AltOS, a terminal-inspired new tab for Chrome
AltOS turns the Chrome new tab into something you can actually work in. There's an encrypted vault, passwords you can reproduce instead of save, a handful of image tools, a drawing canvas, focus timers, and a game for when you need a minute away from things. It all runs in your browser, there's no account to sign up for, and your data stays on your computer. The terminal below is real, so go ahead and type a command and look around.
Everything AltOS does
Open the Apps launcher, which works like a command palette, and start whichever tool you need. Each one is self-contained and runs in your browser. If you want the full rundown on any of them, run man <name> in the terminal above.
It keeps track of your session
The tools are only half of it. AltOS also remembers the tabs you just closed, keeps your bookmarks close by, and lets you search across everything you have open right now.
Getting it installed
AltOS installs from the Chrome Web Store, which keeps it updated on its own. The listing is on its way. A Firefox build may come later, but there is no separate download or offline version to manage in the meantime.
Find it on the Chrome Web Store
Open the AltOS listing in the Chrome Web Store. The listing is on its way, so this is what installing will look like.
Click Add to Chrome
Chrome shows a short permissions prompt. Confirm it and AltOS sets itself up.
Open a new tab
That is it. AltOS takes over the new-tab page. Press ? for shortcuts, or open the Apps launcher.
Local-first, and built that way
This isn't just a line in a privacy policy. The manifest enforces it. A strict Content-Security-Policy blocks remote code, and the only thing AltOS ever reaches out to is the weather service, and only if you turn it on.
What happens on your device
- +Passwords are derived, never stored, using Argon2id in a Web Worker.
- +The vault is AES-256-GCM encrypted at rest, including item names. If you forget the password, nobody can recover it, and that is the point.
- +Image conversion and metadata scrubbing run on a canvas, on your machine.
- +Your data exports to a single backup file you control, and imports right back.
What it never does
- xNothing here is watching you. The extension doesn't run analytics or telemetry, it doesn't bundle any advertising code, and it never asks you to create an account.
- xIt doesn't use eval or load remote scripts. The CSP is locked to
script-src 'self'. - xThe only network request is the weather lookup, and only after you set a location.
There's a game in here, too
Kernel Panic is a built-in arcade survival game. You defend the system core while waves of rogue processes come at you: ranged tracers, orbiting glitches, mini-bosses that fire piercing laser sweeps, and multi-phase bosses. Dash and EMP abilities keep you in the fight. There's an 11-stage campaign and an endless Kernel Overload mode ranked from D up to SSS, all backed by chunky Atari-style sound. Open the Apps launcher, head to Games, and start it.