Fika

A lot of people admit that they don’t enjoy reading on the computer as much as reading a book. There are many reasons behind this, from the monitor’s eye-strain to just a matter of habit. This discomfort also applies to websites, despite the effort that designers invest in creating the perfect page layout.

What should you do if you don’t necessarily like reading long texts on your computer but still have to get a lot of information online? Well, there’s this very cool extension for Google Chrome called Fika.

You can use Fika to alter the display of any webpage that contains a lot of text content; one click, and the page you’re on instantly adopts a layout similar to that of an eReader’s display. This is meant to make you relax and help you focus better on the lecture. It also removes any annoying ads or bad web design choices that may distract you; unfortunately, since it only extracts text, it doesn’t display any relevant image content that a webpage might have.

But remember that Fika is about the reading experience first and foremost and, in this aspect, it doesn’t disappoint.

Once you switch to the Fika layout, you can access a menu in the top-right corner of the window. First, you’ll be able to prompt a table of contents for the page you’re reading; this can be very useful if you want to navigate through longer articles that have been gifted with headings.

Next, you’ll be able to customize your layout; you can change the text size, the font and the color theme. Whether you prefer the simple black-on-white Vanilla or the dark-blueish Blabar, each theme offers a soothing reading experience. As for the fonts, there aren’t that many to choose from, but at least they are all legible.

Finally, you can make your window full screen so you can read without any distractions, while keeping the same narrow, well-focused page format. It’s safe to say that Fika is a Chrome extension that can greatly improve your online reading experience.