Dark Reader
Have you ever had opened your browser at night only to be stunned by the bright colors and blinding whites of most web pages? The solution to that is Dark Reader, a deceptively simple, yet incredibly effective, extension for Chrome. Rather than simply inverting the colors of the page, Dark Reader transforms them into high contrast, dark themed pages which are easier to read at night and easier on your eyes. The extension is also highly configurable, offering toggles for individual sites, as well as the individual amounts of brightness, contrast, grayscale, and sepia. This also means that images are not inverted, leaving the aesthetics of sites intact while making them much more legible. Find out more and download Dark Reader for free from the Chrome Web Store: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dark-reader/eimadpbcbfnmbkopoojfekhnkhdbieeh?hl=en.
uBlock Origin
uBlock Origin is the original version of uBlock, a popular content-filtering extension.
By default, uBlock Origin works to block ads, trackers, and malicious sites, but the extension is highly configurable through a number of settings and user lists that are available. For example, users can set uBlock Origin up to block all media elements if they so choose. However, most users just need a simple adblocker, and Origin fulfills that purpose beautifully. Whereas some other adblock extensions allow “acceptable ads” (read: monetized ads) or let certain types of ads slip through, Origin is an extremely thorough blocker due to the filtering lists it employs. If you need to turn off Origin in order to access a site that does not allow adblocking, it’s incredibly easy to just click the big power button under the extension tab to disable Origin just for that site. Overall, uBlock Origin is a great choice for an adblocker as it is reliable, thorough, and easy to set up and use. uBlock Origin is available for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera, and Safari.
Find out more and download uBlock Origin for free at https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock.
Poper Blocker
While some extensions try to do it all, Poper Blocker is focused on one task: blocking pop ups and overlays that would otherwise compromise and clutter your browsing experience. This allows Poper Blocker to be a streamlined, accurate extension that does its job efficiently and almost without fail. Similarly, the user interface is easy to use and interact with. It shows when a pop up has been blocked, quickly allows users to whitelist sites, and provides an array of options for customizing your experience. However, its best feature by far is its highly accurate blocking. Find out more and download Poper Blocker for free at https://poperblocker.com/.
HTTPS Everywhere
HTTPS Everywhere is a useful extension created by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Tor Project to enable secure transfer protocols on many sites. HTTP means “hyper text transfer protocol” and it is the way data is sent between your browser and a website; HTTPS is the secure version of that protocol, meaning that data transfer is encrypted. Any data sent over an HTTP connection is sent in plain text, so if that data is intercepted, it could be read by anyone. Despite this obvious security risk, HTTPS is still not used on the majority of sites. That is where HTTPS Everywhere comes in. It will enable HTTPS for as many sites as possible, creating a much more secure browsing experience. HTTPS Everywhere is available for Chrome, Firefox, Firefox for Android, and Opera. Find out more and download HTTPS Everywhere for free at https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere.
Gismeteo
Gismeteo is a Chrome extension that adds a weather icon to your toolbar. Rather than having to open a weather app, you can now access real-time updates without even opening a new tab. The Gismeteo icon includes a small image showing what the weather is like and a small text box showing the current temperature. Upon opening the extension, the beautiful interface displays an immense amount of information, including sunrise, sunset, hourly and daily forecasts, water temperature, and what the temperature feels like. Find out more and download Gismeteo for free at https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/gismeteo/bfegaehidkkcfaikpaijcdahnpikhobf?hl=en.