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Show HN: Tiny Chrome extension to disable images to reduce distractions

69 points by MarkinK 2y ago

SoftTalker 2y ago
Disabling image loading used to be a standard setting on browsers in the dial-up internet days. I don't recall when that disappeared.
- gear54rus 2y ago
  In between the bandwidth getting better and the content getting shittier :) Which is what, 2008-2016?
- bertman 2y ago
  OP's extension simply uses the `chrome.contentSettings.images` API, which you've always been able to set manually in the standard browser settings. It never disappeared (chrome://settings/content/images).
  - MarkinK 2y ago
    But for LinkedIn and other sites, I still have to turn it on sometimes. But only for a few minutes. So I have the auto disable feature.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
- thefifthsetpin 2y ago
  I think you're looking for chrome://settings/content/images
  - MarkinK 2y ago
    This is exactly what this extension does
- kmfrk 2y ago
  Loved the dedicated button for it in good ol' Opera.
behnamoh 2y ago
why give PR to something that can be easily done via browser settings?
- MarkinK 2y ago
  I just made it for myself and share it here. For me it is better to control by button and aute deactivate feature than with manual control.
  - Falimonda 2y ago
    Nice work! People will always find something to complain about. If you find it useful, a handful of other people probably will as well.
    - MarkinK 2y ago
      Thank you!
- lukew3 2y ago
  It's an easily accessible toggle. It would be a pain to be on a website where you need to see an image and have to go find the setting toggle it, view you content , then find and toggle it again.
- hoten 2y ago
  What does PR here mean? Edit, public relations I guess..
- ranger_danger 2y ago
  because the way the extension does it is more convenient for some people
pen2l 2y ago
I've gotta share something -- so, I think I have a bit of an addiction with YouTube and I'd been thinking about how to shake it off. I didn't get round to it for whatever reason (blocks in modem settings maybe), but one day a month or so ago, if I went to YouTube, I saw this screen: https://i.imgur.com/OIL0jSE.png https://i.imgur.com/OIL0jSE.png Not extremely sure why this happens (I reckon it has to do with my use of adguard), but anyway I noticed I would just... move on, there were not icons to entice me that I could immediately click. And then sure enough, I found myself less hungry for it in the coming weeks. This all happened by accident but boy o' boy, it works. I'm wasting less time on YouTube. I similarly stopped going to reddit (the comments don't load on mobile, things become unclickable... I imagine this is a change recently made live to force users to login to increase engagement... ironic that it works out backwards to what their intent was). Reflecting more on this on a weary weekend morning, about how many are unable to shake off these addictions, I am increasingly convinced of the poisonous effects of these distractions and cannot help but think that dire action is needed to curb these addictions with gov't mandated regulations. I think price increase of tobacco products (with tax costs embedded in the price) were a great deterrent (better than the warning signs on the tobacco), so I suspect deterrents need be incredibly strong. Finding that balance and perspective, of weighing personal freedoms and recognizing the realities of addictions is going to be very hard, but I hope for the good of us we go somewhere with this and recognize the dangers for what they are.
- zeta0134 2y ago
  For YouTube, I pay for premium because I already block ads, and it feels proper to support creators that way. Then I use my content blocker to remove the sidebar and the end screen overlay, both of which are stuffed with distracting elements. I've bookmarked my subscriptions page, and if creators I like haven't uploaded anything I'm interested in watching, I just close the tab. This took some effort, but it works wonders. And really, there's only a handful of YouTube channels I actually want to follow anyway. A lot of the rest of it seems to be low effort humor. Nothing wrong with that, it's just mostly not my cup of tea.
  - gmiller123456 2y ago
labrador 2y ago
I wrote a bookmarklet for same: javascript:(function(){var imgs=document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for(var i=0;i<imgs.length;i++)imgs[i].style.visibility="hidden"}());
- Boltgolt 2y ago
  Although it will break on <picture> elements and any element with a background-image of course
  - labrador 2y ago
    I had Claude modify it to add those features javascript:(function(){ var imgs = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i = 0; i < imgs.length; i++) { imgs[i].style.visibility = "hidden"; } var pictures = document.getElementsByTagName("picture"); for (var i = 0; i < pictures.length; i++) { pictures[i].style.display = "none"; } var elements = document.getElementsByTagName("*"); for (var i = 0; i < elements.length; i++) { elements[i].style.backgroundImage = "none"; } }());
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
2Gkashmiri 2y ago
Firefox extension please
- cassepipe 2y ago
  Image Block, also works on Firefox for Android (where it's most useful) : https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/image-block/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/image-block/
- naitgacem 2y ago
  you can use ublock origin, it has a setting for that. It's pretty much a necessity for me to disable JavaScript and images until i manually enable them. The modern internet is a mess
- koito17 2y ago
  Unfortunately, this extension decides to use Chrome-specific APIs rather than the standardized (and comprehensive) WebExtensions API. The good news is that people have written portable extensions with identical (or greater) functionality. As others stated in the thread, ImageBlock and uBlock both have settings to toggle images. There's also ImageBlock X which provides a single button to toggle image blocking, like the extension in this thread.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
OptionOfT 2y ago
Overall browsers should be focused more on reducing distractions. Shopping! Collections! Donate! Improve video! Zoom photo! Enhance photo!
- klysm 2y ago
  Google disagrees
  - yard2010 2y ago
    So does the vampires from the industry of nothing - ads. So much money with so little value, how come drugs are illegal and this ain't
proee 2y ago
Are there any browsers that are text only with nice formatting? Would be great to style the page just based of h1, h2 etc and make it beautiful to read from a typography formatting perspective.
- klysm 2y ago
  I mean there is reader mode but your mileage will vary depending on the site markup
mrkramer 2y ago
You might as well use "Reading Mode" when accessing websites.
hydroid7 2y ago
It is also possible with uBlock Origin and it even works on Firefox Android.
ajdude 2y ago
Will this work on manifest v3 chrome?
byyoung3 2y ago
blocks linkedin. couldnt be happier
hnthrowaway0328 2y ago
Talking about distraction, this is off topic, but I found Carmack's method very useful. He used to go to a random motel, book for a few days, away from office, and work on a hard topic (usually graphics) non stop. I took a poor man's option instead. Go to a chain coffee shop where you can buy a cup of coffee and sit in a corner undisturbed (human noises do not concern me). Bring a dumb phone just in case, turn off WiFi, and you are good to go. I tried this a few weeks ago and went over one and a half chapters of "Crafting Interpreters" in 3 hours. I had to admit it was tough to go beyond that, but you might be able to do more with a healthier body. It was also from 10AM to 1PM so hunger had an impact as well.
Sahil11111111 2y ago
You can use unhook extension for youtube, hides a lot of distraction!
throawayonthe 2y ago
[dead]
evilpie 2y ago
Firefox also has the about:config preference permissions.default.image: 2, which will block most images.
lucyben1 2y ago
How do i know am dealing with a crypto Investment scam? Paying a trading company funds to withdraw your profit is a pure scam. Often payment’s demand is a scam. Payment under pressure is a scam. A well known special financial Adviser From Trust Guard Digital Recovery Service once made it known to the world that it actually takes nothing to carry out a job well known, making so much excuse at the middle of a contract or job just to demand for untold or unforeseen fees can result to scam at the end, these crypto scammers has no conscience to anyone who happens to be their victim, it is therefore wise for all to learn how to avoid such scam statism and their corning method, Trust guard digital recovery assets are always available to educate and help recovery lost assets, they are most trusted on the web with proofs of stolen funds recovery. for more info do reach out to,, trustguarddigitalassetsrecovery (AT) Aol com ’’ and be rest assured of a successful job well done.

69 points by MarkinK 2y ago

Disabling image loading used to be a standard setting on browsers in the dial-up internet days. I don't recall when that disappeared.

gear54rus 2y ago
In between the bandwidth getting better and the content getting shittier :) Which is what, 2008-2016?
bertman 2y ago
OP's extension simply uses the `chrome.contentSettings.images` API, which you've always been able to set manually in the standard browser settings. It never disappeared (chrome://settings/content/images).
- MarkinK 2y ago
  But for LinkedIn and other sites, I still have to turn it on sometimes. But only for a few minutes. So I have the auto disable feature.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
thefifthsetpin 2y ago
I think you're looking for chrome://settings/content/images
- MarkinK 2y ago
  This is exactly what this extension does
kmfrk 2y ago
Loved the dedicated button for it in good ol' Opera.

behnamoh 2y ago

why give PR to something that can be easily done via browser settings?

MarkinK 2y ago
I just made it for myself and share it here. For me it is better to control by button and aute deactivate feature than with manual control.
- Falimonda 2y ago
  Nice work! People will always find something to complain about. If you find it useful, a handful of other people probably will as well.
  - MarkinK 2y ago
    Thank you!
lukew3 2y ago
It's an easily accessible toggle. It would be a pain to be on a website where you need to see an image and have to go find the setting toggle it, view you content , then find and toggle it again.
hoten 2y ago
What does PR here mean? Edit, public relations I guess..
ranger_danger 2y ago
because the way the extension does it is more convenient for some people

pen2l 2y ago

I've gotta share something -- so, I think I have a bit of an addiction with YouTube and I'd been thinking about how to shake it off. I didn't get round to it for whatever reason (blocks in modem settings maybe), but one day a month or so ago, if I went to YouTube, I saw this screen: https://i.imgur.com/OIL0jSE.png https://i.imgur.com/OIL0jSE.png Not extremely sure why this happens (I reckon it has to do with my use of adguard), but anyway I noticed I would just... move on, there were not icons to entice me that I could immediately click. And then sure enough, I found myself less hungry for it in the coming weeks. This all happened by accident but boy o' boy, it works. I'm wasting less time on YouTube. I similarly stopped going to reddit (the comments don't load on mobile, things become unclickable... I imagine this is a change recently made live to force users to login to increase engagement... ironic that it works out backwards to what their intent was). Reflecting more on this on a weary weekend morning, about how many are unable to shake off these addictions, I am increasingly convinced of the poisonous effects of these distractions and cannot help but think that dire action is needed to curb these addictions with gov't mandated regulations. I think price increase of tobacco products (with tax costs embedded in the price) were a great deterrent (better than the warning signs on the tobacco), so I suspect deterrents need be incredibly strong. Finding that balance and perspective, of weighing personal freedoms and recognizing the realities of addictions is going to be very hard, but I hope for the good of us we go somewhere with this and recognize the dangers for what they are.

zeta0134 2y ago
For YouTube, I pay for premium because I already block ads, and it feels proper to support creators that way. Then I use my content blocker to remove the sidebar and the end screen overlay, both of which are stuffed with distracting elements. I've bookmarked my subscriptions page, and if creators I like haven't uploaded anything I'm interested in watching, I just close the tab. This took some effort, but it works wonders. And really, there's only a handful of YouTube channels I actually want to follow anyway. A lot of the rest of it seems to be low effort humor. Nothing wrong with that, it's just mostly not my cup of tea.
- gmiller123456 2y ago

labrador 2y ago

I wrote a bookmarklet for same: javascript:(function(){var imgs=document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for(var i=0;i<imgs.length;i++)imgs[i].style.visibility="hidden"}());

Boltgolt 2y ago
Although it will break on <picture> elements and any element with a background-image of course
- labrador 2y ago
  I had Claude modify it to add those features javascript:(function(){ var imgs = document.getElementsByTagName("img"); for (var i = 0; i < imgs.length; i++) { imgs[i].style.visibility = "hidden"; } var pictures = document.getElementsByTagName("picture"); for (var i = 0; i < pictures.length; i++) { pictures[i].style.display = "none"; } var elements = document.getElementsByTagName("*"); for (var i = 0; i < elements.length; i++) { elements[i].style.backgroundImage = "none"; } }());

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

2Gkashmiri 2y ago

Firefox extension please

cassepipe 2y ago
Image Block, also works on Firefox for Android (where it's most useful) : https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/image-block/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/image-block/
naitgacem 2y ago
you can use ublock origin, it has a setting for that. It's pretty much a necessity for me to disable JavaScript and images until i manually enable them. The modern internet is a mess
koito17 2y ago
Unfortunately, this extension decides to use Chrome-specific APIs rather than the standardized (and comprehensive) WebExtensions API. The good news is that people have written portable extensions with identical (or greater) functionality. As others stated in the thread, ImageBlock and uBlock both have settings to toggle images. There's also ImageBlock X which provides a single button to toggle image blocking, like the extension in this thread.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

OptionOfT 2y ago

Overall browsers should be focused more on reducing distractions. Shopping! Collections! Donate! Improve video! Zoom photo! Enhance photo!

klysm 2y ago
Google disagrees
- yard2010 2y ago
  So does the vampires from the industry of nothing - ads. So much money with so little value, how come drugs are illegal and this ain't

proee 2y ago

Are there any browsers that are text only with nice formatting? Would be great to style the page just based of h1, h2 etc and make it beautiful to read from a typography formatting perspective.

klysm 2y ago
I mean there is reader mode but your mileage will vary depending on the site markup

mrkramer 2y ago

You might as well use "Reading Mode" when accessing websites.

hydroid7 2y ago

It is also possible with uBlock Origin and it even works on Firefox Android.

ajdude 2y ago

Will this work on manifest v3 chrome?

byyoung3 2y ago

blocks linkedin. couldnt be happier

hnthrowaway0328 2y ago

Talking about distraction, this is off topic, but I found Carmack's method very useful. He used to go to a random motel, book for a few days, away from office, and work on a hard topic (usually graphics) non stop. I took a poor man's option instead. Go to a chain coffee shop where you can buy a cup of coffee and sit in a corner undisturbed (human noises do not concern me). Bring a dumb phone just in case, turn off WiFi, and you are good to go. I tried this a few weeks ago and went over one and a half chapters of "Crafting Interpreters" in 3 hours. I had to admit it was tough to go beyond that, but you might be able to do more with a healthier body. It was also from 10AM to 1PM so hunger had an impact as well.

Sahil11111111 2y ago

You can use unhook extension for youtube, hides a lot of distraction!

throawayonthe 2y ago

[dead]

evilpie 2y ago

Firefox also has the about:config preference permissions.default.image: 2, which will block most images.

lucyben1 2y ago

How do i know am dealing with a crypto Investment scam? Paying a trading company funds to withdraw your profit is a pure scam. Often payment’s demand is a scam. Payment under pressure is a scam. A well known special financial Adviser From Trust Guard Digital Recovery Service once made it known to the world that it actually takes nothing to carry out a job well known, making so much excuse at the middle of a contract or job just to demand for untold or unforeseen fees can result to scam at the end, these crypto scammers has no conscience to anyone who happens to be their victim, it is therefore wise for all to learn how to avoid such scam statism and their corning method, Trust guard digital recovery assets are always available to educate and help recovery lost assets, they are most trusted on the web with proofs of stolen funds recovery. for more info do reach out to,, trustguarddigitalassetsrecovery (AT) Aol com ’’ and be rest assured of a successful job well done.