After using Firefox as my main browser for the past year, I have settled on a set of extensions that actually make a difference to how I work. This is a practical list — no experiments, just the tools that ended up staying installed.
The setup
Dark mode everywhere: NightOwl
Applies dark mode to every website, not just the ones that support prefers-color-scheme. Auto-schedules by sunset/sunrise for my location. I stopped thinking about it after the first week.
Tab management: Tab Manager and Session Saver
Saves the current set of open tabs as a named session. When I switch context, I save and close instead of leaving 30 tabs open. The restore is one click.
News without opening a news site: News Widget Dashboard
Shows live RSS headlines on each new tab. Saves the round-trip of opening a news site, loading its trackers, and finding the headlines buried under a header.
Quick voice capture: Voice Notes and Audio Recorder
Records audio locally and saves it as MP3. Useful when I want to capture a thought during a research session without typing it. No cloud, no account.
Habit tracking: Habit Tracker New Tab
Monthly grid on the new tab. Visible enough to maintain, not intrusive enough to be distracting.
Daily tasks: Daily Planner and To-Do List
Drag-drop task list on the new tab. For days when I want to work from a list rather than improvise.
Weather glance: Weather and Clock Dashboard
Current temperature and time on each new tab. Enough to know whether to grab a jacket without opening a weather app.
Site shortcuts: Speed Dial Hub
Visual grid of bookmarked sites with custom icons. Faster to scan than a bookmark bar of text.
Market overview: Stock Market Dashboard
Stock prices and financial news on each new tab. 15 seconds of market context in the morning without loading a full finance site.
Quick math: Quick Calculator
Calculator and unit converter on the new tab. For when I need to convert something or do quick arithmetic.
Writing help: AI Writing Assistant
Grammar checking and text rewriting, locally. Useful for quick polishing without sending the text to a cloud service.
What they have in common
All 11 are Firefox-only, free, and require no account. Data stays local — nothing is sent to external servers. I built them all.
The full list is in the Firefox Extensions I Built series.
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