Here is my original blog post outlining the best Safari browser extensions:
Safari offers a clean, fast web browsing experience right out of the box. However, with the right extensions you can make it even more personalized as per your specific needs. The best Safari extensions boost privacy, productivity or simply make browsing more convenient.
Why Use Safari Extensions?
Although Safari already excels at resource efficiency and speed, it does lack some customization options found in browsers like Firefox or Chrome. This is where third-party extensions come into play. They offer benefits like:
- Enhanced online privacy and security
- Multimedia and readability improvements
- Increased productivity through automation
- Specialized utility for niche or professional use
- Keyboard shortcuts to speed up common workflows
- Seamless integration of useful web tools and apps
The top Safari extensions essentially add specialized functionality without compromising on speed or stability. They also help differentiate your browsing experience from other Mac users.
With that said, the graph below shows the potential impact of extensions on Safari‘s performance:
Clearly, piling on a bunch of extensions for marginal gains isn‘t advisable. You should pick those that provide utility firmly in line with your regular browsing needs and habits.
How to Choose the Right Safari Extensions
The key criteria to select the best Safari extensions for your needs include:
- Purpose: This determines how useful an extension will be for you.
- Reliability and updates: An extension that frequently crashes Safari or doesn‘t get updated isn‘t worth keeping.
- System resource usage: Some extensions are notorious memory and processor hogs, impacting system performance.
- Data privacy: Select extensions from developers with clear, ethical privacy policies around user data collection.
- Cost: Both free and paid options exist, with the latter typically offering advanced features.
You also need to check that the extension is compatible with your macOS version. Consider uninstalling one you don‘t end up using much to avoid browser sluggishness.
Best Safari Browser Extensions
Based on user ratings and expert reviews, here are 8 truly worthwhile Safari extensions:
1. StopTheMadness
StopTheMadness ensures websites can‘t disable standard browser shortcuts like copy-paste, reload etc. Some websites try to limit functionality to improve control — this extension foils that!
It also eliminates intrusive pop-ups requesting push notifications, location access etc. Another feature is preventing tab crowding from sites trying to trap you.
If you want seamless browsing without irritations, StopTheMadness is among the must-have extensions. It plugs major privacy and productivity holes other extensions simply don‘t address.
The catch is that it is a paid extension at $9.99. However, browser security experts overwhelmingly recommend it for flawless Safari integration. Also note that the iOS version is sold separately.
2. Grammarly
Grammarly is that savior for all your online writing needs on Safari. It flags typos, grammatical issues, punctuation errors, contextual spelling mistakes and more while you type.
The free version itself offers solid functionality. But premium options provide advanced suggestions around vocabulary, clarity, engagement and even genre-specific writing style.
If you regularly write emails, social media posts, student essays or professional documents on Safari, Grammarly is among the top extensions to consider. Even bloggers and marketing copywriters extensively rely on it for quality and plagiarism checks.
3. Honey
Online shopping aficionados swear by Honey as the best Safari extension to save money on purchases. It automatically tests and applies coupon and promo codes on 30,000+ eCommerce stores while you checkout items in cart.
Honey also proactively tracks prices across merchants and shows you availability and price history for items you view. Its exclusive Gold Rewards program enables cashback and gift cards as you shop via Safari.
Whether you browse for gadgets, fashionwear, groceries or flight tickets, Honey makes sure you pay the lowest prices every time. From discounts to Fallas to HomeDepot and last minute deals on Expedia — it uncovers the best coupon for practically every product.
4. PiPifier
PiPifier can turn any HTML5 video on Safari into a floating picture-in-picture window. It eliminates having to pause the video each time you switch tabs or apps.
You can resize the mini player and continue browsing, working on documents or using other applications with the video still playing. It even lets you create a custom player position.
Of course, native picture-in-picture works for streaming platforms like Netflix and Hulu. But PiPifier notably enables this functionality for videos all over the web, including Facebook, Twitter and news sites. The touch controls are intuitive and playback works smoothly without stalling.
If watching videos while multitasking is a habit for you, PiPifier is a gamechanger. Do note that recent macOS Ventura updates seem to have issues with the audio staying on top though.
5. Turn Off the Lights
Turn Off the Lights is an ingenious extension for distraction-free viewing of web videos. It does exactly what the name suggests — dimming everything except the video player by overlaying a dark screen filter.
You can toggle between different levels of background dimming based on ambient lighting. Keyboard shortcuts, autoplay settings, whitelist/blacklist of websites, color filters and other configuration options provide robust customization.
Upping the drama and focus exclusively on the video results in a theatre-like viewing experience. Turn Off the Lights works on 1000+ video streaming sites like YouTube, TED Talks, Vimeo, Dailymotion plus niche sports, movie and even adult video platforms. It‘s perfect for when you want zero distractions while enjoying web videos.
6. xSearch
Tired of always having to click and change the default search engine from Google to DuckDuckGo, Bing or others?
xSearch enables effortlessly switching between over 40 search engines with handy keyboard shortcuts. Whether looking up software issues, online deals or any web search — querying via different engines gives you more comprehensive results.
The PRO version of xSearch further lets you search directly from Safari‘s address bar. This keeps you firmly inside the browser without need to first navigate to Google.com each time. Other useful highlights include search term highlighting, auto-suggestion of previous queries and localized recommendations.
For researching online efficiently through custom keyword shortcuts, xSearch is the go-to extension for Safari power users.
7. Polyglot Translator
Polyglot Translator makes reading foreign webpages a breeze by instantly translating text you highlight. No more copying-and-pasting into Google Translate back and forth. Over 100 languages including Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, Thai, Russian etc. are supported.
It even lets you compare machine translation with professional human-edited translation with the press of a button. Polyglot also convenient options like showing word definitions and synonyms in a hover popup. Do note that the free version only allows 100 character translations per day with ad banners.
If you regularly visit websites with multilingual content, installing Polyglot considerably simplifies the translation workflow directly on Safari itself.
8. DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials
And finally, if you wish to reclaim online privacy, DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials is the go-to extension from industry consensus.
It blocks hidden third-party trackers that record your digital footprint across websites for targeted advertising. A real-time Privacy Grade rating (A-F) shows you each website‘s tracking level. Automatic forced encryption via HTTPS and email aliasing helps further obfuscate your identity.
You also get smarter encryption, tracker network visualization, recent clear breaches notifications and other proactive privacy tools. Note that it still allows some first-party essential trackers to avoid breaking websites.
Nevertheless, Privacy Essentials benchmark safely surfing the web without compromising usability — making it the top anti-tracking extension. It perfectly complements DuckDuckGo‘s anonymous search engine alternative to Google.
Tips for Managing Extensions
A few handy tips will help you streamline extension usage:
- Check for compatibility before installing extensions in Safari > Preferences > Extensions
- Toggle them on/off from the Extensions menu to isolate impact
- Set up keyboard shortcuts where available for frequently used extensions
- Uninstall unused extensions cluttering up Safari‘s performance
- Make sure extensions auto-update fix bugs or add features
- Don‘t hesitate to switch if an extension becomes unusable due to outdated code
Also don‘t go overboard installing too many extensions together regardless of your Mac‘s hardware. Targeted usage of select highly useful ones beats a dozen mediocre ones clogging things up unnecessarily.
The Best Extensions to Enhance YOUR Safari Experience
In closing, while Safari itself provides exceptional performance, the aforementioned extensions help customize its capabilities closer to your specific requirements.
Choose wisely based on your browsing habits rather than going by popularity alone. Stick to 1-2 extensions addressing your biggest pain points for optimal productivity without slowing things down.
For instance, online shoppers stand to save hundreds of dollars thanks to automatic coupons from Honey. Writers benefit enormously from Grammarly‘s grammar and style corrections while typing. And heavy YouTube users get an upgraded video experience using Turn Off the Lights.
Hopefully these extension recommendations didn‘t overwhelm you with options — just pick those aligning closest to your needs for a smoother and more personalized Safari browsing experience!
Let me know in the comments if you have any other favorite Safari extensions I should cover in a future updated version of this guide!
