SAFARI EXTENSIONS
Handy tools for getting more done online
IT WILL TAKE 20 minutes
YOU WILL LEARN How to install and manage extensions in Safari
YOU’LL NEED macOS Catalina, Safari
Extensions are like ‘mini apps’ that you can open up right from
the toolbar in Safari. They offer a shortcut to some of the most useful features of third-party apps, without you needing to leave the browser. The extensions you choose can then be easily accessed from the relevant website – so there’s no more jumping between apps.
While ad blockers dominate the list, there are plenty of other Safari extensions. Save web pages with Pocket, check your grammar with Grammarly, view passwords with 1Password, find out how trustworthy a website is with NewsGuard and more. And once you’re done, you just click to close the extension and resume browsing. It’s that easy!
New home for extensions
Until 2017, Apple listed Safari extensions on a dedicated web page. With macOS High Sierra, the company moved that listing to the Mac App Store. With so many developers wanting to include the extra functionality, Apple’s dedicated page actually houses a mere fraction of all the apps that offer extensions, and doesn’t list all the available options in the apps that it does include. So if you don’t know exactly what you are looking for, you will have to dig through the Mac App Store or trawl the internet to check third-party sites. There are plenty of free options, and some are priced, although only up to £2.99. Srivats Lakshman
Extensions allow you to use an app’s features without having to leave Safari