I had 29 tabs open. I force-quit Chrome instantly (a SIGKILL, the same as a real crash), with no chance to save anything. Chrome sometimes offers "Restore" after a crash. This time, when I reopened it, it restored nothing.
Tabby brought back all 29 tabs in one click.
That's because Tabby keeps its own copy of your open windows, on your device, and updates it as your tabs change. You don't have to remember to save anything.
Tabby is a free tab manager I made for Chrome and Firefox, and version 1.1 is out today. Getting here meant fixing three launch-week mistakes. The worst one: just having Gmail open quietly stopped Tabby's quick backups, because of a timer trap any app can fall into.
Free, no account. Coming from Toby? Your collections import in one click. Unlike OneTab, it saves without you clicking: Add to Chrome · Add to Firefox
Three things I got wrong in launch week
1. With Gmail open, the quick backup never ran
No tabs were lost. But for an app whose one promise is you won't lose anything, this one hurt.
Tabby takes a quick backup about 30 seconds after your tabs change. Gmail changes its tab title every time mail arrives: "(3) Inbox", then "(4) Inbox". Tabby counted each title change as "your tabs changed" and restarted the 30-second wait. With Gmail open, the wait never ended. Slack and other chat apps did the same. Only the slower 10-minute backup kept running.
The cause is a quiet Chrome detail: setting a timer with a name that's already taken replaces the old one, deadline and all.
// Before: every tab change replaced the pending timer and pushed it back.
await browser.alarms.create('snapshot-soon', { delayInMinutes: 0.5 });
// After: only start a timer if none is already waiting.
Title, favicon and audio changes also no longer count as "tabs changed". A test now opens a page whose title changes every second and checks that the quick backup still happens.
The lesson: a timer that restarts on every event never fires if the events never stop. That's a debounce with no maximum wait. A backup needs a deadline that new events can't push back: start the timer once, and let later changes join it.
2. I came back after a break and couldn't use my own app
1.0 explained its features but never showed how to use them. So 1.1 adds a one-minute hands-on tour in a practice browser, so your real tabs are never touched. It points at one thing to click at a time and tells you clearly when you've done it.
The lesson: explaining a feature isn't the same as showing someone where to click.
3. Google rejected the update over five words
My store description named five of the new color themes: Tokyo Night, Rosé Pine, Gruvbox, Aurora and Linen. Those names belong to other open-source projects, and Google flagged the line as "keyword stuffing". One plain line, "Eight color themes, light or dark", fixed it.
The lesson for extension authors: keep other projects' names out of your store text and screenshots.
What's new in 1.1, in 30 seconds
- Bring it back. This is how the 29 tabs came back. Closed a window by mistake, or crashed? Closed windows are kept for 14 days. One click restores them.
- Close tabs without fear. Save a tab to Later and a ✓ appears on it, so you know it's safe to close.
- Sleep. Tabs you aren't using give their memory back but stay in your tab bar. Tabby reads your computer's free memory before and after, so the number it shows is measured, not estimated.
- Close the copies. Same page open four times? One click closes the extras, with Undo.
- ⌘K (Ctrl+K) finds any saved or open tab as you type.
Try it
Coming from Toby? No account needed, and your collections import in one click. Using OneTab? Your list imports in one click too.
Free for good, not a trial: saved tabs, collections and spaces (unlimited), Bring it back, Sleep, ⌘K and closing copies. Pro is optional (details below).
What it can see: your open tabs' titles and addresses, so it can save and restore them. It can't read what's on your pages, and nothing leaves your computer: no account, no analytics.
👉 Add to Chrome · Add to Firefox
What's the most tabs you've ever lost at once, and what did you do about it? Tell me in the comments. (I have 34 open right now. Yes, I know.)
Pro details, so there are no surprises: $4/month or $29/year. Five more themes, switching windows between more than 5 spaces, and Tidy up straight into collections. New users get a 14-day Pro trial, no card needed.
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