Gmail X Bug

There's an annoying bug in Gmail's desktop interface: a close button displayed at the bottom of the page in the right corner. If you click the small "x" icon, nothing happens. It looks like the buttons used in Gmail's panels for tasks, chat and composing messages.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOTZ_MeC57I9Q6ulLyJ3MZusq_B7VkUW41_DjQyrkDlJxufPjQB3CpMd2jn8M917HxLP2FY8qofIuebg0rVCdBsIdMfdTQfWRmkbpDk0Iuy1c8HLIKHyc7XBcEEk7QDG5eZa1Ix0LPmrlE/s1600/gmail-close-icon-bug.png" /></div><br />There is a way to fix this issue. Bookmark this URL: <a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/?labs=0">https://mail.google.com/mail/?labs=0</a> and use it to open Gmail. This URL is used to load Gmail without enabling labs. Surprisingly, if you manually disable all the Gmail labs experiments, the close button is still there.<br /><br />If you use Greasemonkey, you can create a new user script using <a href="http://pastebin.com/8CZSQgK1">the code from this page</a>.<br /><br />Another way to fix this issue is to install AdBlock/Adblock Plus and manually add this rule in the preferences:<br /><br /><i>mail.google.com##DIV[class="w-asK w-atd"]</i><br /><br />Google is <a href="https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/gmail/lqIehLa430Q%5B1-25-false%5D">working on a fix</a>. Apparently, this is a leftover from the "<a href="http://www.gtricks.com/gmail-tricks/remove-about-the-new-look-gmail-box/">about the new look</a>" message that used to be displayed when Gmail launched <a href="http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/preview-of-gmails-new-look.html">a new interface</a> back in 2011.<br /><br /><b>Update (March 21st)</b>: Fixed.

Gmail X Bug

There's an annoying bug in Gmail's desktop interface: a close button displayed at the bottom of the page in the right corner. If you...

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Chrome Doesn't Delete Old Extension Folders

There's something very annoying about Chrome. It now keeps all the old versions of your extensions and apps. I remember that Chrome used to only keep the current version and the previous version, just like it handles Chrome releases.<br /><br />If you've installed many extensions and apps, it's likely that the Extensions folder from your Chrome profile uses many hundreds of megabytes. Some apps are pretty big now: for example, the latest version of Polycraft uses 76.6 MB. It's obvious that a single application could use 1 GB after a few updates.<br /><br />Here's another example: the LastPass extensions. I've checked my profile folder and Chrome keeps 11 versions of this extension since October 2013. Total disk usage: 107 MB, instead of 9.6 MB for the latest version.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8UcXUzRh7LOAgQLuaT343INTsB99_cbqjjRCRBgFOu_SY_SrfDJtb9Uqg0MuNREw7beSCJVjhARh4HT1bEWrsjZK-zcAY0dNTi6KQDQ2-VUrVxsVrQhRfUR9DSmzK2fq8LEbbBSoqStcZ/s1600/chrome-apps-versions.png" /></div><br />Obviously, the old versions are useless and this is a bug. There's <a href="https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=329943&can=1&q=extensions%20old%20versions%20space&colspec=ID%20Pri%20M%20Iteration%20ReleaseBlock%20Cr%20Status%20Owner%20Summary%20OS%20Modified">a bug report from a Google employee here</a> and it mentions that "the Google+ Photos app is a fairly large app (56MB) which updates frequently (weekly?). It does not appear that older versions get deleted. For the G+ photos app which takes 56MB, I had over 700MB of old versions on my drive."<br /><br />Until Google fixes this bug, you can manually delete the old versions. Go to <a href="http://www.chromium.org/user-experience/user-data-directory">your profile folder</a> and open the Extensions folder. Every extension and app has its own folder with a cryptic name (the extension ID), so you can open each one and delete all the subfolders except for the most recent one. For example, LastPass's folder is named <i>hdokiejnpimakedhajhdlcegeplioahd</i> and it has a subfolder for each version. You can sort them by name or by date and keep the most recent version (3.0.22_0).

Chrome Doesn't Delete Old Extension Folders

There's something very annoying about Chrome. It now keeps all the old versions of your extensions and apps. I remember that Chrome used...

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From the New Tab Page to the Google Homepage

Chrome will <a href="http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2013/08/changes-to-chromes-new-tab-page.html">replace the new tab page</a> with a simplified version of the Google homepage. Sure, it doesn't have the search button and the footer, but it's the Google homepage. You'll see the app launcher grid, which replaces the black bar, you'll see the Google+ notification and share buttons, you'll see Google doodles. <br /><br />Most of the features of the new tab page have been removed and replaced by a huge Google logo. Chrome apps are in the app launcher, recent tabs are in the Chrome menu.<br /><br />I've never liked browser homepages, but Chrome's new tab page was really useful. It loaded quickly and had a lot of links to pages you were likely to open. Now it only shows 8 of your frequently visited pages and a fake search box that sends you to the omnibox.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiubd_UK0NSwy0x_DHlN-mCPiE94pwfifuQ1hLTKuuD8g8YhhSRNTmzOFou4KvJfrUJuUqbfaceuxnX7ZKNMRLtLTPI_iMiaSfsSAbDtP0_OUnbc1syvyE_CZ8XkQ7ChGorR0Cntjz5wlTG/s640/chrome-ntp-animation-2.png" /></div><br />When Google shows an animated doodle, the new tab page shows same the animation and you're forced to see it each and every time you open a new tab. Sometimes the doodle uses a lot of resources:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaGj4s6HoLsrna-vUaf2hSFt_AWmCWjry7nREA7D38PxrhAPm62ybABfR_tAUSUYgqgpbaNDp5hIZHqtcsq10hf4MSb1iOSMkgihgrMdR2Zpo3Zi1A2wBG32u1YL0exLzdjwms3LMKnq6K/s640/chrome-ntp-animation.png" /></div><br />There are <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/search-extensions/new%20tab?hl=en-US">some great extensions</a> that replace the new tab page, but you shouldn't have to use an extension for this. The new tab page should be fast, simple and useful.<br /><br />Here's a quote from <a href="http://dev.chromium.org/user-experience/new-tab-page">Chromium's site</a>:<br /><br />"The new tab page is the default starting point for all tabs - it is designed to get the user where they want to go, and is not meant to be an information resource like the user's home page; that is, the new tab page is not intended to be a destination, but rather a jumping-off point to other destinations - we strongly want to avoid cognitive load and distractions for the user, especially those creating new tabs for other purposes."<br /><br />So it shouldn't include distractions. That's exactly what the Google homepage does and the new tab shouldn't do. Animated doodles, Google+ notifications - all of them are distractions that don't belong in a page you open so often.<br /><br />For now, I'll switch to <a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/empty-new-tab-page/dpjamkmjmigaoobjbekmfgabipmfilij?hl=en-US">the empty new tab page</a>.

From the New Tab Page to the Google Homepage

Chrome will replace the new tab page with a simplified version of the Google homepage. Sure, it doesn't have the search button and the ...

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Varies With Device

This post varies with device. It can't be displayed because there are so many devices and each one is different.<br /><br />This paragraph varies with device. It's just a placeholder for a paragraph that should have revealed a lot of useful information. Unfortunately there are so many devices and they have different characteristics, so it's hard to write a paragraph that encompasses their complexity.<br /><br />This screenshot varies with device. It should show some important information about the Google+ app for Android, but it doesn't because there are multiple Google+ APKs and each one is different.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhioZs8u2aeS45YtJj9XK4zv-DMeYreEfkELiuQcNBK4dRersu5bIdLM0QbIU1tAkex2VsKud8VstL_dLaLMQiXeKZl6avTUstgYQEa74zqj7093Pfde1kHfsJtkPYnq9oPu8glXeUsWNiA/s640/google-play-varies-with-device.png" /></div><br />On a more serious note, there are many Google Play apps that show the uninformative "varies with device". The size of the app varies with device, the current version varies with device and so is the required Android version. That's because Google Play allows developers to <a href="http://developer.android.com/google/play/publishing/multiple-apks.html">upload multiple APKs</a> for the same app:<br /><br /><blockquote>Multiple APK support is a feature on Google Play that allows you to publish different APKs for your application that are each targeted to different device configurations. Each APK is a complete and independent version of your application, but they share the same application listing on Google Play and must share the same package name and be signed with the same release key. Android applications usually run on most compatible devices with a single APK, by supplying alternative resources for different configurations (for example, different layouts for different screen sizes) and the Android system selects the appropriate resources for the device at runtime. In a few cases, however, a single APK is unable to support all device configurations, because alternative resources make the APK file too big (greater than 50MB) or other technical challenges prevent a single APK from working on all devices.</blockquote><br />Even though Google doesn't encourage developers to use this feature, most Google apps use it: Google+, Google Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps, Google Search, Google Play Books, Google Play Movies & TV, Google Translate.<br /><br />Since Google knows which devices are associated with your Google account, it could show a drop-down that lets you select one of your devices and show the appropriate information. For example, you have a Nexus 7 running Android 4.3 and a Galaxy S3 running Android 4.1. Select one of the devices and replace "varies with device" with something more useful.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.appbrain.com/app/google/com.google.android.apps.plus">AppBrain</a> manages to show some useful information:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoF8mULs1okasihr8QQD0YiRFLFoGs-W8QrevaB-L0hzOyRl9GdXzgjo9Mb1eeSIBk7BSBofaKP1qnVKi22PTECDzPlEtVFKxnXoxVu417ue3dmbhAs2XxlEuSG4GlVlBjGGgN-IlTZymo/s640/google-play-varies-with-device-2.png" /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig-OfUbJsT_rP3KoSLET_Xq-vQimIsIP1DEcetuNoJ1qOOhdsM0NPQ3MGvxSLkBHgRPBvSfbY32kC8m03Matu2Jp3-CG-3LR2FuaFeUMNxow0akkJ2mmBBb4W_vmr2dtZ24snMShYyP_il/s640/google-play-varies-with-device-3.png" /></div>

Varies With Device

This post varies with device. It can't be displayed because there are so many devices and each one is different. This paragraph varies w...

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