marcguiselin/chrometana-pro

Redirect Cortana and Bing

Chrometana Pro and Foxtana Pro

Take back control of windows search by using your favorite browser and search engine

A choice that matters

Biting down on it's control of the PC market, unopposed by the laxing hammer of the law that once restricted this kind of behavior, Microsoft has continued to double down on its goals for internet browsing, search and data collection dominance.

We should not be relegated to using the tools forced upon us, especially when we don't know the true extent of their privacy, data collection and censorship.

Chrometana Pro and Foxtana Pro put that control back in the hands of regular users. Use your browser and search engine of choice, for all link clicks and searches made within your operating system.

What does this extension do?

First, it provides you with simple step-by-step instructions on how to change your search preferences and install the required edge deflector app (Wedge or MSEdgeRedirect) to open searches in your browser of choice.

Next, it gives you the choice of what search engine you would like to use insteasd of the default bing searches made by windows search (Cortana). You can change these options at any time using the options menu.

Any search you make using windows search will automatically be opened in your browser of choice with your search engine of choice. Any link you click or action you take in a native app will open in your default browser.

Install

For Chromium

Includes browsers like Google Chrome, Brave, Opera and Vivaldi

1. Install the official release from the Chrome Web Store
2. Follow the setup guide
3. A success page will open to indicate you've successfully completed the setup!

Chrometana Pro

For Firefox

1. Install the official release from Firefox Browser Addons
2. Follow the setup guide
3. A success page will open to indicate you've successfully completed the setup!

Foxtana Pro

Why not an app?

The browser extension requires the installation of an separate app Wedge to force redirection in windows 10 and 11. It instructs users to download and install this app after the extension is installed.

The extension's redirection functionality (from the default Bing to another search engine) could be done entirely by the app, as similar alternatives like the fantastic MSEdgeRedirect do entirely out of the box.

So why do it this way at all?

1. To replace any need for software updates. Wedge is minimally invasive and meant to be installed once and forgotten. The extension can update itself automatically instead of the app to add new in-browser features like more search engine options or adapt to changes in bing urls.
2. Simply because the audience is there. Many users discover that they can have control over windows search by means of the chrome web store.
3. Because historically the extension used da2x's EdgeDeflector as an app, which had no bing search redirection functionality. This was added via this extension. To this day existing users continue to expect having control over their search engine within the extension's option menu rather than in an external app.

Development

1. Install node js and the yarn package manager
2. In a terminal to the repo's root directory, run yarn to install packages
3. Then run yarn dev to watch files for changes and compile the extension for chrome
4. Enable developer mode on the chrome://extensions page
5. Drag and drop the dest folder into the extensions page to install it

Donate

🍻 If you use or enjoy my work buy me a drink or show your support by leaving a nice review on my browser extensions. Both are very appreciated!

License and Copyright

Please see the LICENSE for an up to date copy of the copyright and license for the entire project. Don't use my logos in your project without asking me first. If you make a derivative project off of mine please let me know! I'd love to see what people make with my work!

chrometana-pro's Issues

Allow Bing Chat to be opened

Allow an exception to this particular Bing site: https://www.bing.com/chat

Not being able to freely use the power of ChatGPT-4 is a downside of this extension.

it wont work

OperaTana

Please add this extension to the Opera Web Store It's on Chrome and Firefox already please make a branch for Opera. I have tried using the one from the chrome web store but it does not work D:

Search Bar Queries in Microsoft Edge are Blocked

Firstly, yes I know I am using Edge instead of Chrome, but I have been using this for over a year with no issues. Unfortunately, as of yesterday I am having a few issues running this extension in Microsoft Edge. When I try to do a search from the search bar, I will get a message that says:

lllggmgeiphnciplalhefnbpddbadfdi is blocked

This page has been blocked by Microsoft Edge
ERR_BLOCKED_BY_CLIENT

However, if I use the address bar, the search works fine. Not sure if this is an issue with the extension or Edge, but it certainly is annoying.

Is this project still maintained?

The instructions no longer work among other things. Was wondering if this project was still maintained?

Cannot Set Custom Search Engine

Hi
I want to set https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14 to custom search engine. But, it does not worked

https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/get-google-search-results-without-ai-ads-or-anything-but-links/

Compromises made in Edge

Redirection works using the declarativeNetRequest api. Bing search pages are redirected to a temporary extension redirect page that will in turn redirect to the user's default search engine or directly to some sites using shortcut keywords.

This works on most chromium browsers, however on Edge the extension redirect page is blocked as noted in #15.

For this extension to work on edge the following compromises were made:

• Shortcut keywords (like "youtube") will open up in search engine and not redirect directly to the site
• The redirect counter will not work and has been disabled

Not work on Opera GX - please update

It works only chrome atleast when i tried.

Microsoft Sabotage & EdgeDeflector Discontinuation

Hello
I have just seen that EdgeDeflector was just discontinued.
I think this sabotage will also affect this project as well, is that correct?
Thanks!