MacOS – Dynamically change the default browser

google-chromemacossafari

Chrome absolutely kills battery life on my MBA.

So I would like to switch my default browser to Safari when I am unplugged. When plugged in, I would like Chrome to be the default browser.

Any ideas how to do this?

I've seen tools like Hammerspoon but couldn't find a use case for what I need.

Best Answer

ControlPlane would be a good option for you. It has the ability to define contexts based on specific criteria (if plugged in to power or not), and perform many different actions based on those criteria (including switching your default browser).

Here's a screenshot of ControlPlane's Evidence Sources window and DefaulBrowser Action settings:

I use ControlPlane for a lot of things, like switching my Network Location based on the wifi network I'm connected to, and switching my default browser based on my Network Location. It's a really powerful little utility.

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Launch default browser spotlight shortcut

I'd make a little AppleScript that does this:

on GetDefaultWebBrowser()
    set _scpt to "export VERSIONER_PERL_PREFER_32_BIT=yes; " & "perl -MMac::InternetConfig -le " & "'print +(GetICHelper \"http\")[1]'"
    return (do shell script _scpt)
end GetDefaultWebBrowser
do shell script "open -a \"" & GetDefaultWebBrowser() & "\""

Replace the URL (in quotes) with your homepage. The rest of the code serves to figure out what your default browser is, and make it the active application. That part lifted from a Daring Fireball article.

Save it as an app called Browser and put it somewhere. Once Spotlight indexes it, you can type Browser in and hit enter. This will open the URL in your default browser.

Directions:

Open AppleScript Editor from your Applications/Utilities folder (if you have older than 10.6, it will be Script Editor in your Applications folder). Paste that line in. Go to File-> Save As. Set the File Format: menu to Application. Choose a location and save.

Way to make Adium open links with Google Chrome

Try to disable the Skype plugin, it must be tempering with the way Adium handles URLs opening.

Best Answer

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Launch default browser spotlight shortcut

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