[WWW.TECHLIFE.NET] [ 037 ]
TELL US WHAT TAB TOSSER DOES.
Tab Tosser is a Firefox extension that automatically closes
browser tabs you have ignored. It tracks when browser tabs
are last viewed and closes them when they have not been
revisited for 1–90 days, based on your preference. If you go
on vacation, Tab Tosser detects you have been away and
pauses for a few days while you catch up. It also keeps a
backup log of recently tossed tabs just in case.
WHY DID YOU CREATE IT?
A while ago, I reset Safari on my MacBook Pro while
debugging a web app, unaware that doing so would clear
the tabs and browsing history on my iPhone. After a panic,
I took a few deep breaths and reconsidered if I had truly
lost anything. I hadn’t. I could just search and find any
website I had open.
WHAT WERE YOU HOPING TO ACHIEVE?
I open tabs with every intention to take action but life
happens. Tabs build up. Tab Tosser creates an intentional
constraint that helps free myself of digital clutter with no
effort. I built Tab Tosser for me but I hope it helps
others too.
WHAT TECHNOLOGIES WERE USED IN BUILDING IT?
Tab Tosser uses Firefox’s WebExtensions API. It is written
in TypeScript and compiled to ECMAScript 2017. This was
my first project to use the Tailwind CSS framework. For
testing, I used the QUnit CLI and Mozilla’s webextensions-
api-fake library. I designed the icon and website in
InVision Studio.
HOW HAS IT BEEN RECEIVED?
Tab Tosser received more upvotes on Product Hunt than
monthly active users in its first month. I think people like
the idea of Tab Tosser more than actually embracing
the constraint.
Someone sent me a feature request to add a list of
domains to never close. They said they had work
documents they would never want to automatically close.
This sort of thinking is precisely what Tab Tosser is meant
to change. If a tab is truly important, you will click it within
a reasonable amount of time. People have written to thank
me. One person said Tab Tosser helped them digitally in
the way the KonMari method helped them with
physical objects.WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL DO NEXT WITH IT?
Tab Tosser changed my behaviour towards articles
specifically. I now send articles I want to read to Pocket
(https://getpocket.com/) instead of opening in a tab. I
blocked time on my calendar to read but there are still
articles I never get to. I’m thinking about creating an
expiration time extension to Pocket.
I am also considering making Tab Tosser available for
Brave and Microsoft Edge. Google seems to have
abandoned collaboration with Mozilla on a WebExtensions
API standard and Chromium does not have the tab
lastAccessed feature Tab Tosser relies on. I don’t know
enough C++ to add the functionality but a JavaScript
polyfill seems plausible.DISCOVERHASHTAGSEARCHES.COMJEREMIAH LEE
Job: Lee is an
engineering manager at
InVision. He grew under
the Californian sun but
now calls Stockholm,
Sweden his home.
w: https://www.
jeremiahlee.com
t: @JeremiahLee[ TOO MANY TABS ]
Tab Tosser
JEREMIAH LEE ON HIS TOOL FOR TORCHING BROWSER TABS.
[ JEREMIAH LEE }