With the right apps and extensions, you can transform the Chrome and Chromium browsers into powerful and flexible productivity platforms that can handle practically any task you throw at them: from text editing and coding, to reading ebooks and managing tasks. Although you'll find a lot of closed source and paid offerings in the Chrome Web Store, plenty of excellent open source apps and extensions are also worth installing.

Text Editors Galore

Whether you need a simple app for jotting down notes and drafting articles or a text editor for serious coding, you can choose from several open source apps. Text [1] is probably the simplest text editor for Chrome out there, so it will appeal to users looking for a minimalist tool. Despite its apparent simplicity, however, Text has a handful of useful features (Figure 1). The editor runs offline, and you can use it to open and save local text files. The editor lets you open multiple files and easily switch between them.

On Chrome OS, the app allows you to save files to Google Drive. The editor supports syntax highlighting for popular programming and markup languages, including Markdown, PHP, Python, Bash, and others. Other creature comforts include line wrap, smart indentation, and a simple search feature. Although Text doesn't offer advanced functionality essential for working with text, it can still come in handy when you occasionally need to tweak some code or draft an article.

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