Draftback
The archaeology of great writing
What is Draftback?
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Summary
Draftback lets you play back the revision history of any Google Doc you can edit. It's like going back in time to look over your own shoulder as you write.
PRIVACY POLICY
I designed the extension to be as careful as possible about user privacy. No data is collected by me, except in one unusual case: if a user explicitly decides to publish an excerpt of their playback to draftback.com, that excerpt will (obviously) be available on the public web at an obscure URL. This feature is hard to find, little-used, and after a recent update may in fact not work anymore.
It's possible that Google itself collects some user data on every one of its extensions, in which case Draftback wouldn't be an exception.
But, to reiterate, user data is stored locally on the user's computer and it is only stored/collected there so that future replays of an already-replayed document will go faster.
OTHER NOTES
With Draftback, your data is kept entirely private. Draftback was purposely designed so that you could play back your own docs without having to share them with a third party. This is -your- data; Draftback just lets you see it in a new way.
Draftback only needs access to docs.google.com to get the revision data for playback—but that data never leaves your own browser.
User reviews
User reviews summary
Pros
- Useful for analyzing writing processes and development over time
- Helps detect plagiarism and AI use by providing proof of manual work
- Beneficial for both students to prove their work and teachers to verify authenticity
Cons
- Glitchy performance and trouble with full text display
- Outdated user interface and lack of updates
- Does not render formatting accurately, particularly with tables and bulleted lists
Most mentioned
- Detection of plagiarism and AI use in writing
- Glitches and technical problems with playback
- Lack of support for current Google Docs layout and formatting
Recent reviews
Safety
Risk impact
Draftback may not be safe to use and it requires some risky permissions. Exercise caution when installing this extension. Review carefully before installing.
Risk likelihood
Draftback has earned a good reputation and can be trusted.
Screenshots
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