I was underwhelmed with the existing offering of new tab extensions on the Chrome web store. I wanted a very particular set of features:

1. Large shortcuts, placed and editable by hand
2. Shortcuts and settings sync across devices
3. Nothing else that would reduce speed (clock, weather, to-do list, etc)

Previously I had been using Speed Dial 2, which ticked most of my boxes, but syncing was a paid feature.

After trying about 5 or 6 different extensions I had the idea to whip up my own. Enter: UtiliTab.

It’s extremly basic, but it covers all the basics just like I wanted. I’ve been using it for the last couple months and I’ve found it very handy. It supports adding/editing/removing bookmarks, changing spacing and padding, and has links to Chrome pages (history, extensions, etc).

There’s a few features I would still like to add:

• Reordering links
• Background color (or image) selection

You can download it from the Chrome web store if you want to try it out.