After the launch of the Google Chrome browser in 2008, the company faced several criticisms and challenges that eventually led to the creation of Chrome’s now popular extensions and web apps.
The extensions which have given Google Chrome an edge over counterparts – including Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and more – are designed to make for a smoother and faster browsing experience, as they can help you perform various functions, including tracking your site’s speed and gather information about a domain, improvements to Chrome’s UI, ad blockers, site fixes and bookmarks among others,
Currently, there are thousands of Chrome extensions available on the Chrome Web Store. Though great in number and extremely varied, not all these extensions are essential. Very few are worth the time and effort required to discover them.
If you’re a Chrome user, let Jovago.com save you some time with this selection of 5 essential Chrome extensions. Each extension is free and can be easily installed with just one click.
1. Google Dictionary
The Google Dictionary is an excellent dictionary extension for the Google Chrome as it is quick, and very easy to use.
All a user needs to do to find the definition of a word is simply double-click on the word on the webpage and a small pop-up bubble will appear showing the meaning.
The option of viewing the full definition of the word or phrase via the toolbar dictionary is also available. The good thing about this extension is that room is also made for popular foreign languages. 2. Download MasterThe perfect downloader for any google chrome user, the Download Master is excellent for downloading more than one file at a time on a webpage.
The extension picks out all hyperlinks on a webpage and gives you the option to see what links are available, enabling you to pick and choose what you want to download and the file formats you want to download …all with a single click.
This extension saves the user the chore of separately clicking on each download link on a webpage. However, its drawbacks are that it opens up an individual download window for each file and you cannot cancel the download process once it is started.
3. Awesome Screenshot
A free extension for Google Chrome, Awesome Screenshot gives its users the ability to take screenshots of whatever webpage they are viewing and save it to their computer or share it online. It take the whole process one step further by offering various options which allow users to either select a selection or the entire page, crop the image, make annotations, and more.
4. Chrome to Phone
Although this benefits just android users, it is definitely as essential. The extension allows users who have chrome installed on their phone to launch the Chrome to Phone extension icon on their browser, offering them a chance to push web links, maps and phone numbers to their Android device as well as open them up at any time or location.
5. AdBlock Plus
Undoubtedly the most popular Chrome extension with over 40 million users and over 200 million downloads, AdBlock blocks ads and banners all over the web, including on social media sites such as YouTube, Facebook and more.
The extension, however, does not block unobtrusive ads in order to support websites, and whitelists your favourite sites. All you need to do is click “Add to Chrome,” to have the extension embedded in your browser and afterwards, right-click on a banner and choose Adblock from the context menu. The banner will not be downloaded again.
Alternatively, you can also click the Adblock Plus icon in the toolbar to see all elements of the page and block the banners. Aside from blocking ads, the extension also protects your privacy across the web and even puts restriction on other sections you want to hide, such as YouTube comments and more.
About Jovago Jovago.com is an online hotel booking service with offices in Lagos (Nigeria), Nairobi (Kenya), Dakar (Senegal) founded by Africa Internet Group and has MTN and Millicom as its investors. Jovago.com, Africa’s No.1 booking portal, facilitates the booking process for its users to provide them with the best hotel booking experience with fast, transparent and easy-to-use services. Jovago.com has over 20,000 local hotel listings across Africa and over 200,000 hotels around the world.