Add Pull-To-Refresh to Mac OS X in Chrome & Safari

Dec 5, 2011 - 12 Comments

Pull to Refresh in Mac OS X

iOS popularized the pull-to-refresh gesture, where pulling down and releasing on browser and app windows causes them to refresh their contents. With the help of a browser extension, we can bring the same pull to refresh feature to Mac OS X 10.7 in either the Chrome or Safari web browsers:

Installation is just a matter of clicking on the appropriate browser extension and opening a new browser window, which it will then be active in. The pull to refresh extension works best with trackpads and a two-fingered pull down, you will see a small black message box appear in the browser window indicating the refresh will occur if the pull is released.

You can add this to the list of things to make Mac OS X more like iOS, but I’d wager that future versions of browsers will probably include this feature, which some Mac apps already support.

Pull to Refresh in Google Chrome

Update: The Safari extension currently requires an Apple Developer Certificate to build and install, you can use the pre-built version posted in the comments at your own risk, or wait for the developer to release a bundled version. In the meantime, the Chrome extension is still easy to install.

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Posted by: AJ in Mac OS, Tips & Tricks

12 Comments

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  1. Spencer M says:

    how do i uninstall this add-on?

  2. Edgar says:

    As i said before, you need an apple developer account and a valid certificate to build the extension for safari.

    Personally, this extension is pretty useless. I tried it both on chrome and safari and not only it does not work well with all websites (and may conflict with some other extensions in chrome, like smooth scroll that i use on windows machines), it is also unproductive.

    Refreshing via cmd+R is way faster. With this extension you have some delay for the animation to occur, plus you find yourself refreshing the webpage when just scrolling back to the top of the webpage, which can be cumbersome.

  3. Andy Matheson says:

    Hmmmmmmmm…….. this seems like it’s more trouble than it’s worth. iOS also popularised the concept of “just-download-it-and-it-works”. Seems like a job for people who build space shuttles in their lunch break.

  4. countsian says:

    The baove comments apply to all my macs currently running Lion.. using Safari Extension Builder from the Developer menu you get as mentioned “won’t let me build package or install…both greyed out…”
    You have been written up about so i would advise you maybe reply to the comments to offer assistance for these issues or else you will be reported for being unhelpful which is not fair on you i am sure. Can you please address these issues previously mentioned… cheers

  5. Nik says:

    I have no idea how to build this extension for Chrome

    This is it in safari

    http://www.jumpingovation.com/pickup/Pull%20to%20Refresh.safariextz

    Can anyone else help withe chrome version

  6. jimlat says:

    OK…so I open it as a new extension in extension builder…won’t let me build package or install…both greyed out…

    Awesome idea, but maybe have this ready for non-programmers to actually use it?

    • jimlat says:

      Says “no Safari developer certificate” in red…

      • Edgar says:

        You need to possess a valid safari developer certificate. You need to apply for an Apple developer, create the account, create a certificate, download it, add it to your keychain, and only then will u be able to use the plugin.

        Maybe it would be easier to contact the developer or wait for him to publish the signed bundle on github.

  7. David says:

    I’m driving myself crazy trying to get this to work.

    Just drag the .safariextention folder into safari? Its a folder not a .safariextz file like the extensions in my library/safari folder.

    Thanks

    • malveaux says:

      You have to build it yourself with the Safari Extension Builder from the Developer menu.

      The developer needs to upload a .safariextz file so that everyone can just install it the easy way, until then use Chrome.

      • billk156 says:

        I installed in Chrome per instructions and it says it is installed but I cannot get it to work there either…

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