Chrome extensions, in a browser that isn't Chrome. Search installs extensions straight from the Chrome Web Store and runs them on WebKit's own extension engine, the one Safari uses. Where Chrome has something WebKit doesn't, Search fills it in. On macOS 15.4 or later.
Adding one
- Open its page on the Chrome Web Store in Search and press Add to Search. Or paste the store link in Settings › Extensions.
- Say yes to what it asks for. The same permissions it would ask of Chrome.
- Find it behind the puzzle button beside the tabs, and pin the ones you use often.
Already set up in Chrome, Arc or Brave? Settings › Extensions › From another browser lists what you added there from the Chrome Web Store. Each one is installed fresh from the store, its signature checked, and you say yes to each; nothing is copied from the other browser, never its cookies or sign-ins.
Extensions stay out of private tabs until you allow each one from its … menu in Settings › Extensions. Building your own? Load its folder as an unpacked extension and press Reload after each change, as in Chrome's developer mode.
Extensions people use in Search
Each of these has been made to work in Search, often by the people who use it; the changelog says how.
| Passwords | 1Password, Bitwarden (self-hosted servers too), Proton Pass and iCloud Passwords; the first three handle passkeys too. For 1Password with its Mac app, add Search in 1Password › Settings › Browser › Add Browser. |
|---|---|
| Blocking and looks | uBlock Origin Lite, Dark Reader, Stylus. |
| Keyboard | Vimium C. |
| AI in a side panel | Claude, ChatGPT, Sider and Merlin open their panels beside the page, as in Chrome. Claude's panel may ask you to sign in again for now: WebKit doesn't send claude.ai's cookies to an extension's pages, fixed in WebKit and coming with a macOS update. |
| Writing and translating | Grammarly, Google Translate. |
| Tabs | Session Buddy. |
| Recording the screen | Loom, Screencastify, Awesome Screenshot, Tella, ScreenPal and Vidyard. Search asks you the first time, names the extension, and shows a small pill while it records. |
| User scripts | Tampermonkey, with scripts installed from Greasy Fork, OpenUserJS and GitHub. A script can't run on a site with a strict content security policy, GitHub among them: WebKit holds it to the page's rules where Chrome doesn't. |
Not every extension works. One that needs something WebKit and Search don't offer yet, such as Chrome's proxy settings for a VPN or a panel in the developer tools, may open without doing its job. If one you rely on doesn't work, open an issue; it goes on the roadmap.
Built in, so you may not need one
- An ad and tracker blocker that runs inside WebKit's networking, before a request is made. On by default, off per site.
- Hide anything. ⇧⌘H, click a cookie banner or an overlay, and it's gone from that site for good.
- Reading mode, ⇧⌘R, and a floating video, ⇧⌘P.
- Passwords and passkeys in the macOS keychain, offered under each sign-in field.
- Dark pages. Light sites darkened when Search is dark, keeping their own colours. Settings › Appearance.
How it works
Search uses WebKit's extension engine (WKWebExtension), which arrived in macOS 15.4; that is why extensions need it, while Search itself runs on macOS 14. An extension is fetched from the Chrome Web Store's public update address, and its CRX3 signature is checked against its id before anything is unpacked. Search then adds a small layer of its own for the Chrome APIs WebKit lacks, among them bookmarks, history, downloads, the side panel, offscreen documents, notifications and sign-in with OAuth, and answers them natively. Extension pages keep their Chrome address, chrome-extension://<id>/, so the services behind them recognise them, and extensions that talk to an app on your Mac find it through the same native messaging hosts Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc, Vivaldi and Opera register. It's all on GitHub.
Questions about extensions
Can I use Chrome extensions in Search?
Yes. Open an extension's page on the Chrome Web Store in Search and press Add to Search, or paste its link in Settings › Extensions. It needs macOS 15.4 or later.
Do I need Chrome installed?
No. Search fetches the extension from the Chrome Web Store itself and checks its signature. Chrome only matters if you want to bring the extensions you already have over from it.
Does 1Password work in Search?
Yes, with passkeys too. If you use the 1Password app on your Mac, add Search in 1Password › Settings › Browser › Add Browser so the two can talk.
Does Search block ads without an extension?
Yes. Its blocker is built in and runs inside WebKit's networking before a request is made. uBlock Origin Lite works too, if you prefer it.
Search is free, for Macs on macOS 14 or later; extensions on macOS 15.4 or later.
Download for macOS