Browser toolbar

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A browser toolbar is a toolbar that resides within a browser's window. All major web browsers provide support to browser toolbar development as a way to extend the browser's GUI and functionality. Browser toolbars are considered to be a particular kind of browser extensions that present a toolbar. Browser toolbars are specific to each browser, which means that a toolbar working on a browser does not work on another one. All browser toolbars must be installed in the corresponding browser before they can be used and require updates when new versions are released.

Contents

Many high-profile browser toolbars released over the years have been fraught with problems, either intentionally as malware or injected with computer viruses or due to poor or conflicting programming when considering multiple toolbars being included on the single browser.

Controversy

During the 2000s, there was a proliferation of browser add-ons produced and released by a variety of software companies, both large and small, which were designed to extend the browsing experience for the end user. Due to this popularity, and the ease with which users could have these installed, there was additionally an adoption by malware, adware, and other privacy-invasive tracking tools. The popularity of browser toolbars has since declined. [1] [2]

Many unscrupulous companies use software bundling to force users downloading one program to also install a browser toolbar, some of which invade the user's privacy by tracking their web history and search history online. Many antivirus companies refer to these programs as grayware or Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs). [3] [4] [5] [6]

Developing a toolbar

The programming language and development tools behind a browser toolbar vary from one browser to another.

In Internet Explorer 5 or later, toolbars may be created as browser extensions written in C# or C++. More specifically, it is possible to create up to three different kinds of toolbars (custom explorer bars, tool bands and desk bands [7] ) and to combine them with browser helper objects in order to provide added functionality.

In Firefox, toolbars can be created as add-ons that contribute to the GUI by extending the browser with XUL (support for XUL was removed in Firefox version 57). The logic behind the toolbar is written in JavaScript running under expanded privileges. [8] Mozilla Jetpack [9] can be used to simplify the development of add-ons for Firefox.

In Safari 5 or later [10] toolbars can be created as extensions [11] that add bars [12] and buttons. [13] The logic behind the toolbar is written in JavaScript with access to a special JavaScript API [14] to interact with the Safari application and web content.

In Google Chrome 4 or later, [15] toolbars can be created as extensions [16] that add browser actions [17] to the browser window. The logic behind the toolbar is written in JavaScript with access to a special JavaScript API [18] to interact with the Chrome application and web content. The privileges under which a Chrome extension runs are governed by a set of permissions. [19]

In Opera 11 or later, [20] toolbars can be created as extensions [21] that add buttons [22] to the browser window. The logic behind the toolbar is written in JavaScript with access to a special JavaScript API [23] to interact with the Opera application and web content.

In Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera toolbar styling is done though CSS.

Native vs. injected toolbars

Some major browsers (Internet Explorer and Firefox) enable the creation of native toolbars i.e., toolbars which are directly inserted in the browser window. Examples of native toolbars are Google Toolbar [24] and Stumbleupon Toolbar. [25] Native toolbars use browser-specific code to create the same toolbar for each different browser version.

Some toolbar developers use a different approach and make the browser extension inject a JavaScript file in every web page visited by the user. All major browsers support injected toolbars. The code in this file inserts the toolbar as a part of the DOM in every web page. Injected toolbars use essentially the same JavaScript code to draw the toolbar for each different browser version.

Each approach has advantages and disadvantages for the different stakeholders.

From the user's perspective:

From the developer's perspective:

From the toolbar owner's perspective:

Cross-browser toolbar development

Another way to simplify the task of developing a toolbar for different browsers is to rely on a cross-browser extension development framework. Some of the most important frameworks are listed below:

Removing a browser toolbar

Most of the larger toolbar providers have a toolbar uninstaller or directions for how to remove their toolbars. [33] [34] [35] This process varies by browser type, version, OS, and toolbar provider.

Some toolbar providers do not give detailed instructions on how to remove their toolbars. Many 2nd tier providers and software bundled browser toolbars can be difficult to remove without a 3rd party toolbar removal utility. [36]

List

The following is a list of web browser toolbar articles on Wikipedia:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Firefox</span> Free and open-source web browser by Mozilla

Mozilla Firefox, or simply Firefox, is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. It uses the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements current and anticipated web standards. In November 2017, Firefox began incorporating new technology under the code name "Quantum" to promote parallelism and a more intuitive user interface. Firefox is available for Windows 7 and later versions, macOS, and Linux. Its unofficial ports are available for various Unix and Unix-like operating systems, including FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, illumos, and Solaris Unix. It is also available for Android and iOS. However, as with all other iOS web browsers, the iOS version uses the WebKit layout engine instead of Gecko due to platform requirements. An optimized version is also available on the Amazon Fire TV as one of the two main browsers available with Amazon's Silk Browser.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Browser wars</span> Competition between web browsing applications for share of worldwide usage

A browser war is competition for dominance in the usage share of web browsers. The "first browser war," (1995-2001) pitted Microsoft's Internet Explorer against Netscape's Navigator. Browser wars continued with the decline of Internet Explorer's market share and the popularity of other browsers including Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge and Opera.

This is a comparison of both historical and current web browsers based on developer, engine, platform(s), releases, license, and cost.

Mozilla Firefox has features that allow it to be distinguished from other web browsers, such as Chrome and Internet Explorer.

Netscape Plugin Application Programming Interface (NPAPI) was an application programming interface (API) of the web browsers that allows plugins to be integrated.

A JavaScript engine is a software component that executes JavaScript code. The first JavaScript engines were mere interpreters, but all relevant modern engines use just-in-time compilation for improved performance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DOM Inspector</span> Web development tool

DOM Inspector (DOMi) is a web developer tool created by Joe Hewitt and was originally included in Mozilla Application Suite as well as versions of Mozilla Firefox prior to Firefox 3. It is now included in Firefox, and SeaMonkey. Its main purpose is to inspect and edit the Document Object Model (DOM) tree of HTML and XML-based documents.

Add-on is the Mozilla term for software modules that can be added to the Firefox web browser and related applications. Mozilla hosts them on its official add-on website.

NoScript is a free and open-source extension for Firefox- and Chromium-based web browsers, written and maintained by Giorgio Maone, an Italian software developer and member of the Mozilla Security Group.

A browser extension is a small software module for customizing a web browser. Browsers typically allow a variety of extensions, including user interface modifications, cookie management, ad blocking, and the custom scripting and styling of web pages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Firebug (software)</span> Web development add-on for Firefox

Firebug is a discontinued free and open-source web browser extension for Mozilla Firefox that facilitated the live debugging, editing, and monitoring of any website's CSS, HTML, DOM, XHR, and JavaScript.

Gears, formerly Google Gears, is discontinued utility software offered by Google to create more powerful web apps by adding offline storage and other additional features to web browsers. Released under the BSD license, Gears is free and open-source. Gears was conceived at a time when a comparable alternative was not available. However, Gears was discontinued in favor of the standardized HTML5 methods that eventually became prevalent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Web development tools</span> Software used to test the UI of a website or web application

Web development tools allow web developers to test and debug their source codes. They are different from website builders and integrated development environments (IDEs) in that they do not assist in the direct creation of a webpage, rather they are tools used for testing the user interface of a website or web application.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet Explorer 9</span> Web browser for Windows released in 2011

Internet Explorer 9 or IE9 is the ninth version of the Internet Explorer web browser for Windows. It was released by Microsoft on March 14, 2011, as the ninth version of Internet Explorer and the successor to Internet Explorer 8. Microsoft released Internet Explorer 9 as a major out-of-band version that was not tied to the release schedule of any particular version of Windows, unlike previous versions. It is the first version of Internet Explorer not to be bundled with a Windows operating system, although some OEMs have installed it with Windows 7 on their PCs. Internet Explorer 9 is the last version that is called Windows Internet Explorer. The software was rebranded simply as Internet Explorer starting in 2012 with the release of Internet Explorer 10.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Google Chrome</span> Web browser developed by Google

Google Chrome is a cross-platform web browser developed by Google. It was first released in 2008 for Microsoft Windows, built with free software components from Apple WebKit and Mozilla Firefox. Versions were later released for Linux, macOS, iOS, and also for Android, where it is the default browser. The browser is also the main component of ChromeOS, where it serves as the platform for web applications.

Web Slices are a web feed technology based on the hAtom Microformat that allows users to subscribe to portions of a web page. Microsoft developed the Web Slice format, and published a specification under their Open Specification Promise. The specification is not published by any independent standards body. Introduced in Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1, Web Slices can be previewed in a fly-out window. As of 2012,, Internet Explorer 8 and 9 were the only browsers to support Web Slices natively, although Mozilla Firefox had support via an add-on called webchunks.

Web storage, sometimes known as DOM storage, is a standard JavaScript API provided by web browsers. It enables websites to store persistent data on users' devices similar to cookies, but with much larger capacity and no information sent in HTTP headers. There are two main web storage types: local storage and session storage, behaving similarly to persistent cookies and session cookies respectively. Web Storage is standardized by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and WHATWG, and is supported by all major browsers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WebGL</span> JavaScript bindings for OpenGL in web browsers

WebGL is a JavaScript API for rendering interactive 2D and 3D graphics within any compatible web browser without the use of plug-ins. WebGL is fully integrated with other web standards, allowing GPU-accelerated usage of physics and image processing and effects as part of the web page canvas. WebGL elements can be mixed with other HTML elements and composited with other parts of the page or page background.

Content Security Policy (CSP) is a computer security standard introduced to prevent cross-site scripting (XSS), clickjacking and other code injection attacks resulting from execution of malicious content in the trusted web page context. It is a Candidate Recommendation of the W3C working group on Web Application Security, widely supported by modern web browsers. CSP provides a standard method for website owners to declare approved origins of content that browsers should be allowed to load on that website—covered types are JavaScript, CSS, HTML frames, web workers, fonts, images, embeddable objects such as Java applets, ActiveX, audio and video files, and other HTML5 features.

HTML5 Audio is a subject of the HTML5 specification, incorporating audio input, playback, and synthesis, as well as speech to text, in the browser.

References

  1. ↑ "Toolbars WAR". Videohelp.host.sk. Archived from the original on 2013-05-13. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  2. ↑ Larry Seltzer (2009-02-10). "Enough with the Browser Toolbars Already". eWeek. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  3. ↑ Vincentas (11 July 2013). "Grayware in SpyWareLoop.com". Spyware Loop. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  4. ↑ "Threat Encyclopedia – Generic Grayware". Trend Micro. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  5. ↑ "Rating the best anti-malware solutions". Arstechnica. 2009-12-15. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  6. ↑ "PUP Criteria". Malwarebytes. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  7. ↑ "Different kinds of Internet Explorer toolbars". Msdn.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  8. ↑ Javascript running under expanded privileges Archived September 7, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ↑ "Mozilla Jetpack". Wiki.mozilla.org. 2014-02-05. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  10. ↑ "Safari Release 5". Prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  11. ↑ "Safari Extension Developer Guide". Developer.apple.com. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  12. ↑ "Safari extension bars". Developer.apple.com. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  13. ↑ "Safari extension buttons". Developer.apple.com. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  14. ↑ "Special JavaScript API from Safari's Extension Reference Guide". Developer.apple.com. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  15. ↑ Baum, Nick (2010-01-25). "Google Chrome Release 4". Chrome.blogspot.com.es. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  16. ↑ Google Chrome Extensions Archived February 25, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  17. ↑ Browser Actions in Google Chrome Archived May 6, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  18. ↑ Special JavaScript API from Google Chrome's Extension Reference Guide Archived May 9, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  19. ↑ Google Chrome Extension Permissions Archived May 14, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  20. ↑ "Opera Release 11". Opera.com. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  21. ↑ "Opera Extensions". Dev.opera.com. 2011-06-21. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  22. ↑ Software, Opera. "Browser Buttons in Opera". Dev.opera.com. Archived from the original on 2012-01-13. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  23. ↑ "Special JavaScript API from Opera's Extension Reference Guide". Dev.opera.com. 2012-08-24. Archived from the original on 2012-03-04. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  24. ↑ "Google Toolbar". Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  25. ↑ "Stumbleupon Toolbar". Stumbleupon.com. Archived from the original on 2014-03-02. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  26. ↑ "Neobars". Macte! Labs. Archived from the original on 2018-01-22. Retrieved 2015-02-01.
  27. ↑ Phil Windley and Q Wade Billings. "Kynetx". Kynetx. Archived from the original on 2001-10-26. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  28. ↑ "CrossRider". CrossRider. Archived from the original on 2014-07-09. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  29. ↑ "KangoExtensions". KangoExtensions. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  30. ↑ "Conduit". Toolbar.conduit.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-15. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  31. ↑ "Widdit". Widdit. 2012-10-13. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  32. ↑ "ExtensionMaker". ToolbarDev.
  33. ↑ Toolbar. "Removing a Google Toolbar" . Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  34. ↑ Removing a Yahoo Toolbar Archived February 13, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  35. ↑ "Removing a Bing Toolbar". Onlinehelp.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
  36. ↑ "Universal Toolbar Removal Utility". Skipity.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-28. Retrieved 2014-02-26.
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