents have also been published, so perhaps that will help things take off.

At any rate, it's the "first step in [the] launch process," according to Chromium developer Aaron Boodman. Next stop: the beta channel.

Aaron's blog post also indicates that the UI may change by the time the jump to beta happens. That'd be nice, because the puffy, light-blue bar at the bottom of the browser window? It's not going to win any UI beauty contests.

Tags: add-ons, chromium, dev channel, DevChannel, extensions, google-chrome

The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

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