Tab Audio Controller

Control audio playback - responsive UI, DPI-aware, accessible

# Tab Audio Controller - Your Personal Sound Manager for Chrome **🔊 What is it?** Tab Audio Controller is a small tool that helps you manage sound from all your browser tabs in one place. Think of it as a "master control panel" for everything that makes noise in Chrome - YouTube videos, music streams, podcasts, or any other audio. **⚠️ Important:** This is experimental software - meaning it's still in testing and may have bugs. It's free to use for personal testing, but it's not an official product. **Works with:** Chrome, Brave, Edge, Opera, Vivaldi, and other Chrome-based browsers **Current Version:** 7.5 (Experimental) --- ## Why Would I Want This? Have you ever had 20 browser tabs open and couldn't find which one was playing that annoying ad? Or wanted to quickly mute everything when someone walks into the room? That's what this extension does: ✅ **Find noisy tabs instantly** - See which tabs are playing sound ✅ **Control volume for each tab** - Turn down YouTube without muting Spotify ✅ **Silence everything with one click** - "Mute All" when you need instant quiet ✅ **Navigate faster** - Click to jump straight to any playing tab ✅ **Close tabs easily** - Get rid of tabs right from the extension --- ## What Can It Do? ### Sound Control - **Individual volume sliders** for each tab (0-100%) - **Mute/Unmute** specific tabs or all tabs at once - **Remembers your settings** - If you set YouTube to 50%, it stays at 50% - **Shows what's playing** - Visual icons tell you which tabs are making noise ### Easy Navigation - **See all your tabs** organized by window - **Filter view** - Show only tabs that are playing sound - **One-click focus** - Click to jump to any tab - **Close tabs** directly from the extension ### Customizable Display - **Adjust the size** - Make everything bigger or smaller (60% to 150%) - **Compact design** - Doesn't take up much screen space - **Cool green theme** - Cyberpunk-style green-on-black look - **Everything fits** - No annoying horizontal scrolling --- ## How Does It Look? The extension opens as a small popup (540 pixels wide) with: **At the top:** - The extension name with a speaker icon - A checkbox to show "Playing tabs only" - A refresh button to update the list **In the middle:** - "Mute All" and "Unmute All" buttons - Size adjustment controls (make text bigger/smaller) **Main area:** - A list of your tabs, organized by browser window - Each tab shows: - 🔊 Icon (tells you if it's playing, muted, or silent) - Tab title and web address - Three buttons: Mute/Unmute, Focus, Close (✖) - A volume slider to control just that tab --- ## What Makes It Special? ### Smart Design Choices - **No horizontal scrolling** - Everything wraps to fit the window - **Long URLs don't break it** - Web addresses wrap to multiple lines - **Volume slider is always visible** - Never gets cut off - **Size controls stay fixed** - They don't scale with the rest of the page ### Privacy Focused - **No tracking** - Doesn't send your data anywhere - **No ads** - Clean interface with no advertising - **Local storage only** - Everything stays on your computer - **No internet required** - Works completely offline ### Accessibility - **Scalable interface** - Make it as big or small as you need - **Clear visual feedback** - Buttons light up when you hover - **Keyboard support** - Use arrow keys to adjust the scale setting - **Readable text** - Good contrast with the green-on-black theme --- ## How Do I Use It? ### Basic Use 1. Click the extension icon (looks like a green speaker) 2. You'll see all your tabs listed 3. Drag the volume slider for any tab to adjust it 4. Click "Mute All" if you need instant silence 5. Click "Focus" on any tab to jump to it ### Filtering Tabs - Check "Playing Only" to see only tabs making noise - Uncheck it to see all tabs from all windows - Useful when you have lots of tabs open ### Adjusting the Size - Find the "Scale" controls at the top - Type a number (60-150) or drag the slider - The whole extension gets bigger or smaller - Perfect if you have vision issues or a high-DPI screen ### Managing Specific Tabs - Find the tab you want in the list - Click "Mute" to silence it (or "Unmute" to turn sound back on) - Drag the volume slider to set the exact volume - Click "Focus" to switch to that tab - Click the ✖ to close the tab --- ## What Should I Know? (Limitations) ### It Won't Work On: - Browser settings pages (chrome://, edge://, etc.) - Some websites that block extensions from controlling audio - Tabs that haven't finished loading yet - Audio from browser extensions or system sounds ### How It Controls Volume: - Only works on pages with audio/video players - Finds the first audio or video element on the page - Some websites (like YouTube) might have special restrictions - Doesn't control every type of web audio (like Web Audio API) ### Performance Notes: - Works great with a normal number of tabs (up to 50) - Might slow down if you have 100+ tabs open - Stores volume settings for all tabs (uses a tiny bit of memory) - You might need to click refresh if tabs change ### Display Quirks: - The popup size is fixed (can't resize the window itself) - With many tabs, you'll need to scroll down - No search feature (yet) - you have to scroll to find tabs - Tab icons might not update instantly when audio starts/stops --- ## Common Questions **Q: Why isn't the volume control working on a tab?** A: The page might still be loading, or it might not have a standard audio/video player. Try refreshing the tab and waiting a few seconds. **Q: I can't see the extension icon!** A: Click the puzzle piece icon in Chrome's toolbar, find "Tab Audio Controller," and click the pin to keep it visible. **Q: The extension isn't showing any tabs!** A: Click the refresh button (🔄). Also check if "Playing Only" is turned on - turn it off to see all tabs. **Q: My volume settings disappeared!** A: If you uninstall or reinstall the extension, settings are erased. Just set the volumes again. **Q: The text is too small/big!** A: Use the Scale controls in the toolbar. Adjust from 60% to 150% until it's comfortable. **Q: Is this safe to use?** A: Yes, it doesn't send your data anywhere or track you. However, it's experimental software, so use it at your own risk. --- ## What Files Does It Create? Total size: Less than 1 megabyte --- ## Is My Privacy Protected? **Yes!** This extension: - ❌ Does NOT send data to the internet - ❌ Does NOT track what websites you visit - ❌ Does NOT share anything with third parties - ❌ Does NOT have ads or analytics - ✅ Stores everything on YOUR computer only - ✅ Works completely offline - ✅ Only asks for permissions it actually needs **Why does it need permissions?** - **Tabs** - To see tab titles and detect which ones are playing audio - **Storage** - To remember your volume settings and preferences - **Scripting** - To control the volume on web pages - **All URLs** - To work on any website you visit (it needs this to find audio players) --- ## Troubleshooting Tips **Problem:** Volume control isn't working **Solution:** Make sure the tab is fully loaded. Some sites prevent extensions from controlling audio. Try refreshing the page. **Problem:** Can't find the extension icon **Solution:** Look for the puzzle piece icon in Chrome's toolbar, then pin "Tab Audio Controller" **Problem:** No tabs showing up **Solution:** Click the refresh button. Turn off "Playing Only" to see all tabs. Make sure you actually have tabs open. **Problem:** Settings aren't saving **Solution:** Check that Chrome has permission to use storage. If you reinstalled the extension, you'll need to set everything up again. **Problem:** Everything looks too small **Solution:** Adjust the Scale setting - try 120% or 130% for easier reading. --- ## What's Different in Version 7.5? This version is super compact: - Made the window narrower (540 pixels instead of 750) - Volume slider is fully visible even in the smaller window - Better text wrapping so nothing gets cut off - Fixed the scale controls so they don't change size - Guaranteed no horizontal scrolling no matter what Previous versions had issues with long web addresses causing the popup to be too wide. This version fixes all that. --- ## Future Ideas (Maybe Someday) Things that could be added if development continues: - Search/filter tabs by name - Keyboard shortcuts (like Ctrl+Shift+M to mute all) - Automatic refresh when tabs change - Sort tabs by different criteria - Save and load volume presets - Choose different color themes - Even more customization options But remember - this is experimental, so these features might never happen! --- ## Who Should Use This? **Great for:** - People with lots of tabs open who lose track of which is playing audio - Anyone who wants more control over tab volumes than Chrome provides - Users who need to quickly mute everything (for meetings, phone calls, etc.) - People who want individual volume control for different tabs - Anyone comfortable installing experimental software **Maybe not for:** - People who only have a few tabs open (Chrome's built-in controls might be enough) - Users who want a finished, polished product (this is experimental) - Anyone uncomfortable with manual extension installation - People expecting 24/7 support (there isn't any) --- ## Important Disclaimers ⚠️ **This is experimental software** - No official support or help desk - May have bugs or stop working - Could change or be discontinued at any time - Use at your own risk ⚠️ **No warranty** - Provided "as is" - Not responsible for any issues - Test thoroughly before relying on it - Always have a backup plan ⚠️ **For personal use** - Not for commercial use - Don't sell it or claim you made it - It's free - don't charge people for it --- ## The Bottom Line Tab Audio Controller is a handy little tool for managing sound in Chrome. It's perfect if you're tired of hunting for that one tab playing audio, or if you want finer control over your browser's sound than Chrome normally gives you. The green-on-black design looks cool, it's compact and efficient, and it respects your privacy. The volume sliders work well, and being able to mute everything with one click is genuinely useful. Just remember: it's experimental. That means it might have rough edges, and it's not a polished commercial product. But if you're comfortable with that, and you want better audio control in your browser, give it a try! **Installation takes about 2 minutes. Using it is simple. And it might just save you from that embarrassing moment when music starts playing during a video call.** Happy browsing! 🔊