Volume Master

Ever since Google Chrome was first released, there have been many attempts by extension developers to somehow give users more control over sound in the world’s most popular web browser. Volume Master is the kind of extension that could change the way one controls a tab’s volume.

Probably the add-on’s most jaw-dropping feature is its ability to boost the volume up to 600%. No, that’s not a typo. Volume Master can make the sounds coming from your browser really loud, a feature usually reserved for more complex audio playing applications.

This, of course, means that you can also mute tabs. I have to admit I would have liked the design more if the extension had a volume icon that I could just click to cut the sound (like most volume controllers have). But clicking right at the end of the volume slider is just as efficient, so this is by no means a design flaw.

Volume Master’s other useful feature is that, in its small pop-up window, it lists all the tabs that are playing sounds in Google Chrome right now. Instead of looking for the black volume icon in the tab, you can just navigate through this list.

This feature can be especially useful when pesky ad-related sounds suddenly start playing somewhere in your browser. Just click on the culprit, close or mute it, and you get instant peace and quiet.

While this function is certainly useful, I’m still not sold on the whooping 600% volume boost. I mean, would you actually need that? Impressive as it is, most users don’t have speakers powerful enough to support that kind of volume in a listenable way; and if they do, they probably don’t use them to play audio from a web browser.

I would have also preferred if the instructional text didn’t occupy a third of the extension’s pop-up window; a minimalistic, non-intrusive design should always be the first choice when it comes to simple browser extensions. But apart from that, Volume Master is reliable extension that does what it promises.