How do I install it?
TabHabit is on its way to the Chrome Web Store. Until the listing is live, you can load it yourself: download the build, open chrome://extensions, turn on Developer mode, click “Load unpacked” and pick the folder.
How does TabHabit know where a tab goes?
You tell it once. Turn on a ready-made habit (Dev, Research, Shopping, Watch) or right-click any tab and choose “Always put this site in…”. New tabs from that site go straight to that group. Tabs you place by hand are never moved, and a tab already in a workspace stays there while you browse.
Can I keep some sites private?
Yes. Right-click a tab and choose “Never remember”. TabHabit won’t group that site and leaves it out of backups, closed tabs, Finished, sync and its History view, and it can delete its visits from your browser’s history too. Private windows are never saved.
Does it work on my phone?
Two ways. With Chrome on your phone and computer, your phone’s open tabs show up in TabHabit on your computer, grouped by site, through Chrome’s own sync: free, today, nothing to install on the phone. You can open them from your computer but not close them. TabHabit for Safari on iPhone, coming soon to the App Store, adds Review on the phone and works both ways: close the phone’s tabs from your computer, or send tabs between them.
Do I need an account to connect my phone?
No. With Chrome, the phone and computer are connected by the Google account you already use in Chrome; TabHabit never sees it. The iPhone app pairs by scanning a code your computer shows. The code carries your Pro key and sync code, and your tabs are encrypted on each device before they’re synced, so our server can’t read them.
What’s a workspace?
A named set of tabs, with the tree of which tab opened which. In Chrome it’s one of your tab groups, so it shows in the tab strip too. Give it a state (Doing, Waiting, Done), and Finish it when you’re through: the tabs close and the workspace waits under Finished in case you need it again.
How does Review decide what’s old?
It uses when you last looked at each tab, which Chrome records itself. Tabs you haven’t opened in a week or more come first. “Keep” leaves a tab out of Review for another week.
How does it bring my tree back after a restart?
TabHabit saves the tree by address and position whenever it changes. When Chrome reopens your tabs, TabHabit lines them up with the saved tree, first by exact address and order, then by a looser match (ignoring things like #section links). Anything it can’t place is shown to you.
Why does Chrome say it can “read your browsing history”?
That’s Chrome’s wording for the tabs and navigation permissions. TabHabit needs them to see your tabs’ titles and addresses and to know which tab opened which. Searching your actual history is a separate, optional permission that TabHabit asks for only if you turn it on. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Which browsers does it work in?
On your computer: Chrome 120 or later. A Firefox version is in testing, and other Chromium browsers may work but aren’t tested yet. On your phone: Chrome (its tabs show up on your computer), and Safari on iPhone with TabHabit for Safari, coming soon.
How does Pro sync work, and can you read my tabs?
TabHabit Sync carries parked workspaces between Chrome and Firefox, and will carry your iPhone’s tabs once the app is out. Everything is encrypted on your device with a sync code only your browsers know; our server stores scrambled data it can’t read. Prefer no server at all? Choose “Browser bookmarks” and your browser’s own bookmark sync carries them instead.
I bought Pro. Where’s my key?
It appears on the page right after checkout. Paste it into TabHabit (Get Pro at the bottom of the panel). It syncs with your Chrome sign-in. Lost it? Reply to your Stripe receipt.