Google Chrome.Unsplash
Google Chrome is going to turn 14 years old as the undisputed king of browsers.
Almost two out of every three Internet users use it - 63.5% of the world total in 2021, according to the specialized portal Statista - although most users limit themselves to using its most basic functions: consulting Google, accessing Gmail or Google Drive from the home screen or manage a multitude of tabs comfortably.
However, this browser offers infinite possibilities to facilitate day-to-day tasks, especially in the work and academic environment, as useful as they are often unknown.
The seven proposals below and many more can be downloaded for free from the Chrome Web Store.
More information
Are your New Year's resolutions already slack?
These apps can help you
LanguageTool
This extension is an extremely easy-to-use spelling and grammar checker.
Once installed, you won't have much else to do: as soon as you type something on your computer, LanguageTool is up and running, checking all the texts.
Throughout what you have written, one or more red signals will appear indicating that there are errors to keep an eye on.
If you click on that call sign, a window will open where all the doubts that have arisen to the corrector appear.
It will never correct something on its own, it will simply point you out what to review so that you can decide if it is a mistake or not.
LanguageTool works in whatever tool you write in: both a Google doc and a tweet.
The tool checks spelling in a large number of languages.
Example of fixes suggested by LanguageTool.
Google translator
Google's header translation tool is also available as an extension.
If installed, the user will not have to open a new tab and search every time the translator needs it, as he did up to that moment, but, by selecting the extension in the puzzle piece symbol, a small window will appear to insert the word or phrase to be translated.
On the same site you can select the option to translate the entire page.
Forest
This extension can be synchronized with the Forest mobile application, if it has one, but, if not, it can be used without any problem only on the computer. The tool, which aims to help us focus on our tasks and avoid digital dispersion, allows us to set timed concentration times (with a minimum of 10 minutes) and block certain web pages during that time. Different concentration modes can be activated, such as one for work and one for study. If the user tries to enter a web page that they had blocked, the tree will appear and prevent them from entering, but they will also have the option to surrender. If you press that button, the tree will die and must start growing again the next time. The longer the timer is on, the more the tree will grow. Unlike the app,the extension is free.
List of blocked pages in Forest.
Dark reader
The amount of hours we spend in front of the computer during our working hours (and outside of it) has increased since teleworking gained weight in our way of life.
Dark Reader is the traditional dark mode that many mobile devices already have incorporated, but in the form of an extension for this browser.
Its mission is to help our eyes rest or, at least, to make the light emitted by the screen less aggressive, and its activation and deactivation is as simple as
clicking
on the extensions menu.
Zoom Scheduler
Although face-to-face work has regained ground in recent months, video calls continue to be part of our daily lives and Zoom has become an essential tool for many.
The extension that this platform offers for Chrome allows you to schedule or start a meeting very quickly.
It is not necessary to search the Zoom website or download its application, in the browser extensions menu you can use these two functions.
Once you have downloaded it, you will only have to enter with your email, if you already have an account, and, if not, create one.
With this tool you can save time and gain efficiency.
Todoist
This extension comes to be a notepad in the browser itself. To use it, once it has been installed, the user must register or log in with the email. When selected in the extensions menu, an open notebook for the current day appears. Tasks can be added to that blank page and they can be crossed out as they are completed. It also allows you to set productivity goals, making it a useful tool for any worker who wants to put their tasks in order or considers organization essential. One of the most useful features it offers is that it allows you to add the websites as tasks, so that, if you are consulting a page that will be needed later and the user does not want to lose sight of it, you can add the URL as a task and store it in notepad.
Todoist extension.
Adblock
The well-known ad blocker is a useful tool for users exhausted from having to close the pop-up windows that appear on the web pages they consult.
By blocking unwanted ads, load times are faster.
In addition, this extension blocks trackers and, as explained on its official site, helps to enhance the privacy of its users.
It can be used to navigate more reliably through sites that do not guarantee user safety.
Installing this extension in your Chrome browser does not mean that all the ads will be blocked: those that are embedded in the videos or in non-pop-up windows or banners will not disappear, but the user experience improves significantly. Of course, some websites prevent user access if you do not temporarily limit the use of AdBlock. That is, to access some pages, you will have to pause it through the extensions tab, which is located in the upper left corner and is shaped like a puzzle piece. Afterwards, you will have to click on the three points and select '' pause on this website ''. This way, you can access that particular site without deactivating the extension.
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