My Firefox New Tab Is Now a Live News Dashboard (No More Doomscrolling Apps)
The Problem With News Apps News apps are designed to keep you scrolling. Infinite feeds, notifications, autoplay. By the time you've found the one headline you cared about, you've also seen 40 others designed to make y
The Problem With News Apps
News apps are designed to keep you scrolling. Infinite feeds, notifications, autoplay. By the time you've found the one headline you cared about, you've also seen 40 others designed to make you anxious.
I wanted headlines — just headlines — on a surface I already visit dozens of times a day: the new tab page.
News Widget Dashboard
News Widget Dashboard is a Firefox extension that replaces your new tab with a clean, structured news feed. Open a tab, get headlines, close the tab.
What it does:
- Pulls headlines from multiple sources
- Categorized view (world, tech, sports, etc.)
- Minimal UI — just headlines and sources
- Refreshes automatically
Firefox Add-Ons: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/news-widget-dashboard/
Why New Tab?
I already open 20+ new tabs a day. Making each one a news touchpoint means I stay informed without any deliberate sessions that spiral.
The constraint of the new tab layout also limits consumption — no infinite scroll because it's a new tab page.
What I Changed
Before: I'd open Twitter or a news app and come back 20 minutes later.
After: I open a new tab, scan headlines in 10 seconds, go back to work.
Free extension, no account required.
Originally published by Dev.to WebDev. Aggregated on AIWithGhost for educational purposes — full credit and traffic to the original publisher.