Draftback

Draftback

The archaeology of great writing

What is Draftback?
Draftback is a unique Chrome extension designed to provide a playback of the revision history of any editable Google Doc, akin to travelling back in time during the writing process. Aside from giving a new perspective of viewing data, Draftback ensures user data privacy by not sharing data with third parties and limiting data access to docs.google.com to fetch the necessary revision data.
Merlin
Stats
Version: 0.0.15 (Last updated: 2022-02-14)
Creation date: 2020-08-01
Risk impact: Moderate risk impact
Risk likelihood: Very low risk likelihood
Manifest version: 2
Permissions:
  • *://docs.google.com/*
Size: 954.37K
URLs: Website
Stats date:

Other platforms

Not available on Firefox
Not available on Edge
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Chrome-Stats extension
Merlin
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.

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User reviews
User reviews summary
These summaries are automatically generated weekly using AI based on recent user reviews. Chrome Web Store does not verify user reviews, so some user reviews may be inaccurate, spammy, or outdated.
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
Was working beautifully now it's just blank after I see it reviewing.
by Tina Tina, 2024-04-23

I wrote an app to counter this extension and other types of AI-detection tools. My app can help you type a text generated by AI onto anywhere to improve your productivity! It's available in the app store for FREE! Check it out in the link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/auto-type/id6480491582?mt=12
by xiaojun yang xiaojun yang, 2024-04-13

by Viljami Nykänen Viljami Nykänen, 2024-01-25
View all user 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.

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Screenshots
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