Hey. I'm Keith. I've been programming for more years than I'd like to count, and I've watched the web change in ways that are hard to love. I built kNewTab because I got tired of opening a new tab and feeling like the product instead of the user.
This is Version 1 — the foundation release. We know it's not perfect. The UX needs polish. There are edges to smooth. Features to refine. But everything you see is real, it works, and it's built on a foundation we're proud of.
The internet got weird.
Somewhere along the way, the web stopped being built for us. Algorithms decide what we see. Every click is tracked, profiled, and sold. Privacy policies are written to confuse, not inform. Extensions that should be simple tools became data harvesting operations with pretty UIs.
I don't think that's okay. And I don't think you do either.
I wanted to make a tool that respects my data as much as I do.
That said, I'm not naive about it. We live on the internet. We need its services. Every time I add a feature to kNewTab, there's an internal debate: what am I willing to accept in exchange for this functionality? Weather needs your coordinates. Search needs a server. News needs an API.
The answer I keep coming back to is this: be transparent, be opt-in, and never take more than you need.
What "opt-in" actually means here.
Every feature that touches the network, every permission that goes beyond basic new tab functionality — it's off by default. You turn it on when you're ready. You can turn it off whenever you want. We don't hide settings or bury toggles. If a feature needs something from you, it asks plainly.
- Weather needs your location — you grant it, or you don't
- History and downloads need Chrome permissions — requested only when you enable those widgets
- Search queries go through our private SearXNG instance — nothing is logged, nothing is stored
- RSS feeds are fetched directly from the sources — we never see what you read
I'm dedicated to walking that line responsibly. When in doubt, we err on the side of your privacy.
Where we're going.
This is the beginning. Version 1 is 17 tools that work together, a dock that feels alive, and a search engine that doesn't spy on you. But there's so much more to build.
Better onboarding. Widget pages. Performance improvements. More ways to make it yours. We're shipping updates regularly, and we're listening.
Which brings me to the part where I actually need something from you.
Help us build what matters.
We're not collecting emails or building profiles. This is literally just a counter. You click a button, we add +1 to a number. That's it. No cookies, no tracking, no "we'll be in touch." Just honest signal from real people.