#chrome extension to safari

[stara90]

Convert Chrome Extension to Safari Web Extension

Are you a Chrome extension developer eyeing the vast user base of Safari? If so, you're in the right place. Convert Chrome extension to Safari this can be a game-changer, but it's not as simple as copy-pasting your code. In this guide, we'll walk you through the essential steps to ensure a seamless transition and highlight some key considerations for a successful migration.

Adapting the Manifest File: A Crucial First Step

Chrome relies on a manifest.json file, while Safari demands a manifest.plist file. The difference lies in the format – Property List (plist) for Safari. Ensure a smooth start by adapting your extension's manifest file to this format. This is the foundational step to kickstart the conversion process.

Navigating API Differences: Bridging the Gap Between Chrome and Safari

Chrome and Safari might share common ground as browsers, but when it comes to extensions, nuances arise. API names and implementations can vary between the two. To avoid functionality hiccups, meticulously update your extension code to leverage Safari's equivalent APIs. Be ready to make adjustments, especially if your extension relies on Chrome-specific APIs.

Revamping Background Processes: Understanding Safari's Architecture

Chrome extensions often use background pages or event pages for background processes. Safari's extension model may differ, demanding a refactor of your background script. Aligning with Safari's architecture ensures that your extension operates seamlessly, providing users with a consistent and reliable experience.

Permissions and Security: Playing by Safari's Rules

Permissions form the backbone of any extension, and Safari has its own set of requirements. Review and update permissions in your extension to align with Safari's specifications. Moreover, be vigilant about security-related considerations, as Safari might impose specific rules and restrictions. Ensuring compliance is key to a trouble-free migration.

Manifest V3 Transition: A Broader Landscape

Keep in mind that major browsers like Firefox and Edge are also transitioning to manifest V3. While converting to Safari, it's wise to stay informed about these broader industry changes. This foresight can save you time and effort in the long run.

Testing, Testing, Testing: Ensuring Compatibility with Safari

Thorough testing is non-negotiable. Utilize Safari's developer tools for debugging and put your extension through rigorous testing to identify and resolve compatibility issues. A flawless user experience on the Safari browser should be the ultimate goal.

Assessing Cross-Browser Compatibility: Safari Web Extension Limitations

Safari Web Extension comes with its own set of limitations when working with web extension APIs. Before committing to the migration, assess your extension's compatibility with other browsers and vice-versa. Apple provides valuable insights on these limitations in their official documentation.

Coditude's Decade-Long Expertise: Your Guide in Extension Development

At Coditude, we bring over a decade of experience in browser extension development services. Whether you are building a new extension or converting an existing one, our dedicated Safari extension and plugin development team is here to answer your questions. Drop us a line at Browser Extension Services, and let's make your Safari extension journey seamless.

In conclusion, migrating from a Chrome extension to a Safari Web Extension requires attention to detail, understanding Safari's nuances, and rigorous testing. With the right approach and knowledge, your extension can thrive in the diverse ecosystem of Safari users.

[archivlibrarianist]

"The Browser Extension

"Say hello to the Wayback Machine’s Browser Extension.

"It’s available for Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari.

"This free tool is an easy and very fast way to determine directly from your browser if an archived version of the content (HTML web page, PDF, etc.) has been archived (at least once). If a copy/copies is/are available, accessing it/them can be done within seconds and with minimal effort. No cutting and pasting needed. "

[storytellering]

.

[the-cinnamontography-is-amazing]

Who ever is in charge of Canvas, needs to make a dark mode. My eyes are going to fall out before I get my degree.

[msilverstar]

"Browse Safely" malware alert

I found a "Browsing Safely" add-on my Firefox, it's easy to spot because who uses Yahoo Search any more? All I had to was disable it and restart, and I reported it. I did run the safety software Malwarebytes after and my Mac is uninfected.

But I was surprised to find that there are hundreds of skeevy malware advice sites out there that look useful and may give reasonable advice, but could easily be spreading malware themselves. Avoid anything with "malware" in the domain name!

The browser sites have the legit information:

[clarenecessities]

He-man.org will close in 5 days.

He-man.org has been a staple of the Masters of the Universe community since the early days, originating as an email list that worked to document episodes before anything (not footage, not lists, nothing) was available online. It grew into a sprawling, multi-faceted beast of a thing, including an encyclopedia (an in-house wiki), merch lists, a marketplace, forums, anything you could think of.

Several years ago now, the main site went down for updates/maintenance. For a few weeks, we were told, maybe months. The forums remained open for fans to communicate, and barring a period of downtime earlier this year things were going smoothly.

Yesterday, the owner of the site, Val Staples, announced the site would be closed on November 14th, 2023. Six days later. We are currently attempting to contact him, to see if he’s interested in selling, and if he means closed as in “no new posts” or closed as in deleted entirely. Regardless of its eventual fate, the archiving of these forums is essential to preserving the history of the franchise, the fandom, and the brand.

TO SHE-RA (and MotU) FANS SPECIFICALLY: I have personally used these forums to answer questions that could be answered nowhere else. Had I not had access to them, I would never have been able to prove that Purrsia was fake, or found so much unpublished concept art, or discovered that Scott “Toyguru” Neitlich personally wrote Catra’s MOTUC bio (even if he’s put off answering my questions about it for over a year now). Forum members have conducted interviews with the likes of Jon Seisa, Cathy Larson, Janice Varney-Hamlin—essential figures in the very foundations of POP, and those interviews revealed and recorded priceless information for future generations (me! you! us!) to find. Did you know Cathy Larson named Adora? That she originally pushed for “Dorian”, after her own daughter? We cannot let this treasure trove disappear into the ether(ia).

TO THE UNAFFILIATED: Please help. Pretty please. If you’ve ever liked my art or my writing or my haphazard blogging, ever, at all, consider archiving just one board. Just one page. Literally anything helps. I am spiraling into madness & this is my library of Alexandria. The mythical one that was totally unique and persevered nowhere else and was destroyed in a single cataclysmic event. Pretty pretty please help.

HOW TO HELP:

Archive.org has several ways to upload shit but most of them are longer term than “a few days” so we’re focusing on two (which can be run simultaneously): Save Page Now, and browser extensions. From their help page:

1. Save Page Now

Put a URL into the form, press the button, and we save the page. You will instantly have a permanent URL for your page. Please note, this method only saves a single page, not the whole site.

We want to keep outlinks and screenshots wherever possible. The Archive does not keep your IP address, so your submission is anonymous.

2. Browser extensions and add-ons

Install the Wayback Machine Chrome extension in your browser. Go to a page you want to archive, click the icon in your toolbar, and select Save Page Now. We will save the page and give you a permanent URL.

One plus to installing the extension is that as you surf around, when you run into a missing page they will alert you if we have a saved copy.

More extensions, apps, and add-ons:

Firefox add-on

Safari Extension

iOS app

Android app

I strongly encourage you to use these tools even if you aren’t helping with this project/after it ends. Documenting and preserving information is essential in this day and age & The Internet Archive is at the heart of it. Please support them however you can.

I’m serious about paying you, though I may need more communication with folks I don’t know so we can coordinate/verify shit gets done. I think this is a worthwhile pursuit in itself but I recognize your time is valuable & like, people gotta eat. DM me if you’re interested and we’ll talk. I may need to adjust pay depending how many people bite but I’ll do what I can

[marshmellowed]

small things u can do to resist technocracy

reject all cookies on websites

change the settings in instagram/facebook/etc to disallow personalized ads or third party sharing

disable third party sharing for each of your tumblr blogs

use an alternative to "twitter" like bsky

switch your browser from chrome, safari, or edge to firefox

add the ublock extension to firefox

switch your search engine from google to duckduckgo

install screenzen or other limits for tiktok, reels, or shorts

delete the "si=" and everything after it in youtube links (these are trackers and do not impact the video)

check ebay before resorting to amazon

clear your google account of all history and personal data (this is sort of a pain the ass by design, you may need to poke around the settings for a while)

cut down on second-screening (using multiple devices at once like using your phone during a movie or putting youtube/netflix on as background noise for scrolling or gaming)

let yourself be bored sometimes

[amalgamasreal]

Updated Personal Infosec Post

Been awhile since I've had one of these posts part deus: but I figure with all that's going on in the world it's time to make another one and get some stuff out there for people. A lot of the information I'm going to go over you can find here:

https://www.privacyguides.org/en/tools/

So if you'd like to just click the link and ignore the rest of the post that's fine, I strongly recommend checking out the Privacy Guides. Browsers: There's a number to go with but for this post going forward I'm going to recommend Firefox. I know that the Privacy Guides lists Brave and Safari as possible options but Brave is Chrome based now and Safari has ties to Apple. Mullvad is also an option but that's for your more experienced users so I'll leave that up to them to work out. Browser Extensions:

uBlock Origin: content blocker that blocks ads, trackers, and fingerprinting scripts. Notable for being the only ad blocker that still works on Youtube.

Privacy Badger: Content blocker that specifically blocks trackers and fingerprinting scripts. This one will catch things that uBlock doesn't catch but does not work for ads.

Facebook Container: "but I don't have facebook" you might say. Doesn't matter, Meta/Facebook still has trackers out there in EVERYTHING and this containerizes them off away from everything else.

Bitwarden: Password vaulting software, don't trust the password saving features of your browsers, this has multiple layers of security to prevent your passwords from being stolen.

ClearURLs: Allows you to copy and paste URL's without any trackers attached to them.

VPN: Note: VPN software doesn't make you anonymous, no matter what your favorite youtuber tells you, but it does make it harder for your data to be tracked and it makes it less open for whatever public network you're presently connected to.

Mozilla VPN: If you get the annual subscription it's ~$60/year and it comes with an extension that you can install into Firefox.

Mullvad VPN: Is a fast and inexpensive VPN with a serious focus on transparency and security. They have been in operation since 2009. Mullvad is based in Sweden and offers a 30-day money-back guarantee for payment methods that allow it.

Email Provider: Note: By now you've probably realized that Gmail, Outlook, and basically all of the major "free" e-mail service providers are scraping your e-mail data to use for ad data. There are more secure services that can get you away from that but if you'd like the same storage levels you have on Gmail/Ol utlook.com you'll need to pay.

Tuta: Secure, end-to-end encrypted, been around a very long time, and offers a free option up to 1gb.

Mailbox.org: Is an email service with a focus on being secure, ad-free, and privately powered by 100% eco-friendly energy. They have been in operation since 2014. Mailbox.org is based in Berlin, Germany. Accounts start with up to 2GB storage, which can be upgraded as needed.

Email Client:

Thunderbird: a free, open-source, cross-platform email, newsgroup, news feed, and chat (XMPP, IRC, Matrix) client developed by the Thunderbird community, and previously by the Mozilla Foundation.

FairMail (Android Only): minimal, open-source email app which uses open standards (IMAP, SMTP, OpenPGP), has several out of the box privacy features, and minimizes data and battery usage.

Cloud Storage:

Tresorit: Encrypted cloud storage owned by the national postal service of Switzerland. Received MULTIPLE awards for their security stats.

Peergos: decentralized and open-source, allows for you to set up your own cloud storage, but will require a certain level of expertise.

Microsoft Office Replacements:

LibreOffice: free and open-source, updates regularly, and has the majority of the same functions as base level Microsoft Office.

OnlyOffice: cloud-based, free

FreeOffice: Personal licenses are free, probably the closest to a fully office suite replacement.

Chat Clients: Note: As you've heard SMS and even WhatsApp and some other popular chat clients are basically open season right now. These are a couple of options to replace those. Note2: Signal has had some reports of security flaws, the service it was built on was originally built for the US Government, and it is based within the CONUS thus is susceptible to US subpoenas. Take that as you will.

Signal: Provides IM and calling securely and encrypted, has multiple layers of data hardening to prevent intrusion and exfil of data.

Molly (Android OS only): Alternative client to Signal. Routes communications through the TOR Network.

Briar: Encrypted IM client that connects to other clients through the TOR Network, can also chat via wifi or bluetooth.

SimpleX: Truly anonymous account creation, fully encrypted end to end, available for Android and iOS.

Now for the last bit, I know that the majority of people are on Windows or macOS, but if you can get on Linux I would strongly recommend it. pop_OS, Ubuntu, and Mint are super easy distros to use and install. They all have very easy to follow instructions on how to install them on your PC and if you'd like to just test them out all you need is a thumb drive to boot off of to run in demo mode. For more secure distributions for the more advanced users the options are: Whonix, Tails (Live USB only), and Qubes OS.

On a personal note I use Arch Linux, but I WOULD NOT recommend this be anyone's first distro as it requires at least a base level understanding of Linux and liberal use of the Arch Linux Wiki. If you game through Steam their Proton emulator in compatibility mode works wonders, I'm presently playing a major studio game that released in 2024 with no Linux support on it and once I got my drivers installed it's looked great. There are some learning curves to get around, but the benefit of the Linux community is that there's always people out there willing to help. I hope some of this information helps you and look out for yourself, it's starting to look scarier than normal out there.

[blackholelynn]

As promised in my reply, I did a lil spelunking!! So I use Dark Reader in my Firefox browser because I've got lil nocturnal bat eyes that hate the light, BUT this extension can also be used for forcing websites that are permanently dark mode into LIGHT MODE! I already showed @plushslug through our Discord DMs how to do this, and so with one successful test under my belt, I'll show everyone else as well! (Under the cut though because this is going to be a long one with lots of example images)

So obviously, first step is to download Dark Reader to your browser of choice. You can see their supported browsers as well as any other information you may like from their website here: https://darkreader.org/ Alright so you download Dark Reader for your chosen browser, and it's in your toolbar. You see the lil guy up there and he looks like this:

He's a cute lil robot guy, isn't he? He's gonna be your friend for the rest of this guide so get comfy with him. Give him a name if you really are feeling zesty!

Alright, you got Dark Reader installed, so I want you to go to any website that forces you into dark mode. Because Hyacinth previously mentioned Netflix, I'm going to be using it as the example.

There Netflix is in all its dark mode glory, ready to make your eyes fall asleep like it's nighttime. We want it to be in light mode! So, what to do about this? Well, this is where Dark Reader comes in.

So you're on Netflix and I want you to click on our lil robot guy up there in the corner. You should see a menu that pops up, looks like this:

So I want you to click on the "Dev tools" button in the bottom right there. Click it and be horrified by the gobblety gook in a box that comes up. Ignore the gobblety gook, it's all pointless for our goal right now. All I want you to do is click the button that says "Preview new design". It's here:

You've clicked it, so get rid of that scary developer tools window. HTML frightens me! Now that you've closed the developer tools box, click your lil robot friend again. The menu should now look like this:

Perfect! This is what we need! OKAY quick disclaimer: before you start toggling any further options, I need you to click the Settings button and UNCHECK the "Enable by default" option. It's here:

This is VERY important or whatever we do is going to literally be so counter-intuitive it's not even funny. I found this out the hard way after walking Hyacinth through everything, and then we looked at a normal light mode website and it was 😬 not great. But you've unchecked the Enable by default option, so fear not dear light mode explorer! You're going to be a-okay! This is where the real fun starts. So to reiterate, you're on the Netflix website with it's icky stinky dark mode interface, and I want you to click on our lil robot friend. You're going to want to make sure that Dark Reader is enabled on Netflix and that the website isn't a part of the global Dark List included in the extension. It should look like this once it's enabled:

This makes it so that the website will be effected by the extension and the options that we are about to implement into it. If you DON'T do this, you will literally see no changes. You might as well be clicking and clacking away because nothing's going to change. Moving along, we now want to change the Scheme to "Light", the Brightness to 150% and the Contrast to 0%. Your menu is going to look like this with all those options configured:

Now, you're going to do this, and you're going to see very minimal changes. It's going to be like 👌 that much lighter, and while that's all fine and dandy, we want MORE. If you don't though, feel free to call it a day. BUT I want to go all the way to the lightest light mode I can get, so I want you to click that lil "See all options >" thingy.

Yeah! That one! Click that and it's going to show you this:

Ignore the options it's showing you. We don't care about those because we already configured those. Been there, done that, old news. What I want you to look at is the "+ Colors" button. That's the ticket right there.

Yup, that one! Click it, and it's going to show you these options:

Do you see the options for the Background and Text? You see how the ones in the screenshot are probably different from the ones you have? Yeah, change 'em to what's in the screenshot above. You may be thinking, "But Lynn! We want light mode! Why would I change the background to be dark and the text to be light??" And you see, in literally every other situation, I'd agree with you. But for right now, I want you to trust the process. Yes, it DOES sound super super super dumb for the background to be black and the text to be white when we're trying to achieve LIGHT mode, BUT!!! I got you, so don't worry about it 😉

And you're done! You've achieved peak light mode! As long as you followed my directions and I didn't steer you wrong, your Netflix is going to look like this:

So go and be free and joyous with your light mode websites! Just know that since we have the Enable by default option turned OFF, you are going to need to toggle the extension on anytime you're wanting to use it. So click that lil guy in your toolbar and click "On" when a pesky dark mode website is hassling your eyes!! And if you were wondering WHY exactly it is so important to turn the Enable by default option off, well then think back to what I said about the Background and Text colors being counter-intuitive. Yeah...if the extension turns itself on by default on every website, then any website you go to that's normally light mode (take Wikipedia for example or just MOST websites in general) is going to have a black background and white text...AKA it's going to be in dark mode. So just be aware that if that's happening to you, you either didn't turn off the Enable by default option, or you forgot to toggle the extension Off after leaving a website which is globally dark mode.

It's a long post with a lot of pictures and things, but I hope it wasn't too confusing and I did a good job of explaining!

This admittedly is a ton of hassle to get light mode on websites when comparatively, for people wanting to force dark mode it's quite literally a plug and play type of thing, but I figured that at least by offering this solution, it's SOMETHING. I know that for some, light mode eases eye strain substantially more than dark mode and GOSH DARN IT I just won't stand for eye strain!! So hopefully this was helpful and have fun browsing the web in new light mode style 😎

Really truly hate that there's like 50 different browser extensions that force online pages into dark mode, but not a single one for forcing light mode.

Hulu and Netflix specifically have no way to turn off night mode on desktop and its really inaccessible. I know a lot of people prefer night mode because it eases eye-strain, but personally it's MORE straining for me to read white text on a dark background than vice versa.

I don't know why nobody has made one yet, but I am so close to commissioning some freelance programmer to create an extension because I'm getting so tired of it.

[eblu3]

this is really cool and a feature that firefox was sorely lacking (chrome/safari/etc has had this for a while): installing websites as apps. I've got tumblr running in its own window without any of the browser cruft right now

[void-botanist]

Remove news media partnered with OpenAI from your search results

Over on Bluesky 707kat posted this Mashable article about news media that have signed contracts to let OpenAI scrape their content in a "well, we can't beat them, so we might as well join them" move.

I responded by making a uBlacklist list of all of their websites so you can block them from your search results. As far as I'm aware all of the contracts in the article are still in effect, though NowThis is no longer part of Vox Media. Intelligencer and The Strategist have nymag URLs so they are filtered by the nymag rule.

Using the list

To use the uBlacklist list in Firefox:

Go to about:addons.

Hit the 3 dots on the entry for uBlacklist and go to Preferences.

Copy the list from Pastebin and paste it into your list of blocked sites.

Hit Save in the bottom right!!!

In Chrome, you'll want to get to the uBlacklist options to paste the list, which you can do from the toolbar icon, or by going to chrome-extension://pncfbmialoiaghdehhbnbhkkgmjanfhe/pages/options.html (if you want to get there manually it's Main Menu > Extensions > Manage Extensions > Details button on the uBlacklist entry > scroll all the way down until you see Extension Options).

I'm not able to test Safari currently, but it shouldn't be too hard to get into the preferences/options for uBlacklist there.

Don't have uBlacklist?

It's available for Firefox, Chrome, and Safari. The getting started guide is here:

It's also great for blocking AI sites en masse - I use this list to do that.

[magebunkshelf]

Saw this ask. Speaking as a creator:

uBlock Origin

If your browser is based on Chromium or Firefox, go to the Chrome Web Store or Firefox Add-Ons and just search for the uBlock extension.

For Android, install Firefox or Waterfox, in settings go to Add-Ons and get uBlock and Video Background Fix, then in Settings again set Open links in apps > Never. This should block ads and let you minimise Firefox or lock your screen without stopping the audio from playing. You should also get PiP if you make the video fullscreen first then change app but it can be a little buggy.

iOS is a bit more annoying. Download the Adblock Plus extension for Safari, and I think the PiPifer extension, can't remember if you need both or just the former - set your video fullscreen and then swipe to main menu to go PiP before locking your screen - and make sure your phone doesn't get too warm while playing audio with the screen locked. I think Brave browser also works on iOS for both adblock and audio while locking your screen but I can't recommend it because of the developer.

If you want to still support your favourite creators while blocking ads, see if they have options to support them directly so that YT or Twitch don't take a cut, such as merch or via Ko-fi or Patreon, though always support through browser and never through the Patreon app since Apple also takes their own cut of transactions done via iOS apps.

[tequitoclown]

List of programs and stuff I use

[pt: List of programs and stuff I use ./end pt]

Disclaimer: This is in no way trying to say I have the best setup of all time or anything. The point of this post is mostly to introduce people to cool things they may not know about, or a place to point to when someone asks what I use!

(Last updated: 6/28/24)

Browser

[pt: browser ./end pt]

Firefox (Windows/Linux/MacOS/Android/IOS) - Obviously I recommend Firefox above all else, especially with chromium-based browsers moving onto manifest V3.

Bitwarden (Windows/Linux/MacOS/Android/IOS) - Good password manager! Used it for years with no complaints!

AdNauseam (Firefox/Chrome) - My adblocker. It's built upon uBlock Origin and has all the same features, but it actively clicks on the ads to waste advertiser money. If that's not up your alley, uBlock Origin is fantastic too!

Wayback Machine extension (Firefox/Chrome/Safari) - Allows you to make snapshots of pages, or view old snapshots if a page isn't loading correctly!

XKit ReWritten (Firefox/Chrome) - Pretty much a must-have for Tumblr. Has a ton of features to make navigating this site much better. Full feature list here!

Discord

[pt: Discord ./end pt]

Vencord (Windows/Linux/MacOS) - A modified Discord client that adds support for plugins and themes. Basically allows you to install plugins from a massive list that improves Discord. (Technically against ToS. Basically, don't post that you're using it in big servers, and turn off your themes before sharing screenshots.)

Bunny (Android/IOS) - If you miss Vendetta for Discord, Bunny is an actively maintained fork of Vendetta! Basically the same as above, but for Android/IOS instead of desktop. Same warnings about ToS apply.

Aliucord (Android) - Miss the old Android app feel, and still want to have plugins/themes? Pretty cool but has a less impressive theme/plugin selection. Same warnings about ToS apply.

Bluecord (Android) - Another Discord modification without the new Discord UI!

Youtube

[pt: Youtube ./end pt]

Freetube (Windows/Linux/MacOS) - A desktop Youtube client with adblock and sponsorblock built in. Still in beta, but very good.

Sponsorblock (Firefox/Chrome) - Pretty much a must-have for watching Youtube these days. Automatically skips over sponsors, self-promos, interaction bait, outros, intros, etc. Highly configurable!

Dearrow (Firefox/Chrome) - Haven't used this very long but I love it. Gets rid of vague or clickbait titles/thumbnails and replaces it with descriptive and more accurate thumbnails. Also built into Freetube now!

Newpipe (Android) - Lightweight Youtube client. I haven't used it myself much but people swear by it!

ReVanced (Android) - Modded Youtube client with Sponsorblock, Return Youtube Dislike, and Youtube Premium features. Doesn't support Dearrow as of 6/25/24 :( (PLEASE BE CAREFUL INSTALLING THIS. If you don't know what you're doing, you can cause some damage!)

Spotify

[pt: spotify ./end pt]

Spicetify (Windows/Linux/MacOS) - Spotify modded client. Has adblock, themes, etc! Think Vencord, but for Spotify.

Misc.

[pt: Misc ./End pt]

Obsidian (Windows/Linux/MacOS/Android/IOS) - Basically a personal wiki for notetaking! A bit of a learning curve. Fanfic writers and worldbuilders... go feral.

Notepad++ (Windows) - A must-have text editor. Might be on more platforms but can't confirm?

Mullvad VPN (Windows/Android) - The only VPN I can 100% recommend. Cheap, fast, and really cares about your privacy. It's a little under $6 USD a month!

NVDA (Windows) - A free screenreader I use for reading large blocks of text. (Notice: I am not visually impaired to the point I rely on a screenreader to navigate my PC. I use it on occasion to read text to me because I have a hard time reading. If you're looking for advice on screenreaders for the visually impaired unfortunately I'm not a good source! Maybe check out the #visually impaired, #blind, or #accessibility?)

Syncthing (Windows/Linux/MacOS/Android) - Lets you sync folders across devices. It's especially good with Obsidian.

"Tequito, I didn't find what I wanted!"

[pt: "Tequito, I didn't find what I wanted!" ./end pt]

I'm sorry. :( If you're looking for a program I have personally mentioned using in the past, feel free to shoot me an ask or DM! Or hey... maybe try searching the letters "FMHY" and having a look around? *wink*

[heidi891]

My Digital Minimalism Journey

Doomscrolling. Smartphone addiction. Google this, Google that. Sounds familiar? I've begun a journey to untangle myslef from American megacorps and declutter my digital life.

I consider Google the worst big corporation, because while Microsoft and Apple sell products (hardware, software), Google's basically an advertising company. We are Google's products—that's why Google can give us so much for free and still make so much money. "But I have nothing to hide." Me too. I don't commit crimes, I don't watch pornography, I don't do anything classified. If everyone suddenly could see everything I do online, I'd just be slightly embarrased, that's all. But monopolies are illegal and dangerous for a reason. They erode freedom, shape our reality, leave us no alternative, influence our beliefs. I know I'm not immune to this, even though it's easy to believe otherwise.

Another factor I take into account is using local products to support my country's (Poland's) and Europe's economy and security.

Google Search

I noticed long time ago that Google Search became far from ideal, full of ads and focused on shopping. For example, when I looked for information about a medicine, I saw a long list of online pharmacies. I started using Bing, because it gave me information I was looking for—the medicine's description and side effects. (My husband is happy with Google, but his searches involve more shopping, like buying things for his hobbies and renovations.) Recently I've started using Qwant—a French search engine that uses their own index to some extent and Bing. Some people like German Ecosia that uses Google search results AFAIK.

Browser

The problem with browsers is that most of them are based on Chromium (not to be confused with Google Chrome). Chromium, Safari's Webkit and Mozilla's Gecko are like engines beneath the hoods that are browsers. Browsers may have different functions like adblocks, tab management or favourites, but those three are what allows browsers to read and display websites. While Chromium is open source, it's controlled and developed by Google.

I decided to use Mozilla Firefox with turned off telemetry and Qwant and uBlock Origin extensions. Mozilla, though American, is open source and non profit.

Update: I also installed Privacy Badger extension.

E-mail

Almost twenty years ago, as a teenager, I set up my mailbox on Onet—a Polish news portal. When I got married and changed my last name, I changed my mailbox too, to Gmail. Recently I've started using my old mailbox again when I discovered that I could create an alias for my current last name. In my Gmail I set up my mail to be forwarded to my current mailbox and deleted from Gmail. It isn't perfect, because the mail still reaches Google servers, but I changed most logins and I hardly get any mail there.

If you're from Poland, you can check out wp.pl and O2, they have mailboxes too. Otherwise, Swiss Proton and German Tuta are popular, especially amongst those who care much about privacy. Swiss Infomaniak offers a mailbox in Western Europe. There may be some good mailbox providers in your country, you can look it up.

Contacts

I deleted my contacts from Google and store them locally on the phone. I have backups saved on a pedrive and in a cloud.

Calendar

I've started using a paid Polish app called Domownik (dom means home, so the name means it's an app for home, for household matters). I keep my private calendar there and tasks, and recipes, and weekly menu, and a shopping list that I share with my husband, and some notes that I used to keep in Google Keep and Microsoft OneNote. It's Polish and family oriented, so it isn't a good choice for everyone. Some mailbox providers offer calendars too. You may also think about a paper calendar.

Google Drive, OneDrive

I still use them to some extent. We pay for a family plan on OneDrive. Unfortunately, when I checked European providers like Filen, Proton, Koofr, Cryptee, kDrive, Jottacloud, Hetzner... (if you just want a few GB of storage for free, check them out), it turned out OneDrive is cheaper. My husband loves photo remainders there too. I want to use Swiss pCloud where you can pay once for a lifetime. They also offer nice photo gallery and playlists made from your files. I hope I manage to change it this year.

Google Maps

I checked out a few navigation apps like HERE WeGo, Magic Earth and Organic Maps, but eventually decided to use mapy.com (former mapy.cz). You can download one country's map for free and they have great hiking trails map. I know it works best for Czech Republic and its neighbours (which I happen to be), so I'm not sure if it's as good in other countries.

There's an option to share location, but currently I'm the only one in my family who use it, so I haven't had a chance to try it out. Location sharing is the only reason why I'm still keeping Google Maps on my phone. Next time we're visiting my parents I'll try location sharing in WhatsApp and if it works, I could get rid of Google Maps.

For public transport I use Polish app jakdojade.pl.

Google Docs, Microsoft Office

I've used LibreOffice for years (and OpenOffice before that), so I don't need to change much on my PC. However, I used Google Docs and Sheets on my phone. I had a Google Sheets file for recording my weight. I decided I'm going to keep a digital version of that as ODS (LibreOffice file) on my PC (with a backup in a cloud) and I'll start noting my weight and pressure in a notebook, so if I ever have to show it to a doctor, I can just bring it with me. I used to write fanfiction in Google Docs, so I'm either coming back to writing on my PC in LibreOffice or I'll try French Cryptpad.

Update: I ended up using FreeOffice. It isn't perfect, but it works and that's what's most important.

Google Translate

I've started using German DeepL instead.

Social Media

I have a blog and used to have fanpages on Facebook and Instagram. I don't offer any services or sell any products; it's a project born out of passion. Running a fanpage was so time consuming and hardly anyone was interested in my work, so I decided to stop doing it. I still have my blog; I started running a small blog on wordpress.com with updates and interesting links, so that anyone who's interested can subscribe to it via newsletter or RSS app. I write an update only once in a while when I change something on my main website or if I find something interesting. I deleted Instagram and Facebook (I changed there some settings though, to get some most important notifications to my mailbox), and Tumblr too (too much mindless scrolling).

I downloaded an RSS app instead (I chose Bulgarian Inoreader, but there're others). I follow news sites and blogs I like. It's a feed, but it's my feed, in a chronological order, without ads, sponsored content, algorithms and stupid or hateful comments. Just news and blog posts in a chronological order. I noticed I started to actually read articles! On social media apps it was so easy to read a title and go to the comment section immediately.

Podcasts and Music

I follow my favourite YouTube channels in the RSS app and I got rid of YouTube. I listen to my favourite podcasts in Swedish Spotify. We used to have a family plan in Spotify, but we use American Tidal for music now, because it's a little cheaper, there aren't so many YouTube-like podcasts that my son watched (and I don't want him to), and Tidal pays artists three times more than Spotify. Personally, I'd love to come back to having my mp3 files and playing my own music (I only listen to my own playlists anyway), but my family isn't on board. I'll try to buy my favourite songs to support artists a little and find a way to convert my CDs to digital files (I did it years ago, but I got rid of them...).

Films and TV shows

We had Netflix, Disney+, HBO and Prime at one point. Currently we only keep Netflix (where we have lots to watch) and Prime (my husband says it's cheap enough to keep; I'd just get rid of it if it were up to me). We may pay for i.e. HBO for a month when there's something we want to watch.

I love watching TV shows, so I don't want to give up streaming altogether.

Phone

I use an old iPhone. Android is controlled by Google and iPhone is the only Apple thing I use. Degoogled Android like Graphene OS or Dumbphones are too much for me (just like self-hosted cloud).

What Is Difficult To Get Rid Of

I keep Google Family Link and Microsoft Family Safety to have parental control over my children's computers and phones. My children keep using Microsoft Edge browser too because of that. It's less about time limits and mostly about blocking some websites (I want them only to use websites and download apps that I allow them to). I haven't find a better way yet.

[simplestudentplanning]

How To Understand The Material

Make notes, preferably during class so you can spend the extra time after class/at home doing the steps below. Your notes does NOT have to be pretty, it just has to be LEGIBLE. Your notes should include terms, definitions, labeled diagrams (if applicable), specific step-by-step processes, and examples.

Make flashcards, preferably online so you can study while commuting and there’s no risk of you losing a flashcard. I recommend Knowt.com, it’s free with no limitations (the app is still din development, so I recommend using the actual site on your Safari or Chrome).

Find practice questions in your textbook, old exams, or questions your teacher gave you and make a short test based on that. Your test should feel similar to an actual test, so put a mix of multiple choice, matching, short answers, and/or labeling diagrams.

The best way to learn terms is to put it in your own words. You can write both the textbook definition and your own, if it helps.

Once you know the foundation/basics of the subject, test yourself using the quiz you made (or a test you found online), and apply it to the questions. Make sure the questions aren’t just asking you the definitions, but also forcing you to apply the stuff you know in specific situations.

For remembering diagrams or step-by-step processes, repetition is key. Just keep doing it over and over again until it sticks. Flashcards are good for this.

Highlighting is bullshit. You are wasting your time. You do NOT need highlighters for YOUR own notes. Your notes should only have the important parts in it (look back at step one to see what should be included). The only two times I think you should highlight are the parts you are struggling to understand (but that is only AFTER you studied AND understood everything, so you don’t highlight everything at the beginning), and extensive notes that you didn’t write yourself (because it’s harder to understand the material when somebody is describing it in their own words).

If you have any other tips, please comment below and repost to help your fellow peers!

[thunderpibb]

this here has become an essential browser extension for me since ai generation sites have started clogging up all my image searches.