Jetpack: Unread Messages in Gmail App Tab August 13th, 2010

One of the new features in Firefox 4 is the App Tab which lets users persist a tab that they use continuously. Firefox shrinks the tab down to just the favicon and places it in a special area for these tabs which generally aren’t closed by the user. The feature is great, but one of the side effects is that Gmail App Tabs don’t show anymore the part of the <title> that indicates unread messages.

That’s where my new Jetpack (a cool new, lightweight (and secure!) way to write Add-ons) comes in.

Go install Unread Gmail Favicon from AMO and the favicon for that tab will indicate the number of unread messages when you have them like so:

4 comments on “Jetpack: Unread Messages in Gmail App Tab

  1. Dominic says:

    This is really cool. Thanks. Any chance of a Google reader version? Where can I donate for your hard work?

  2. bsterne says:

    Thanks for the feedback. Version 0.3 will have Google Reader support as well as Desktop Notifications. I’ll think about adding a “Contribute” button to the add-on listing.

  3. Will says:

    The google reader unread count does not appear to be working in version 0.3

    Running FFX4b6

  4. bsterne says:

    @Will

    I’ve heard similar reports, so I’m sure there are legitimate problems with some installations of Firefox 4 betas. I have tested the add-on with every beta and I know it works with a clean profile. Maybe you can verify that it works for you when you create a new profile. Once Firefox 4 beta 7 comes out, which will be feature complete, I think I’ll be better able to diagnose the problem since the Jetpack SDK will also stabilize and stay better synced with the trunk.

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