GreaseKit: Greasemonkey Scripts For Safari And More
Greasemonkey, the user scripting framework that can inject code into sites and add features, functions smoothly in Gecko-based browsers like Firefox, but that isn’t the only browser that supports Greasemonkey. The implementation of Greasemonkey for Apple’s WebKit (Safari etc), formerly known as Creammonkey, has been updated and is now called GreaseKit.
Greasekit doesn’t change much it terms of functionality and not all Greasemonkey scripts will work with GreaseKit, but that’s mainly due to limitations in WebKit’s Javascript support.
However, the new release does add an interesting feature. Rather than just supporting Safari, GreaseKit enables you to use scripts in any WebKit-based application, and, even better, manage which scripts are used by which applications. That means there’s support for the rapidly growing world of site-specific apps, like, for instance, Mailplane.
Site-specific apps run like desktop apps, but interact with a single website. Tools like Adobe’s AIR platform, Mozilla’s XULRunner and Apple’s WebKit are some the key technologies at work behind these applications, but one of the common pitfalls is that outside extensions (like Greasemonkey scripts) don’t work.
One of our favorite examples of a site specific app, is MailPlane, a desktop app for interacting with GMail. Although it looks like it’s just rendering GMail (it is) it adds niceties like drag and drop attachments and integration with other desktop apps like iPhoto and Growl.
But one of the things we don’t like about Mailplane is that we lose all our cool Greasemonkey scripts to enhance GMail’s web interface, which is why GreaseKit is an exciting development. Except that none of the Greasemonkey scripts I want to use work with GreaseKit, which is too bad.
Still there are a number of WebKit-compatible Greasemonkey scripts out there so if you’re using Mailplane or other site specific apps, like Chris Messina’s Diet Pibb, you may will find that GreaseKit suits your needs.
[via Factory Joe]
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