Interface is a chrome extension, productivity tool, and home page for the 'new tab' screen. I created this tool to help efficiently navigate the internet. The extension replaces the new tab window with a new page which displays the time and serves as a launching point for internet activity. Keyboards keys can be programmed to transport you to a bookmarked website with a single keystroke. There are 62 programmable hotkeys available. Interface offers a customizable search engine function that can quickly search six different websites interchangeably.

Main Display Hotkeys

A large number of actions are available in main display view. Let's walk through these a bit.

Main Display
The main display serves as the launching point for all activity on Interface.
Note: the "keyboard commands" box is for illustrative purposes.

Left Dock
The left dock appears when the left arrow key is held down. The left dock displays the hotkey configuration for both lowercase (a-z) and uppercase (A-Z) letter key bindings. To display the uppercase menu press shift + left arrow.

Right Dock
The right dock appears when the right arrow key is held down. The right dock displays the hotkey configuration for numeric (0-9) key bindings.

Bottom Dock
The bottom dock appears when the bottom arrow key is held down. The bottom dock displays possible inputs for Interface's search function. Quickly change between search engines by clicking on one of the squares.

Search Function
The search function can be displayed by pressing spacebar and hidden by pressing the escape key. Complete a search by pressing the enter key. The search function offers a convenient way to leverage many search engines in one place.

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Settings/Configuration

In order to really get the benefits out of the Interface extension the settings need to be configured.

Main Display Settings
The main display settings can be opened by either clicking the hamburger icon or pressing the tilde (~) key while the main display view is shown. Within the main display settings you can choose whether or not you want to display the date, be greeted, or use military time. Additionally, from here you can open the settings for the docks (left, right, & bottom--top is not currently available) by clicking the arrow key buttons or using the keyboard arrow keys. The color scheme can be changed by clicking on the "color scheme box" (or pressing 'c'). The act of closing the settings screen saves any recent changes. The setting screen can be closed by either pressing escape, tilde (~), clicking "Finished", or clicking the hamburger icon.

Left Dock Settings: lowercase inputs
The left dock settings allow for the letter keys on your keyboard to redirect your browser to a bookmarked website. The URLs must include http or https in the link (otherwise they will not work). The empty fields will darken to signify they are not currently being used. The "labels" will appear in the left dock within the main display view. Once there, hold down the left arrow key on the main display view to your shortcut menu. Once a hotkey is created, you can simply press that key on the main display to follow that link. You can also choose whether hotkeys open links in a new teb or not.

Left Dock Settings: UPPERCASE inputs
By clicking the "UPPERCASE" tab within the left dock settings, 26 new hotkey combinations become available. The "UPPERCASE" hotkeys are used by using shift+[target letter]. To see the UPPERCASE letter hotkeys menu, pressing shift+left arrow within the main display view.

Right Dock Settings
The right dock settings allow for the number keys on your keyboard to open up to 10 bookmarkd websites at once. This functionality is especially helpful for projects where many webpages may be typically used alongside one another. NOTE: If you have two sets of number keys on your keyboard, the top row is the one that works.) The URLs must include http or https in the link (otherwise they will not work). Hold down the right arrow key on the main display view to your shortcut menu.

Bottom Dock Settings
The bottom dock modifies the search function. Different "search URLs" can be used to make searches on other websites from the Interface extension. Up to six search URLs can be saved. When the bottom arrow is held down on the main display screen you can alternate the destination for the search function by clicking on the labels. TIP: After submitting a search on another website, examine the URL and see if there is a static "prefix" that accompanies all search. This can be used by the search function, which is basically a concatenate function.

Example search URLs:

merriam-webster: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/
wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
youtube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=

Color Scheme Settings
The color scheme is completely customizable. You can choose from a preset list of themes or enter hex codes to create your own color combination. The default color scheme is the "night" theme, which was the original color design.

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Data Privacy Policy

Data privacy is important. As a research scientist, I know firsthand how powerful data can be. Responsible and transparent data collection is of the upmost importance. Interface has been created with data privacy in mind. Here's what you need to know.

What data does Interface collect from users?

Data inputted into Interface by the user is shared only with Google and the user themself. However, Interface does collect some basic user information using Google Analytics to understand how many users are using the Chrome Extension. This includes information about when the Interface Chrome Extension was used and where in the world. The location data is based on a users' internet connection and is at the granularity of a city. That is, information is collected that can lead to statements like "three people from Detroit used Interface last Sunday."

Importantly: No personally identifiable information is collected by Interface. No user identification numbers are created at any point. No email addresses are collected, no names, and no demographics.

All of the information a user places in Interface (e.g., the website names and labels for the left and right dock) is private. For instance, I have no way of knowing that a user created a setting for the letter 'c' to open a google search of best cookie recipes. Basically, your data privacy is similar to just visting a website normally, only with Interface you can get there more efficiently.

How is user data stored?

User data is stored within an individual user's chrome account, using Chrome's "Storage Sync" method. This was done so only users have access to this information. However, it is my understanding that this information is not encrypted. So while it is unlikely individuals should have any privacy violations, it's also probably not the best place to store your passwords (though I'm not sure why you would!). Given that most information inputs are websites, there is unlikely to be highly sensitive information stored anyways.

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created by

Zachary A. Caddick

2020