Blue Dot Replacement

Show a flashing alert icon when an unfocused tab's title changes.
What is Blue Dot Replacement?
Blue Dot Replacement is a Chrome extension that shows a flashing alert icon when the title of an unfocused tab changes. It is an open-source extension that brings back the useful feature of displaying dots next to recently updated tabs in older versions of Chrome.

Extension stats

Users: 299 ▲ 11
Rating: 4.18 (11)
Version: 1.3.2 (Last updated: 2021-06-08)
Creation date: 2018-12-03
Risk impact: High risk impact
Risk likelihood: Low risk likelihood
Manifest version: 2
Permissions:
  • tabs
  • storage
  • https://*/*
  • http://*/*
Size: 17.97K

Other platforms

Not available on Firefox
Not available on Edge
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Extension summary

Older versions of Chrome would display a dot next to the icon of recently updated tabs, which many users found extremely helpful for web applications like Slack, Mattermost, etc. Unfortunately, this feature has since been dropped from Chrome.

This extension is MIT licensed and open-source (see https://github.com/willg101/blue-dot-replacement)

Privacy Policy: a

New in version 1.3.0 (2018-10-26): Added a privacy policy (thanks to Github user @fngdenco, who suggested this!) New in version 1.2.0 (2018-10-08): Added an option to disable the flashing icon for those who find it distracting (thanks to Github user @ferdnyc, who implemented this!)

User reviews

Hi After Chrome is update to version 91.0.4472.77, this great extension can not work anymore, because Chrome changed the tab name showing method, Sad!!
by Yu Cho, 2021-06-05

Works as stated, even after all those version updates.
by J Yen, 2020-11-26

I am happy to be able to tell when my pinned tabbed have notifications that require my attention. Thanks. ...But I *really* wish it didn't also flash on the bookmarks bar. A) it seems to do this when there aren't actually any notifications for the given page (this seems like a bug), and B) I habitually click on those icons, which mucks up which page my pinned tabs are actually on, interrupting my workflow. :S I imagine this is NOT something the dev can fix, due to the nature of how icons are implemented with Chrome... but... man. It definitely makes this less valuable for me. I ended up turning off my bookmarks bar, which is a drag. :|
by Jeremy Rice, 2020-11-20
View all user reviews

Extension safety

Risk impact

Blue Dot Replacement is risky to use as it requires a number of sensitive permissions that can potentially harm your browser and steal your data. Exercise caution when installing this extension. Review carefully before installing. We recommend that you only install Blue Dot Replacement if you trust the publisher.

Risk likelihood

Blue Dot Replacement has earned a fairly good reputation and likely can be trusted.

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