Google Browser Sync Alternative?
I recently tried out Google’s (quite) new Browser Sync extension for Firefox.
So far, I like it. It seems to be synchronizing my bookmarks and long-term cookies between browsers and across operating systems pretty well. But, there are a few things I don’t like:
- When I switch from one computer to the next, it logs me off the first computer. In order to sync the boxes, I therefore have to close every single browser window on computer A so that it copies it stuff to the sync account, and after that, I can open a window on computer B. That’s really annoying, especially because I don’t close every tab when I leave work just to open the same pages (references etc) yet again the next morning when I get back. There doesn’t seem to be a way to get my bookmarks etc. synchronized without actually closing the whole deal.
- Once, when I installed the plugin on my Mac Mini, the highly sophisticated “conflict resolution” system included in Google Browser Sync wiped out my whole bookmarks toolbar. Now this is reliable, right there. I wonder what I need such an extension for when I lose my bookmarks anyway. It works now, but at that point, I was quite annoyed having to put my most visited web pages on the bar again.
So, I am wondering if there are “competitors’ products” we could try out? As in most parts of life, a little competition does not hurt. I remember, I saw an alternative roaming profile extension for Firefox recently, but I forgot to bookmark it (or it was on the toolbar that was wiped by Google ;)) — in any case, now I can’t find it anymore, because the search engines are flooded with articles about Google when you search for Firefox roaming profile extensions and similar.
Can anybody help me out?
July 5th, 2006 at 10:51 pm
Well, I don’t remember the name of it, but there is another extension for firefox that remembers your settings where you left off, i.e. when you close firefox with 12 tabs open, the next time you start it, those same 12 tabs will come right back. It is pretty sweet. I myself actually found it a little annoying, since you don’t necessarily open up to your start page anymore, but you can tweak it a bit. See if you can find it! Don’t know about the other problem, though.
July 9th, 2006 at 6:03 am
I also suffered from Google Browser Sync (GBS) messing with my bookmarks.
I set GBS to only save my bookmarks on the Google servers, not my cookies or (even worse) my passwords.
Now I am asked at every Firefox start to kindly provide my Firefox Master Password so that Google can be able to store my passwords on the server.
Question 1: Why can’t you store the passwords in encrypted form? I don’t want Google to have my Master Password.
Question 2: Why (sic!) does it try to save my passwords although I told GBS in the settings that I don’t want to store them on the server.
Meanwhile I am in a mood between a little annoyed and really pissed. I think I am going to uninstall the Google Browser Sync extension soon. Nice try though.
By the way: for Tabbed Browsing I am using “Tab Mix Plus” — can be downloaded here.
July 29th, 2006 at 9:31 pm
I came to the same conclusion a couple months ago, and decided centralized bookmarks were a better idea. As a result, I wrote Hampr (www.hampr.com). Have fun if it suits you.