Extensions continue to play a key role in adding third-party functionality to Safari. These are often great ways to increase productivity, security, and privacy for a pretty straightforward browsing experience. But with the hundreds of Safari extensions available on different devices, it can seem overwhelming. Here is a list of my top picks.
PiPifier – Picture-in-Picture for every video
Pipifier is a native Safari extension that lets you view any HTML5 video as a PiP (Picture-in-Picture). Once the extension is installed, you need to extract a video (YouTube, Twitch, Netflix, etc.) and click on the Pipifier icon in the toolbar.
Overall, PiPifier brings a familiar experience we’re used to on iPhone and iPad, as a pretty smooth workaround for PiP videos. I have yet to come across a video that was not compatible, although sometimes it can take a few minutes for the button to light up (become available) on larger files, such as movies.
Price: Free
Compatibility: Mac (macOS 10.12 or later)
StopTheMadness – Resume your web browser
StopTheMadness is probably the best and most original extension on this list. Notably, it nullifies attempts by websites to lock down browser features such as keyboard shortcuts ⌘, drag and drop, auto-filling of usernames, passwords and emails, text selection , And the list continues.
It also removes tracking tags such as utm_source from URLs and prevents clickjacking in Gmail, Facebook and others.
One of my favorite features is its ability to stop URL shorteners. StopTheMadness checks the links you click on in Safari for well-known link shorteners like bit.ly and tinyurl.com, and loads the unshortened destination instead of the shortened URL. This happens without the extension using cookies or site data; therefore, your click cannot be tracked.
Price: $7.99-$9.99
Compatibility: iPhone, iPod touch, and Mac (macOS 10.12 or later)
Grammar – The Key to Good Writing
With a rapidly growing user base of over 30 million daily active users, this extension needs to be introduced. Grammarly is one of those apps you install and can’t imagine life without.
Once installed, pretty much anywhere you write text in Safari, you’ll see the Grammarly icon in the bottom or top right, giving you real-time feedback. Help with spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, tone and clarity, it’s a win for anyone with a keyboard.
Price: Free
Compatibility: Mac (macOS 10.12.4 or later)
1Password – Generate and securely store passwords
1Password is also the one you may be familiar with. It’s arguably the best password manager out there, with a handy Safari extension to quickly access existing passwords in your vault or even create new ones on the fly. You can also store software licenses and other vital information.
As a cybersecurity specialist, I can say that 1Password’s security is good, really good. Of course, the safest way to store passwords is nowhere, but AES 256-bit end-to-end encryption, AES-GCM-256 authenticated encryption, and PBKDF2 for password hashing are all that. I could ask in a password manager. .
Price: 30-day free trial, $2.99/month
Compatibility: Mac (macOS 10.12.6 or later)
Keyword Search – Search sites with just one keyword
Keyword research is a game-changing time saver. The Safari extension lets you set up direct searches with any search engine using a phrase as simple as typing “a”.
I’ve implemented the letter “a” in the demo below to point to AirPods on Amazon. It’s as simple as opening the Keyword Search extension in Safari, entering a destination URL and a keyphrase. Others I have are “news”, directing me to CNN via DuckDuckGo, and “space”, taking me to the NASA website.
Price: Free
Compatibility: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Mac (macOS 11.0 or later)
Momentum – Focus and Inspiration Starter Pages
Momentum replaces the boring gray start pages Safari gives you, with an inspiring dashboard featuring weather updates, motivational quotes, to-do lists, and a beautiful wallpaper. I’ve been using Momentum for a few months, and it can be a great early morning mood and productivity booster.
Some key features include:
- Ability to set a daily goal/focus/intention
- Weather information and quick forecasts
- inspirational quotes
- Adjusting your uptime and downtime with Balance mode
- Create and manage tasks with an integrated to-do list
Price: Free
Compatibility: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Mac (macOS 10.12 or later)
Honey is another extension that needs no introduction, and rightly so. The online coupon giant has over 17 million users and has saved users over $1 billion on their online purchases.
It works by automatically searching and testing available discount codes it can find on the web. If it finds working codes, it will apply to the one with the biggest savings. And ta-da!
Price: Free
Compatibility: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and Mac (macOS 10.14.4 or later)
Update (10/10): Honey doesn’t appear to appear on the Mac App Store, which is likely a bug. This will make it impossible to install on Safari.
The Wayback Machine is a non-profit initiative that aims to archive the The Internet. Visitors can enter a URL, select a date range, then start surfing an archived version of this site from virtually any time.
The Safari extension lets you do everything the main site does without leaving your current window. You can also directly capture, archive and share pages with.
Wayback Machine is ultimately just a fun way to kill time by going back and seeing how a website has changed over the years.
Price: Free
Compatibility: Mac (macOS 10.14 or later)
These are just a few of the best Safari extensions available so far this year, but I couldn’t wrap up the list without a few honorable mentions, such as AdBlocker Pro, Tweaks for Twitter, and Step Two.
Do you have a favorite extension, which is not in this list? Let us know in the comments.
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