Toby Atkin-Wright

I read almost all web pages using the “reader” mode in Safari. It would be great if pages could open automatically in reader mode if they have suitable content; it looks like Twitter are testing defaulting to reader mode in their iOS app, so perhaps we are seeing movement in that direction.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/31/twitter-tests-ad-blocking-reader-mobile

It is refreshing to read content from news sites without seeing menus, logos, adverts, sidebars, downloadable fonts, popups, comments, or, for that matter, any aspect of page design.

Was delighted to install clicktoflash last week. It is a Safari plugin that replaces all Flash objects in a web page with a placeholder image, which can be clicked if one wishes to view the Flash. Specific sites can be optionally whitelisted so that Flash always appears. I assume similar plugins exist for other browsers.

Eliminating Flash speeds up the loading of web pages, and reduces the browser’s memory footprint. Can’t help thinking that in general the internet would be better without Flash. (The only compelling reason I can see for using Flash is for movie playback, which could easily be managed by other software if only the media were in a standard format.)