What is the story behind Link Hints?
In 2013 I (Simon Lydell) started contributing to the VimFx browser extension, making significant work on its link hinting feature. After a while, I became the main developer.
When VimFx was discontinued in 2017 (due to Firefox dropping their old extension system in favor of cross-browser Web Extensions), I started thinking about making a new extension, porting my favorite feature of VimFx â link hinting.
During experimentation in early 2018, I discovered a way of keeping track of clickable elements in the background (for the technically interested, a combination of MutationObserver, IntersectionObserver and requestIdleCallback). This showed potential for greatly improving on the VimFx link hinting.
A couple of months later, the first commit of Link Hints was made (then called âSynthâ). Soon it was stable enough to be used for day-to-day browsing. After almost two years of experimentation, development and real-world usage, Link Hints was first released in February 2020.