Devlog - Tab Collection Manager (TCM)
Why this exists
I’ve used the Toby Tabs extension for years because it’s genuinely great for corralling tab chaos: deep dives, tool work, project switching, saving “topic bundles” so I can close a mess and come back later.
Then sometime in 2024 they started deprecating features to force people onto a paid Pro plan. I’m not having it. Chrome extensions are a joke to create, and I’m not getting squeezed for a workflow I rely on.
The decision
So I built my own: Tab Collection Manager (TCM). It was easy. It took one day.
What TCM does (and what it deliberately doesn’t)
Feature parity: It covers basically everything I used Toby for—saving tab groups/collections and restoring them later.
The intentional omission: No sync (yet). I could build it, but I didn’t care enough to take on the trade-offs at the time.
Current status
- Faster/snappier than Toby, and honestly better than a lot of other tab collection extensions because they get bloated with “features” until they’re ridiculous.
- It’s live on the Chrome Web Store, usable as-is.
- Known rough edge: export is a little wonky and one export button doesn’t work, but you can export everything.
- Maybe later: a couple extra features I’d like to add, basically “one cloud code session” worth of work—I just haven’t felt like it because it already does what I need perfectly.
Why I’m not trying to monetize it
I made this for me (and future-me). Tools like this should be “made for yourself,” and it’s only getting easier—won’t be long before even non-devs can crank out simple extensions.
That said: I do want more eyes on my tools, even without charging. Visibility buys connections and goodwill, and I like knowing something I made is useful in someone else’s toolbox.
Rant
This is exactly why it angers me: the greed is rampant, and everyone tries to monetize everything.
And shame on Toby for taking advantage of long-time users—especially the “turn off your ability to access your tabs/collections on a deadline” move instead of leaving people on a legacy plan (or at minimum letting them keep access to what they already saved). That’s not “business,” that’s just bad tactics and greed.
End.