WhatDoesThisDo Chrome Extension
Summarise the Internet
Most browser extensions try to grab attention.
Popups, overlays, floating buttons, auto-run behavior.
While building my extension, I chose the Chrome side panel instead, almost by accident.
It changed everything.
It doesn’t interrupt what you’re reading
It stays visible without covering content
It feels optional, not demanding
People use it intentionally, not reactively.
The side panel feels closer to a tool you open when needed, not something fighting for clicks.
It made me realize how often we mistake visibility for usefulness.
Sometimes the best UX is the one that waits.
Curious why more tools don’t use it.
We read more than ever, but focus is harder than it used to be. Short content, constant switching, and endless tabs make it difficult to sit with long pages and actually understand them.
I found myself repeatedly copying parts of articles, docs, GitHub issues, or PDFs into ChatGPT just to get a simpler explanation. It worked, but it broke flow.
So I built a Chrome extension for my use first, and now making it public.
WhatDoesThisDo extension lives in the side panel and explains the page you’re currently on (on demand - no auto read). No tab switching, no copy-paste loop. It works on articles, Reddit threads, GitHub, PDFs, and YouTube (via transcripts).
You can choose how the explanation is presented, depending on what helps you understand faster :
- Short summaries
- Checklists
- Q&A,
- Visual formats like mindmaps and flowcharts
Limitations
Not all sites allow automatic text extraction, especially modern JS-heavy platforms like LinkedIn. In those cases, the extension falls back to manual text selection instead of trying to bypass site restrictions.
It’s also not meant to replace careful reading. It’s a support tool for understanding, not a shortcut for thinking.
I built it primarily to reduce friction and help maintain focus while reading. It’s something I now use daily, and I’m continuing to improve it based on real usage.
Feedback is more than welcome at this stage.
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