anchor-scroll-reel-blocker di athul

Anchor

The infinite scroll. It's dangerously easy to scroll mindlessly for hours, especially when it comes to social media.

So what if we playfully visualised infinite scrolling as a deep sea dive, to help people experience their scrolling habit more tangibly?

Anchor is a simple browser extension which plays on this feeling of sinking. The further down you scroll, the deeper you dive — and you can watch as your screen slowly turns a dark blue, a little fish swims across your screen, and finally, you hit a (literal) rock bottom.

We're thinking this could be easily adapted and expanded (by you!) into a whole series of scrolling experiments. Think cave exploring, parachuting, digging to the center of the Earth... All our code is available on GitHub for you to play with and evolve.

Manifest V3 & Browser Support

This extension has been updated to support Manifest V3. It works on both Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.

Local Development & Testing

For Google Chrome

The source code in this repository is natively formatted for Google Chrome. You do not need to build the .zip file for local development.
To install the extension for testing:
1. Open Chrome and go to chrome://extensions/
2. Enable Developer mode in the top right corner.
3. Click Load unpacked in the top left and select this repository's folder.
4. When you make code changes, just click the reload icon on the extension's card to instantly apply them.

For Mozilla Firefox

Because Firefox requires slight modifications to the manifest.json (specifically changing service_worker to scripts), you must use the build script to test on Firefox.
1. Run python3 make_addon.py
2. Open Firefox and go to about:addons
3. Click the gear icon ⚙️ and select Install Add-on From File...
4. Select the generated anchor_firefox_[date].xpi file.

Building the Add-ons

To create the extension zip files for Chrome and Firefox, you can run the included python script:

python3 make_addon.py


This will generate anchor_chrome_[date].zip and anchor_firefox_[date].xpi. The script automatically handles the differences in manifest.json requirements between browsers.

Changelog

v1.3.2

• AMO Validation Fix: Updated the Firefox build script to declare data_collection_permissions: ["none"] as required by Mozilla's new Add-on Store policy for all new extensions. The addon now passes AMO validation cleanly.

v1.3.1

• Scroll-Up Fix: When Reel Mode limit is reached, you can now still scroll back up to re-watch previous videos. Only downward scrolling is blocked.
• Firefox for Android Support: The .xpi build now includes the gecko_android manifest declaration, making the extension compatible with Firefox Mobile (v113+).
• Correct Extension ID: Updated the Firefox addon ID from the original author's handle to anchor@athulkrishna2015.
• Credits Updated: Both the popup and README now correctly list the original creators, the maintainer (athulkrishna2015), and a link back to the original benjchan/Anchor fork.

v1.3.0

• Operating Modes (Allowlist vs Blocklist): Added a global toggle. You can now configure Anchor to run everywhere (Blocklist) or set it to run only on sites you explicitly specify (Allowlist).
• First-Run Onboarding: Built a brand new interactive setup page that automatically launches when you install the extension, asking you to choose your preferred operating mode.
• Project Links: Re-routed all internal links and README documentation to point to the new athulkrishna2015/Anchor repository.

v1.2.0

• Domain & Subdomain Exclusions: You can now choose whether to disable Anchor on a specific subdomain (e.g. music.youtube.com) or across an entire domain structure (youtube.com).
• Improved Pacing (Virtual Scale): Updated the physics engine to use a virtual scale (1m = 1000px). This makes reaching a 10m depth take about 15-20 posts instead of an exhausting 60+ posts, improving the pacing and user satisfaction.
• Configurable Start Buffers: Added UI settings to change the initial "safe zone" buffer length for both standard scrolling and Reel mode, ensuring the extension doesn't distract you during genuine use.
• Popup UI Enhancements: Re-engineered the settings window to be fully scrollable, comfortably supporting any future additions without breaking Chrome's window limits.
• Robust Reel Mode Blocker: Rewrote the scroll-blocking logic to hook into the absolute highest level of the browser window, permanently fixing the issue where TikTok or YouTube Shorts could bypass the blocker.

v1.1.0

• Reel Mode added! Anchor now supports infinitely scrolling video feeds like YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Instagram Reels. The standard depth meter transforms into a "Reel Tracker" and blocks you when you've reached your configured limit.
• Advanced Settings Panel: Added a new configuration menu inside the popup.
• Domain Exclusions: Added the ability to completely disable Anchor on specific sites.
• Custom Depth & Reel Limits: Easily tweak exactly how far you want to be able to scroll/swipe before hitting rock bottom.
• CPU Saver (Animation Density): Experiencing lag? You can now lower the number of animated fish, or turn them off entirely, straight from the settings menu.
• Natural Darkening CSS: Re-engineered the sea darkening effect to use a deep linear-gradient with an eased opacity curve and a multiply blend mode for a much more immersive sinking experience.
• Manifest V3 Migration: Brought the extension up to modern standards and created a cross-browser Python build script.

Project created by:

• Brendan Browne-Adams
• Lahari Goswami
• Miki Chiu
• Tayo Kopfer
• Twomuch Studio

Maintained & extended by:
* athulkrishna2015

Forked from the original by:
* benjchan/Anchor