Compare Chrome extensions: Alternate Tab Order vs Privacy Badger

Stats Alternate Tab Order Alternate Tab Order Privacy Badger Privacy Badger
User count 5,000+ 1,000,000+
Average rating 4.68 4.42
Rating count 31 1,713
Last updated 2015-02-08 2024-02-06
Size 16.79K 1.90M
Version 1.0.13 2024.2.6
Short description
Opens new tabs at the end, and snaps back to view the opener tab under certain conditions Privacy Badger automatically learns to block invisible trackers.
Full summary

Changes tab ordering in a manner similar to pre-2010 Firefox.

The video explains it best, but by default, this extension does the following:

  • When a new tab is opened, it is sent to the end on the far-right

  • If that tab was opened with a left-click, such that it is automatically switched to, closing it will switch back to the tab from which is was opened (as long as no other tab had been switched to in the meantime)

What that means in practical terms is this:

  1. if I have an RSS reader open, left-clicking to read a story immediately will show me an open a tab on the end of the list. Closing that story it will take me back to my RSS reader.

  2. If I queue up a bunch of stories to read by middle-clicking several links, they will all open on the end of the tab list. When I go to read them by clicking on the first tab I opened, closing it will show me the next story.

I recognize how incredibly small the audience is for this exact setup, but there you have it.

Attributions

See more

Instead of keeping lists of what to block, Privacy Badger automatically discovers trackers based on their behavior. Privacy Badger sends the Global Privacy Control signal to opt you out of data sharing and selling, and the Do Not Track signal to tell companies not to track you. If trackers ignore your wishes, Privacy Badger will learn to block them.

Besides automatic tracker blocking, Privacy Badger replaces potentially useful trackers (video players, comments widgets, etc.) with click-to-activate placeholders, and removes outgoing link click tracking on Facebook and Google, with more privacy protections on the way. To learn more, see our FAQ at https://privacybadger.org/#faq

To get help or to report bugs, please email extension-devs@eff.org. If you have a GitHub account, you can use our GitHub issue tracker at https://github.com/EFForg/privacybadger/issues

*** Why does Privacy Badger need to read and change all my data on the websites I visit? ***

When you install Privacy Badger, your browser warns that Privacy Badger can “read and change all your data on the websites you visit”. You are right to be alarmed. You should only install extensions made by organizations you trust.

Privacy Badger requires these permissions to do its job of automatically detecting and blocking trackers on all websites you visit. We are not ironically (or unironically) spying on you. For more information, see our Privacy Badger extension permissions explainer: https://github.com/EFForg/privacybadger/blob/master/doc/permissions.md

Note that the extension permissions warnings only cover what the extension has access to, not what the extension actually does with what it has access to (such as whether the extension secretly uploads your browsing data to its servers). Privacy Badger will never share data about your browsing unless you choose to share it (by filing a broken site report). For more information, see EFF’s Privacy Policy for Software: https://www.eff.org/code/privacy/policy