EdgeTabs+

Desktop-style horizontal tab bar for Microsoft Edge on Android

EdgeTabs+ brings the familiar desktop tab bar experience to Microsoft Edge on Android. Browse with ease using a persistent horizontal tab bar that lets you switch between tabs with a single tap, just like on desktop.

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Features

Core Features

• Instant Tab Switching — One-tap access to all your tabs
• Quick New Tab — Add tabs without navigating menus
• Easy Tab Management — Close tabs with a single tap
• Long-Press Context Menu — Duplicate, close, close others, copy title/URL
• Auto Theme Detection — Seamlessly adapts to system dark/light mode
• Smart Auto-Hide — Tab bar collapses on scroll, reappears when needed
• 60fps Performance — Silky smooth animations with zero lag
• Privacy First — All processing happens locally, no data collection

Advanced Features

• Flexible Positioning — Choose top or bottom placement for the tab bar
• Adaptive Tab Width — Three sizing modes:
  • Dynamic: Width adjusts based on tab count
  • Adaptive: Tabs resize to fit content naturally
  • Fixed: Custom width with favicon-only mode (36-200px)
• Smart Tab Titles — Strips site names for cleaner display ("Article - Site" → "Article")
• PWA Detection — Automatically hides in standalone/PWA apps to prevent overlap
• Window Isolation — Keeps browser and PWA tabs separate

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Tech Stack

Component	Technology	Purpose
Build Tool	WXT	Modern extension development framework
UI Framework	Svelte 5	Reactive components with minimal overhead
Language	TypeScript	Type safety and better DX
Styling	Scoped CSS	Shadow DOM isolation
State Management	Svelte Stores	Reactive state across components

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Development

Building

# Development mode with hot reload
npm run dev

# Production build
npm run build

# Create distribution ZIP
npm run zip

# TypeScript type checking
npm run check

The production build will be in .output/chrome-mv3/.

Testing on Android

Testing on Edge Android requires ADB (Android Debug Bridge) and USB debugging enabled on your device.

Prerequisites

1. Enable USB Debugging: On your Android device, go to Settings → About Phone → tap Build Number 7 times to enable Developer Options. Then go to Developer Options and enable "USB Debugging".
2. Install ADB: Download and install Android Platform Tools on your desktop.
3. Connect Device: Connect your Android device via USB cable and authorize the debugging connection when prompted.

Testing Workflow

1. Debugging Logs: Use edge://inspect on your desktop Edge browser to view console logs and inspect the extension background/content scripts.
2. Installation for Testing:
   • Option A: Use "Developer options" within Edge Android Canary to load the extension via .crx.
   • Option B: Use an activity launcher app (e.g., "Activity Launcher" or "App Manager") to launch the hidden "Extension Install by Crx Activity" on Edge Android Stable. This allows you to install the .crx file directly.

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Settings

Access settings by clicking the extension icon in the toolbar:

Setting	Options	Description
Theme	System / Light / Dark	Choose your preferred color scheme
Scroll Behavior	Hide on Scroll / Always Show	Control tab bar visibility
Tab Bar Position	Top / Bottom	Choose where the tab bar appears
Tab Width	Dynamic / Adaptive / Fixed	Tab sizing behavior
Fixed Width	36px - 200px	Custom tab width (when Fixed mode selected)
Smart Tab Titles	Enabled / Disabled	Strip site names from tab titles
Disable in PWA	Enabled / Disabled	Auto-hide tab bar in standalone apps

All settings update instantly and persist across browser restarts.

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Technical Details

Android API Constraints

EdgeTabsPlus is designed specifically for Microsoft Edge on Android, which has several API limitations compared to desktop.

For a complete list of supported APIs, refer to the Microsoft Edge Extension API Support documentation.

API	Status	Workaround
chrome.windows	Unsupported	Assume single window context
chrome.tabGroups	Unsupported	No native grouping support
chrome.contextMenus	Unsupported	Custom HTML overlay menu
chrome.tabs	Supported	Core functionality
chrome.storage	Supported	Settings persistence

Performance Optimizations

1. Shadow DOM Isolation — Prevents CSS conflicts with host pages
2. Passive Scroll Listeners — Eliminates scroll jank
3. requestAnimationFrame — Smooth 60fps animations
4. Debounced Tab Updates — Reduces unnecessary re-renders
5. DuckDuckGo Icon Service — Fast, cached favicon loading

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please follow these guidelines:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Development Guidelines

• Follow the existing code style (TypeScript strict mode)
• Use Svelte 5 syntax and best practices
• Add comments for complex logic
• Test on actual Android devices before submitting
• Update documentation for new features

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Acknowledgments

• Built with WXT
• UI powered by Svelte
• Icons from DuckDuckGo Icon Service
• Inspired by desktop browser tab interfaces

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Support

• Issues: GitHub Issues

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