Web Extensions for Better Productivity

We have been clinging on to our screens for a long time, and it feels like forever for the ones who were used for commuting to their workplace/college. It is fancy, how we always relied on stationary items to manage our day-to-day activities to be organized in nature. But the new digital world expects us to rely more on our internet oriented dynamic devices than anything else.

An “essential” person is not someone who always has access to a pen and paper, but someone who has been using “productivity” software at the most and always has access to the same.

It seems crazy how we have got hooked to the idea of ‘getting each and every thing on our fingertips’ but are usually not aware about the most effective and compelling tools that could actually upgrade the way we work; not just professionally but also personally.

Not everyone knows this, but our web browsers have developed some amazing extensions which are in the form of small software modules; essentially designed for a customized browsing experience. Browsers typically allow you to boost productivity by not switching between applications, rather authorizing you to complement your activities on your web page itself.

Here, I have handpicked a few of those ‘Chrome Web Store’ (by Google Chrome) extensions which will help you engage and nurture your daily activities on your web page.

These are categorically distributed according to their respective functions:

REINFOCERS

Pushbullet: (Personal Choice)

Brings together your devices, friends, and the things you care about; helps you stay connected and never miss a notification.

Pushbullet is "the app you never knew you needed", according to CNET.

Popup Tab Switcher:

Makes switching between tabs more convenient. You can easily delegate default switching between tabs by pressing 'Ctrl + Tab' to the extension.

Currency Converter:

This free currency converter can be used to calculate currencies and exchange rates in real time, you can use it in travel planning, trade the Forex market, stock exchange, and even with binary options to convert currencies from anywhere in the world.

Save Emails to PDF by cloudHQ:

This extension lets you easily save Gmail? emails as a PDF document on your computer's hard drive. Their service works in just a click, including any attachments, and you're done!

Dark Reader:

Dark mode for every website. Takes care of your eyes, using a dark theme for night and daily browsing.

NOTES & PLANNERS

Google Keep: (Personal Choice)

Easily save the things you care about to Keep and have them synced across all of the platforms that you use - including web, Android, iOS, and Wear. Take notes for additional detail and add labels to quickly categorize your note for later retrieval.

Meetingbird - Calendar and Scheduling:

Meetingbird is a simple but powerful meeting scheduling platform that helps you schedule meetings faster and cut down on back and forth emailing. With the Meetingbird extension, you can view your calendar and schedule meetings from any site, including Gmail, Inbox, customer support platforms, CRMs, and more.

Super Simple Highlighter:

Adds highlights to text on web pages, and tries to restore them on subsequent visits. This is an extension that can highlight text on a web page, in a variety of styles. The highlighted text can be summarized, either as snippets or as full text.

Notebook Web Clipper:

Clip content from the web to your Notebook with Web Clipper. Clipped content, saved as Note Cards, immediately sync across your devices.

SNIP & RECORDERS

Loom:

With Loom, you can record your screen, voice, and face to create an instantly shareable video in less time than it would take to type an email. From onboarding new employees, troubleshooting customer issues, or code reviews, Loom makes it easy to get your message across quickly and clearly using the power of video.

Nimbus Screenshot & Screen Video Recorder:

Screen Capture full Web page or any part. Edit screenshots. Record screen casts - record video from your screen. This is an essential tool when it comes to preparing a report or review.

Screen Recorder & Video Editor - StoryXpress:

Screen video recorder which allows you to create, edit and share videos in minutes. StoryXpress Recorder is a Free Screen Recorder with Webcam, Online Video Editor, Video Hosting & Analytics, all in one place. Use the screencast or the webcam to express yourself better.

Save to Pocket:

Pocket’s Chrome extension is the easiest, fastest way to capture articles, videos, and anything else you find on the web. With one click, the content you’ve collected appears across all your devices in a clean, distraction-free space - there to read when you’re ready, whether at home, at work, or on the go. Pocket becomes a personal, quiet corner of the internet where you can spend quality time with the stories that matter to you.

Meet Attendance: (Supported on Google Meet)

Collect attendance in a Google Sheet from a Google Meet. This can be essential when you are willing to keep a tab on the meeting attendees. The extension can be utilized for educational purpose, as well.

VIDEO CALLING COMFORTERS

Ziteboard: (Personal Choice)

Zoomable real-time whiteboard for shared teamwork and collaboration. Design, vector, sketch drawing, shape recognition, tutoring, meeting. Explain, sketch, teach anything. Design, layouts, workflows, prototypes. Extend video conferences with visual teamwork: discussions, meetings, daily presentations, online training, tutoring or even mind mapping.

Kami:

Kami allows you to take any existing document, including scanned PDFs, and write, draw, type, annotate, comment, augment, enhance, and otherwise bring it to life – all within your browser.

Zoom Scheduler: (Supported on Zoom)

Zoom, the popular cloud meeting company, unifies mobile collaboration, cloud video conferencing and simple online meetings into one easy-to-use platform. The Zoom Chrome Extension allows participants to schedule Zoom cloud meetings directly from Google Calendar. With the click of a button, you can start an instant meeting or schedule a future meeting.

Google Meet Breakout Rooms: (Supported on Google Meet)

Breakout Rooms Extension which enhances Google Meet. This extension enables you to create breakout rooms for customized discussions among a set number of individuals in a group meeting. You can view all breakout rooms together in a Tile or Tab format, with a single click to move seamlessly between rooms. The extension can be utilized for educational purpose, as well.

Google Meet Meters: (Supported on Google Meet)

The extension adds an informative, dynamic talk meter for every participant in a Google Meet meeting. This encourages hidden insights from the less vocal individuals on your team or facilitates moderation of a dynamic discussion.

GRAMMAR & KEYBOARD SUPPORTERS

Voice In Voice Typing: (Personal Choice)

With the Voice In Chrome Extension, you can use speech to text to dictate in ANY text box on ANY website. Use the power of speech recognition to type emails in Gmail or write blog posts on WordPress or send messages in Slack.

Grammarly:

From grammar and spelling to style and tone, Grammarly helps you eliminate writing errors and find the perfect words to express yourself. You’ll get suggestions from Grammarly as you write on Gmail, Twitter, LinkedIn, and nearly everywhere else you find yourself writing. Grammarly is a writing assistant that goes deeper than grammar to offer you comprehensive writing feedback. You can be confident that your writing is not only correct, but clear and concise, too.

Read Aloud - A Text to Speech Voice Reader:

Tired of sitting, tired of reading? Click a button, jump on your bed, and have the article read aloud to you. You can choose from many available male and female voices. You can also set the pitch of the voice and the reading speed. This extension allows you to read out loud the current webpage article with one click. Supports 40+ languages & PDFs.

ImTranslator - Translator, Dictionary, TTS:

This extension will act as a Translator, Dictionary, with Voice. It includes translations from almost 100 languages by Google, Microsoft Bing Translator, with a dictionary and voice enabled.

Power Thesaurus:

The extension allows you to use toolbar button - to search and view synonyms and antonyms. It also allows you to use a shortcut in the context menu (select a word and right-click). This is essentially handy when you are typing lengthy content.

SOCIAL DELEGATORS

LinkedIn Extension:

This extension lights up with a new notification count whenever you have new activity waiting for you at LinkedIn.

Google Hangouts:

Google Hangouts brings conversations to life with photos, emoji, and even group video calls for free. You can use Hangouts to keep in touch; message friends, start free video or voice calls, and hop on a conversation with one person or a group. This is the most effective onscreen social messenger.

Multi Messenger for WhatsApp Web:

It allows you to combine WhatsApp and all the mainstream messengers into one simple window. Multi messenger is a wrapper for WhatsApp Web and other worldwide messengers. It allows you to have access to the official services quickly from a standalone sand-boxed window.

ENTERTAINERS

Netflix Party:

Netflix Party is a Chrome extension for watching Netflix remotely with friends, e.g., for movie nights with that long-distance special someone. It synchronizes video playback and adds group chat.

Scener – Virtual Movie Theater:

The watch party platform for streaming shows socially which support Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Prime Video, HBO Max, Funimation, Vimeo. Whether you’re looking to watch with friends while video chatting in a private theater, or host a watch party for an audience of upto a million viewers, Scener is the place to be. Connect with friends, and make new friends in the Scener community, where shows and movies are always at the center of the conversation. Long live movie night!

GIPHY:

Bring the power of a GIF search engine anywhere on the web. Search and discover the best GIPHY GIFs and Stickers right in your browser to quickly and easily respond to emails, tweets and more. Using the GIPHY extension is fast and simple. Just search, drag and drop or right click!

As of 2019, Chrome Web Store hosts about 190,000 extensions and web apps.

The given links are for Google Chrome which can be downloaded on various other web browsers like Opera, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Safari, etc. You can enable the extensions on your web browser or install add-ons for the respective web browsers. It is also very easy to remove those extensions as and when needed!