I ported the Firefox Archive.today extension to Safari | Better HN

I ported the Firefox Archive.today extension to Safari | Better HN

43 comments

therealmarv2y ago

You don't need an extension for that and allow questionable privacy settings like "access to all websites". Just use a bookmarklet (create a new bookmark e.g. in your top bar and add this code as URL):

  javascript:location.href='https://archive.is/?run=1&url=%27+encodeURIComponent(document.location)

Other bookmarklet examples (12ft, Google Cache):

  javascript:location.href='https://12ft.io/proxy?q=%27+encodeURIComponent(document.location)

 
 javascript:location.href='https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:%27+location.href;{}

dundarious2y ago

Shortcuts are good for this type of functionality as well, and as a bonus, can be used from within apps like Twitter via the share sheet.

LordDragonfang2y ago

For any non-Apple-users browsing this comment thread, "Shortcuts" is Apple's visual-scripting automation language for iOS and MacOS.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shortcuts_(app)

KMnO42y ago

Shortcuts are actually very underrated since they can run JS on webpages. A lot of things are possible that wouldn’t otherwise be possible on iOS.

You beat me to it.

Personally, I have been using this variant:

  javascript:location.href = '//archive.ph/newest/' + location.href.split('?')[0];

I've been doing this for years but missed the run=1 argument in archive.today to go directly to the latest copy instead of the list of all copies. Thank you!

dundarious2y ago

archive.md/newest/<url> works.

codingpanicOP2y ago

Finally published my first anything on the Apple AppStore by porting the Archive.Today extension to Safari. Works on iPad, iPhone, and Mac.

I was tired of copying and pasting when I wanted to use the Archive service on HN articles, so here you go!

Congrats man, this should be useful!

dundarious2y ago

Congrats to the author.

I’ve been using a homemade Shortcut for the same purpose. They’re great when you want a bit of control over such things. For example, expanding the url (following all redirects) before sending it to archive.ph/md/is, 12ft.io, or Reading List, etc. It’s very annoying having t.co urls in Reading List in particular.

Can you share the shortcut or explain how it works. I dont have much experience with custom shortcuts yet.

dundarious2y ago

https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/9053ccad1b4c4c688537ebf4716...

You can edit the resulting url before opening it or copying it, and choose between archive.ph, .md, etc. Editing is useful if you want to get rid of utm_source arguments, etc.

Apple’s Shortcuts is just a hodgepodge of built in functions, the best way to learn is just to try build something like this. You’ll be searching a few times for the little function you want until you find the right name for it. As far as discoverability goes, it’s OK, gets the job done. Naming things is weird too — let’s say you make a Text block, then you can only seem to name it when you reference it elsewhere (Select Magic Variable, scroll and tap it, then highlight it and Rename from the menu).

js22y ago

Note: you have to both enable the extension and set its permissions for "All Websites" to "Allow". If you have its permissions set to "Ask" then it will take you to archive.ph but not actually load the current tab's URL.

This explains the behavior folks are commenting on here where it appears not to work.

codingpanicOP2y ago

Thanks for the feedback, I'll work on fixing this. Alternatively, you can also open an issue here: https://github.com/gnormandin/Archive-Page/issues

codingpanicOP2y ago

New build submitted.

Tempest19812y ago

Thank you!

Just tried it at Bloomberg.com and wsj.com -- it redirected me to https://archive.ph/ and then again to https://archive.ph/

I'm on latest iOS.

codingpanicOP2y ago

Yeah, there should be two redirects. The first is searching for the URL you entered, the second should either newly cache the page, or load the cached page. Same behavior as firefox.

If this is not what you are seeing, please open an issue on the github at: https://github.com/gnormandin/Archive-Page/issues

So I can keep track of issues encountered.

Thanks!

Tempest19812y ago

Ah, yep, changing the permissions from "Ask" to "Allow" is a workaround:

Settings > Safari > Extensions > Archive Page > All Websites > Allow

codingpanicOP2y ago

Issue fixed, and a new build has been submitted

Sporktacular2y ago

Thank you. Nice to see some love given to Safari.

xylo2y ago

Here's my bookmark that works on Web, iOS, iPad

  javascript: (function() {(function(){var url =window.location.href; let newUrl 
  ="https://archive.ph/submit/?url="+encodeURIComponent(url.split('?')[0]); 
  window.open(newUrl, "_self");})()})()

Maybe include some more verbose instructions on the screen that displays on my iPad when I attempt to open the app. Following instructions from other posters on this thread has it working beautifully. Thanks!

codingpanicOP2y ago

Will do, thanks for the advice!

KiDD2y ago

It isn’t loading the website url into the archive search

codingpanicOP2y ago

New build submitted that will fix this issue.

Is it region lock? I cannot access the page from France.

codingpanicOP2y ago

Apple has some SSL export restrictions I've yet to successfully navigate. Will have this fixed in the next version.

Thanks!

marban2y ago

Surprised that this sailed through MAS's review.

LeoNatan252y ago

It only redirects to the Archive homepage.

CameronBanga2y ago

You need to go into the Extension preference page for the extension, and hit the "Allow Access" permission box for allowing access to web url/link information. I can't remember exact wording, but should essentially be one option here and you have to enable it so that it has permission to pass along URL.

codingpanicOP2y ago

This will no longer be needed with the next release, awaiting app review approval.

codingpanicOP2y ago

This should be the expected behavior when pressing the button on a new Safari tab. Otherwise, should redirect to the URL your current open tab is displaying.

LeoNatan252y ago

Then something in the UX is broken. From your store images, I understood that clicking on that tab menu item, it would display last archive date and ask to rearchive, no?

There is a reason why most Safari extensions apps do not just show an icon and a label, but actually explain how to use their embedded extensions.

thank you

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