Every time I open a new tab in Firefox, I used to get the default page — a search bar and a grid of sponsored tiles.
That's a missed opportunity. A new tab is opened dozens of times a day. It could actually tell me something useful.
So I built News Widget Dashboard — a Firefox extension that turns your new tab into a live information dashboard. No account required. No data leaves your browser.
The problem with Firefox's default new tab
Firefox's default new tab isn't bad. But it's also not for you. It's for Mozilla's partners. The sponsored content, the curated stories — those are chosen by an algorithm optimizing for engagement, not for your actual interests.
I wanted something different: a tab that shows me the weather at a glance, headlines from sources I actually chose, and an RSS feed from the blogs I follow. And I wanted it to look good in dark mode.
What News Widget Dashboard does
When you install it and open a new tab, you get:
Live weather widget — Current conditions and a 3-day forecast based on your location. The same weather data that drives most weather apps, but surfaced right where you're already looking.
Headlines from multiple news sources — Choose which outlets to follow. Tech news, world news, local news — you pick. The headlines refresh automatically so they're always current.
RSS feed support — This is the part I'm most proud of. Paste in any RSS feed URL and it shows up as a widget on your new tab. I use this for newsletters and dev blogs that I actually want to read but kept forgetting to check.
Dark mode — Because opening a blinding white new tab at 2am is unacceptable.
Customizable layout — Drag and rearrange widgets. Hide the ones you don't need. Your new tab, your layout.
Why browser-native (no account, no cloud sync)
I made a deliberate choice not to add user accounts or cloud sync.
Every extension that asks you to create an account introduces a new attack surface, a new company to trust with your data, and a subscription model that might disappear. I didn't want to build that.
News Widget Dashboard stores everything in your browser's local storage. Your RSS feeds, your widget preferences, your location — none of it goes anywhere. It works offline for cached content. If you uninstall it, the data is gone. No exports, no account deletion flow needed.
This is the same philosophy behind the rest of my extension portfolio: browser-native means the user is always in control.
Building it
The stack is pure HTML, CSS, and JavaScript — no frameworks. The news data comes from a public aggregation API. The weather widget uses the Open-Meteo API (free, no key required for basic usage). RSS feeds are fetched client-side via the browser's native fetch and a CORS proxy for feeds that don't allow cross-origin requests.
The hardest part was the drag-and-drop layout system. I ended up writing a simple grid manager rather than reaching for a library, which kept the extension size small. The whole thing minifies to under 150KB.
Try it
If you spend a lot of time in Firefox and want a new tab that actually informs you — without selling you anything — give it a try:
Install News Widget Dashboard on Firefox
It's free, open source, and takes about 30 seconds to set up. No account needed.
If you use it and have feedback, drop a review on AMO or leave a comment here. I read every one.
This is part of a portfolio of free Firefox extensions I've been building for everyday users. More at addons.mozilla.org.
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