Safari Extensions first debuted in Safari 5 a few months ago. Though originally only available to developers, Apple enabled them for everyone with version 5.0.1. While many extensions were great in concept, some were a bit rough around the edges. Now that about a month has elapsed, developers have been able to work out several of the kinks that were initially present. We thought it would be a great time to showcase a few of our favorites from a range of different categories.
10. Comic Sans Be Gone
Sure to be a favorite amongst font geeks such as myself, this extension removes the treachery that is Comic Sans from any website it has ever ravaged. This extension replaces the font with the much more favorable Helvetica, to save your eyes from the horror of an unexpected Comic Sans appearance.
9. Awesome Screenshot
If you find yourself taking a lot of screenshots within Safari, this extension is an absolute must have. Building off Apple’s simplistic Grab utility, Awesome Screenshot includes basic image editing functionality which makes taking screen shots a breeze. This extension enables you to crop screenshots, create boxes and circles, draw, enter text, and even blur. If you’ve ever tried to make a screenshot based how-to guide for a family member or friend, this extension makes it infinitely easier.
8. InstapaperIt
Making its second consecutive appearance in TopTen.plist, the Instapaper extension is a great utility for anyone with an Instapaper account. Adding an “I” button to the toolbar, users can save any page to their account for later viewing. Much like the Instapaper app detailed last week, this extension is a great way to saving articles to read later on.
7. Stumbler
Ah Stumbleupon, the ultimate time waster. For those unfamiliar with the site, the service basically provides a random assortment of the internet’s finest. Ranging from mindless memes to cute animals, the Stumbler extension dishes up a mix of high and low brow internet culture right in your toolbar. My personal favorite is the animal filter.
6. Rotten Tomatoes
This great extension puts the library of Rotten Tomato movie scores right beneath your main toolbar. Featuring a search field in addition to a live updating bar featuring new releases, the extension opens all reviews in a new tab so as not to disturb your workflow. Whether you are planning on going out to a movie or simply looking to fill your Netflix queue with quality titles, this extension is a great resource to have.
5. My eBay Manager
If you regularly cruise for deals on the web’s biggest garage sale you know that the interface can be a little bit clunky. eBay’s search engine is very accurate at finding items of interest, but revisiting the site to check auction progress gets tiresome. The My eBay Manager Extension enables you to keep tabs on your bidding while saving you the time required to login to the site. When toggled in the toolbar, the extension drops down a menu showing active items either being bid on or watched. I’d give this extension “A++++ Great eBayer!!!!” feedback for sure.
4. Twitter for Safari
Twitter for Safari provides quick and simple access to the social network’s web interface. The live updating bar features trending topics as well as current twitter users who are browsing the same page. Just hit the “Tweet” button in the right side of the bar to share the site you’re on with your followers.
3. Facebook Photo Zoom
This simple extension enables a roll over zoom for almost all photos on Facebook. The extension works whether you’re viewing an album, or simply rolling over the thumbnail of a friend’s profile picture. This extension definitely takes a bit of getting used to, but is overall useful if you look at a lot of Facebook pictures. My sole caveat is that there is not an easy way to turn the extension off without visiting Safari preferences.
2. A Cleaner YouTube
YouTube is awesome, but its interface is anything but chic. This extension serves to de-clutter your streaming video experience. As the name suggests, this utility trims away all of the extra related videos and video statistics while putting the video you are watching at center stage.
1. AdBlock
Though I’m a dedicated Safari user I was always secretly envious of FireFox users with the AdBlock add-on. I flirted with the extension on Chrome for a bit, but the lack of Netflix support and a few beta bugs drove me back to Safari. Thankfully, the developer behind the excellent ad concealing utility has released a Safari Extension version! Essentially a port of the Chrome version, AdBlock works wonderfully. You’ll find the design of your most visited sites will change radically with the ads removed. The developer is even testing blocking the annoying pop-up ads in popular YouTube videos.
All of the aforementioned extensions and many more can be downloaded here. If you have a favorite extension that we missed, feel free to comment.