Shortly after becoming an online writer, I began using Google’s Chrome desktop web browser as an alternative to Apple’s Safari browser for desktop computers. Within a week, I had completely abandoned Safari for Chrome and its blazing fast page load speeds, and I took my 50+ bookmarks with me.
To keep up with these, I went app hunting in Apple’s App Store for a bookmark-syncing application where I could manage my desktop bookmarks on the go. To my surprise, very few mobile bookmark managers existed for Chrome. The only one I came across was Ukrainian app-maker Eugene Balun’s ChromeSync.
ChromeSync is a simple app that provides an immensely useful service with a solid feature set. By logging into your Google Chrome account in the app (it can support several), ChromeSync retrieves your bookmarks and retains their folders and subfolders. From the app, you can add, edit and delete your bookmarks, as well as re-order them. You can also search your bookmarks and view your recently viewed pages history.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t pack an integrated browser, meaning when you want to open a bookmark in a browser, by default ChromeSync will launch the mobile Safari browser. Recently the developer also added the option of using a third party browser. So if you use Opera or Skyfire, ChromeSync will let you open your bookmarks with that instead.
The app’s design reminds me of iPhone’s settings app. It’s simple, but fast and without a trace of lag. You’ll see a black text on white background, with your bookmarks’ icons to the left of their titles. On the bottom right corner, you can do a universal search of the app’s content. The bar at the bottom of the screen shows the total amount of changes made to your bookmarks in the app.
[itunes link=”http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chromesync/id405090587?mt=8&uo=4″ title=”ChromeSync” text=”ChromeSync”] will cost you $0.99 in the App Store, which includes all of the features listed above. [itunes link=”http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chromesync-lite/id406999257?mt=8&uo=4″ title=”ChromeSync Lite” text=”ChromeSync Lite”], the free version, is described by its designer, Eugune Balun, as having “only restriction – No more than two levels of hierarchy.” In my testing, the Lite version was prone to crashing. However, the ChromeSync paid version is well worth its $0.99 price tag.
I don’t love two-step solutions like this that require you to manage you bookmarks in one app and open them in another — but having your bookmarks on the go is still better than having them stuck on your desktop computer.