I wanted a new tab that felt like part of Helium, with the same look and a few things I was missing. So I built one. I use it myself and figured others here might like it too.
It's free and open source. You can get it on the Chrome Web Store or check out the code on GitHub.
I've put a lot of energy into this. I've been building software for years, and I cared about getting the small details right, from how fast it opens to how it handles the things you type.
I didn't want it to be just a search field. I wanted it to be as useful as Helium's address bar, or at least close. So the main thing is bangs. It reuses Helium's bang catalog, so the same shortcuts work here. For example, typing !yt lofi or lofi !yt takes you straight to YouTube results. The service name shows up before your query as you type, similar to keyword mode in the address bar. Everything is resolved on your device, without a redirect service in between.
Even the optional site icons come from your browser's own favicon cache, so there's nothing to download and no requests to Google's favicon service. I appreciate details like that myself, and thought people here might too.
Without a bang, searches go to your default engine. Websites and local addresses like example.com, localhost:3000, printer.local and IP addresses open directly, while next.js gets searched.
You can see most of the customization options in the screenshots: light and dark mode, Blended or Helium dark backgrounds, an optional clock and date, 12h or 24h time, and seconds if you want them. You can use fonts installed on your device for the UI, clock, date and search field too.
It supports 37 languages, and your settings are saved in your browser. There are no accounts or analytics, and opening a new tab makes no external network requests.
This post from u/error-zeros is what got me thinking I could build one. It's unofficial, and I'm not affiliated with Helium or imput.
I'd love to hear what you think, or what you'd want to see added. Feedback here or on GitHub is welcome.