Google Browser Sync

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I think that the majority of people are aware of the Google Toolbar for Firefox but what I don’t know is if people are aware that Google have developed a whole series of Extensions for Firefox.

The Google Firefox Extensions page gives you a long list of various add-ons for Firefox but the one which I recently discovered and now find invaluable is the Browser Sync extension.

Browser Sync continuously synchronizes your browser settings including bookmarks, history, persistent cookies, and saved passwords across your computers. It also allows you to restore open tabs and windows across different machines and browser sessions.

Now I have my Apple iBook laptop which I use mostly for all my personal stuff including the various personal projects plus I have a PC at the office and an additional PC at home and all three are running either Ubuntu or Debian and of course Firefox.

The Browser Sync allows me to use all three machines and continuously stay up to date with my browser history and passwords saved which for me is very important. Google however claim it synchronises your bookmarks and while this is true for the very first time you setup the Browser Sync extension on a machine it doesn’t seem to continue syncing the bookmarks after the initial install.

To solve this small issue of the bookmarks syncing I use a different extension called Foxmarks. This extension does the job of syncing bookmarks excellently and I’ve been using this extension for a year or so now.

I find that both the Browser Sync and Foxmarks extensions are critical to my productivity and I recommend trying the combination to anyone who runs on more than one machine. There is of course the small issue of privacy and security running with these extensions but I don’t mind too much.

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