Bionimate Chrome extension icon

Bionimate

📦 v1.0.0
💾 15.5KiB
📅 2026-05-08
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Overview

**Speed up your reading on any web page.** Bionimate uses the bionic reading technique — bolding the first few letters of each word — so your eyes lock onto the key parts of text faster, and your brain fills in the rest. Works on articles, docs, Wikipedia, email, and more.

- **Selective formatting** — highlight any text and apply bionic reading to exactly that passage.
- **Element picker** — hover to target a paragraph, heading, list, or table cell; click to format only that element, nothing else.
- **Full-page mode** — reformats all readable content across `<article>`, `<main>`, `<section>`, and body text in one go.
- **Zen reading mode** — opens your selected or picked text as a clean, distraction-free overlay at 95 % screen width, in comfortable typography.
- **Fully reversible** — every change is undone instantly. No page reloads, no data loss.
- **Adjustable strength** — 5 levels of bionic emphasis, from subtle (1 letter bolded) to intense (half the word bolded). Tune to your reading style.
- **Reading size control** — scale text up or down from the toolbar without touching the page's own CSS.
- **Dark-page aware** — automatically switches to a white-text bionic theme on dark-background pages (YouTube, GitHub dark, etc.).
- **Persistent settings** — your strength, size, and collapsed/expanded toolbar state are remembered across tabs.
- **Keyboard accessible** — Escape closes zen mode and cancels element picker; focus states on all controls.
- **Zero data collection** — Bionimate reads nothing, sends nothing, stores nothing outside your own browser.

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## Features at a Glance

| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Text selection mode | Format only the words you highlighted |
| Element picker mode | Click any paragraph, heading, or list item |
| Full-page mode | Reformat all readable text in one click |
| Zen overlay | Clutter-free reading sheet at 95 % width |
| Strength slider | 1 – 5 emphasis levels |
| Reading size | 80 % – 180 % scale |
| Dark-page theme | Auto white text on dark backgrounds |
| Live retuning | Change strength and see all existing formatting update instantly |
| Reset / revert | One-click undo of all formatting |
| Collapsible toolbar | Tucks to the right edge; slides out on hover |

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## How to Use

1. Click the **Bionimate** icon in the Chrome toolbar to reveal the side panel on the page.
2. Choose a mode:
- **Toggle (⊙)** — applies bionic reading to the full page using the last-used mode, or page mode if first use.
- **Selection (⌖)** — highlight text first, then click to format just that passage.
- **Picker (⊕)** — click to enter hover mode; click a paragraph or element on the page to format it alone.
- **Page (▤)** — formats all readable text on the page at once.
- **Zen (≡)** — opens the formatted text in a focused reading overlay.
3. Use the **strength slider** to tune how many letters are bolded per word.
4. Use **− / +** to scale reading size up or down.
5. Click **Reset (↺)** — which glows red while formatting is active — to restore the original text.

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## Privacy

Bionimate operates entirely on-device. It does not:
- Collect or transmit any browsing data.
- Read page content outside of formatting it locally in your browser.
- Communicate with any external server.

The only data stored is your toolbar preferences (`strength`, `reading size`, `collapsed` state) in `chrome.storage.local`, which never leaves your machine.

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## Installation (Developer / Unpacked)

1. Open Chrome and navigate to `chrome://extensions`.
2. Enable **Developer mode** (top-right toggle).
3. Click **Load unpacked**.
4. Select the `Bionic-reading-chrm` project folder.
5. The Bionimate icon appears in your Chrome toolbar.

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## Known Limitations

- Content scripts cannot run on Chrome internal pages (`chrome://…`), the Chrome Web Store, or PDF files.
- Editable fields, `<code>`, `<pre>`, `<script>`, `<style>`, and the Bionimate toolbar itself are excluded from formatting.
- If a page uses Shadow DOM extensively (e.g. some SPAs), content inside shadow roots may not be reachable.
- Selection mode clears existing formatting before applying to a new selection, t

Tags

Make Chrome Yours/accessibility make chrome yours/accessibility

Privacy Practices

Not being sold to third parties, outside of the approved use cases
Not being used or transferred for purposes that are unrelated to the item's core functionality
Not being used or transferred to determine creditworthiness or for lending purposes

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