Yahoo has spun out a new extension for Google Chrome that fills every new tab page opened with crisp images from Flickr, the popular online photo sharing website.
While the extension is far from the first of its kind for Chrome (social image sharing network Pinterest offering a similar add-on) the Flickr brand name is, for many, synonymous with ‘serious photography’. The cultural cache alone could see Yahoo’s offering stand out.
Flickr Tab for Chrome — What It Does
The extension is called ‘Flickr Tab’ and does pretty much what you might expect it to.
Once installed from the Chrome Web Store each and every new tab you open is filled flush with fantastic high resolution photography pulled from Flickr’s vast pool of online content.
If you like an image that shows up you can click it to be go directly to its Flickr page in a new tab where you can learn more and, if available, download it for use on your desktop, Chromebook, etc.
Yahoo say the Flicker Tab extension uses their ‘unique algorithm’ to decide on the images that shows up which, hopefully, will cause fewer instances of repetition.
Flickr Tab is a simplified new tab experience compared to something like Momentum Dash or Pinterest Tab, both of which can show extra details such as current weather conditions, local time or on-page bookmarks.
And showing images is pretty much all it does. You’ll find no search box or speed-dial to quickly launch frequented websites.
But the simplicity is, in many ways, its real strength; with few bells, whistles or distractions it is left to the photography to do the talking — and what photography it is.
As seen in other similar ‘new tab page extensions’ you will want to keep an eye on memory usage. Flickr Tab alone uses around 192MB on Macbook with 4GB RAM. On its own it sounds like nothing but add-in other open tabs, apps, plugins and add-ons running and it could help in hitting dreaded slow downs sooner.
Want to try it out for yourself? Head over to the Chrome Web Store to install it.
- Source: Flickr