The Best Safari Extensions for Your Mac
Reading Time: 3 minutesGot a Mac? Here are seven plug-ins to improve your default browser experience.
While Safari doesn’t have anywhere near as many extensions as Firefox or Chrome, there are some wonderful add-ons you will soon wonder how you ever lived without. We’ve compiled a list of the best Safari extensions for Mac so you can add much-needed features to Apple’s default browser, from YouTube enhancements to enabling dark mode across all websites.
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(While you’re checking these out, don’t forget to change these Safari settings to make it a better browser. And if you’re looking for the best Safari extensions for your iPhone, we’ve got you covered there too.)
Vinegar: Fixes YouTube’s worst annoyances
If you watch a lot of videos on YouTube, Vinegar ($1.99) is a must-have. This extension blocks ads on YouTube and forces the platform to use a minimal HTML5 video player. For Mac users, the main benefit here is the option to watch YouTube ad-free, but Vinegar isn’t only beneficial for Mac.
A single purchase allows you to use Vinegar on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad. On iOS and iPadOS, Vinegar lets you play YouTube videos in the background, and offers picture-in-picture support without the need to pay for Premium (although YouTube has recently offered this feature for free as well).
If you like this extension, check out Baking Soda ($1.99). It’s by the same developer and it forces all websites to use an HTML5 player for videos. Unfortunately, Baking Soda cannot block ads.
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Noir: Enable dark mode on all websites
Noir ($2.99) allows you to use dark mode on every website you visit. It takes a look at the colors used on any webpage and generates the new theme accordingly, so you may see a slightly different background color depending on what websites you visit. While there are more websites than ever offering a default dark theme, plenty still don’t, so Noir will prove its worth quickly.
PiPifier: Turn on picture-in-picture for all videos
If you want to enable picture-in-picture mode for any and all videos, PiPifier will do the job for free. Just play a video on any site, then press the PiPifier button in Safari’s toolbar. (The extension won’t work before you interact with the video player.)
StopTheMadness: Generally improve your web browsing experience
StopTheMadness ($9.99) specializes in fixing annoyances that tend to crop up across many websites. For example, if you frequently use websites that block copying and pasting, StopTheMadness will allow you to get past these restrictions. It also lets you stop autoplaying videos on all websites, removes tracking information from URLs, alerts you when you’ve exceeded the character limit for passwords on certain websites, and clears up many other issues before you’ll even notice them. Its UI is a bit barebones, but the extension itself works really well.
Auto HD + FPS: Force YouTube to choose better quality
YouTube often defaults to a much lower quality stream than what your computer can handle. Auto HD + FPS is a free extension that fixes that problem. It forces YouTube to pick the best resolution and frame rate your computer can play, so you don’t have to keep selecting the 1080p 60fps stream option every single time.
Super Agent: Remove annoying cookie banners
If permission-seeking cookie banners are haunting you everywhere you go, Super Agent is the extension you need. It’s free, and removes these banners on most websites. You might still encounter sites where this extension doesn’t work. When you do, the extension allows you to report this to the developer so they can fix it going forward.
See Passwords: Find hidden password fields
Some malicious websites are littered with hidden password fields that attempt to trick your browser into automatically revealing sensitive information about you. See Passwords ($0.99) is an extension that reveals these hidden password fields to safeguard your privacy. Even if you use a good password manager that doesn’t use autofill without your permission, See Passwords reveals when a website is being shady, which will help you stay safe online, and keep your data more secure.