Question 1

How do I install Cove v0.1.3 on Chrome, Brave, Arc, Edge, or Firefox?

Accepted Answer

Download cove-chrome-mv3-v0.1.3.zip (1.77 MB) for Chromium browsers or cove-firefox-mv3-v0.1.3.zip (1.77 MB) for Firefox and Zen. For Chrome, Brave, Arc, or Edge, unzip the archive into a permanent folder, open chrome://extensions, turn on Developer mode, and choose Load unpacked. For Firefox 140+, open about:debugging#/runtime/this-firefox and load the manifest from the unzipped folder. The /install page has copyable URLs and checksums. Cove is not in a browser store yet.

Question 2

What is Cove, and what does it replace?

Accepted Answer

Cove is an open-source Apache-2.0 Manifest V3 new tab for Chromium and Firefox 140+. It replaces the default start page with a clock, search, shortcut grid, a clean RSS reader called Discover, a reading list, a Pomodoro timer, tab triage, notes, weather, and procedural focus audio. It is a local-first tool, not a cloud RSS service.

Question 3

How do search providers and !bangs work?

Accepted Answer

Cove ships 14 one-click provider presets, including Startpage, Kagi, Perplexity, ChatGPT, Claude, Stack Overflow, GitLab, npm, PyPI, Reddit, Hacker News, arXiv, Google Maps, and Unsplash. Prefix and suffix bangs both work, so !g query and query !g route the same way; aliases such as !gh/!github and !w/!wiki are supported. You can add or edit custom HTTPS templates with a {q} placeholder, and Cove rejects embedded credentials or non-HTTPS URLs. Local instant answers cover math, units, dates, timestamps, base conversion, tips, colors, and word counts.

Question 4

Does Cove work offline, and does it make network requests?

Accepted Answer

The new tab shell, settings, bundled wallpapers, fonts, notes, and focus audio work offline. Discover stores feed metadata and extracted articles in RAM and IndexedDB, including up to 120 full articles for offline reading. Cove is network-active when you refresh feeds, load weather or favicons, use search suggestions, or extract an article: your browser contacts those publishers and APIs directly. There is no Cove proxy and no Cove analytics server.

Question 5

Which news sources and APIs are included in Discover?

Accepted Answer

Discover ships with 11 curated RSS/Atom sources and 3 keyless public APIs. You can also add your own RSS or Atom URL. Stories are ranked on-device from your reading behavior; Cove does not send that history to an LLM API. The clean reader extracts article text for a calmer reading view and does not bypass paywalls.

Question 6

What data does Cove collect?

Accepted Answer

Cove has no account system, no analytics, no advertising identifiers, and no Cove-operated telemetry endpoint. Reading history, saved stories, settings, notes, and workflow memory stay in your browser's local storage or IndexedDB. Network features necessarily share normal request data, such as your IP address and user agent, with the publisher or API you contact. See /privacy for the full network ledger.

Question 7

How large is Cove, and can I inspect the source?

Accepted Answer

The v0.1.3 runtime is 166.2 KB gzipped JavaScript and CSS: 141.0 KB JS and 25.2 KB CSS, within a 170 KB budget. The source is public under Apache-2.0 at github.com/DevAnimecx/cove, with 66 unit tests and 2 integration audits. The download hub also publishes SHA-256 checksums and a source archive.

Question 8

Is Cove free, and is it available in the Chrome Web Store or Firefox Add-ons?

Accepted Answer

Cove is free and open source under Apache-2.0. v0.1.3 is a manual-install release; store packaging is on the roadmap. There is no paid tier, account, or subscription. The browser packages and source archive are hosted directly on this site and mirrored on the GitHub release page.

Capability	Cove v0.1.3	Default Browser TabsEdge Start / MSN / Chrome NTP	Wallpaper StartpagesMomentum Plus ($40–$60/yr)	Cloud RSS ReadersFeedly / Inoreader Pro
Opening Experience	Pre-paint Midnight Cobalt / Alabaster; Discover in the side nav (D)	Varies by provider; often sponsored content	Wallpaper dashboard with some paid features	Depends on the client and inbox size
News Sources	11 curated RSS sources + 3 keyless APIs; custom feeds supported	Varies by provider	Limited or add-on content	Feeds you choose; presentation varies by client
Clean Reader	Local article extraction + a 120-article offline cache	Usually opens the publisher page	Usually opens the publisher page	Varies; some open the original page
Recommendation Privacy	On-device ranking; no Cove server	Varies by provider and settings	Account-based sync	Server-side read state
Procedural Focus Audio	No audio files; Beta Focus, Alpha Flow, and Wind-Down presets	Not typically included	Varies; some require a subscription	Not typically included
Price & Open-Source License	Free - Apache-2.0 - strict MV3 CSP	Varies; often ad-supported	Paid plan varies	Paid plan varies

The Browser Tab thatQuietlyEvolves

News of your interests. Real logos. Clean reading.

Calm on the surface. Local-first underneath.

Crafted like a precision instrument.

On-device ranking with Whisper Mode

Procedural Focus Sound

Four Font Families & 3 Density Scales

Complete 10-Section Settings & Privacy Vault

A different set of trade-offs.

Replaces Outrage Portals with Calm Signal

More Than a Static Photo

A Clean Reader for the Feeds You Choose

Make Cove your calm corner.

Chrome, Brave, Arc & Edge

Firefox & Zen Browser

Open Source on GitHub

Everything about Cove v0.1.3