WebUser 01 May 2019

CHROME

Preview results onany
searchengine
Last issu e, we looked at the excellent
Google Results Previewer (bit.ly/
goog 474 ), which lets you preview
search results by hovering over them
(and saving you a wasted click).
URL Render (bit.ly/render474) does
the same across a wider range of search
engines, including Google, Bing, Yahoo,
DuckDuckGo and Qwant, al though in
our tests, it struggled with the latter
two. Ru n a search, then hover your
mouse over any of th e results – this
creates a scrollable pop-up so you can
continue br owsing without navigat ing
away from your search provider.
The extension is still in beta, so expect
a few hiccups. But even in its current
state, URL Render is a joy to use and the
developer promises that it won’t
compromise your privacy.

The best and most popu lar extension
for protecting your browser against
malici ous JavaScript exploits hidden
in web pageshas finally arrived on
Chrome (bit.ly/noscri pt474).
NoScript has been available for
Firefox for 14 years (bit.ly/noff474),
blocking so-calle d ‘active content’ that
can be used by hackers to steal your
data , or worse. The tool operates a
blanket ban on Java, Flash, JavaScript
and other executables unlessyou
whitelist the specific domain – a
pre-emptive measur e that offers
“maxim um securi ty for your browser”.
Once you’ve instal led NoScript, click
its toolba r button to see all the current

permissions for active content on the

page you’re on. The add-on’s default for

most scripts, such as Google Analytics,

is to block them – but you can click each

icon to grant temporary permission and

the switch to Enabled, then open an

incognito window and visi tbit.ly/

incogtest474to check it’s working.

The feat ure should be available in

the forthcoming Chrome 75 upda te.

Browse Twitter in peace

Twitter is prob ably the loudest

website on the planet – a million

confli cting opinions whizzing past

and arguments brewing in every

second tweet. The Mindful Twitter

browser extension (bit.ly/twit474)

won’t block out all that noise, but

it wi ll hide all those annoying

notifications that bombard you whil e

you’re browsing the social network.

That’s especially useful if you get a

lot of direct messagesor you’re set

up to receive notifications whenever

your favourite celebrities tweet.

Click the toolbar icon, ti ck the

boxes for both general and messag e

notifications and you can now

browse the Twittersph ere in peac e.

Prevent websites seeing

youin incognitomode

Chrome’s incognito mode is an excellent

way to keep your browsing history

secr et (see our feat ure on page50 for

other uses ), but you can still be

‘watched’ by websites that track you.

However, a fix is on its way to prevent

sites from detecting when you’re using

incognito mode.

Last month, Google introduced the

‘Filesystem API in Incognito’ flag in its

developer-focused Chrome Canary

browser (bit.ly/

canary474) – a setting

designed to ensure

that files won’t remain

after you’ve exited

the Incognito tab.

However, it didn’t work

• until now.
  In Canary’s address
  bar, typechrome://
  flags/#enable-
  filesystem-in-
  incognitoand flick

Best New Browser Tools

Block unsafe scripts using NoScript for Chrome

let NoScript know whether that site’s

content can be trusted. Alternativ ely,

set up your own custompermissions

to keep you safe without causing

some websites to not function.

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