I hate endlessly scrolling through long docs, articles, or social feeds just to keep up with content, and I've been trying to learn typescript so I built a simple Chrome extension called Auto Scroll.
The goal was straightforward:
Start and stop scrolling with one click
Control scroll speed quickly
Keep it lightweight, distraction-free, and easy to use
Why I Built It
I wanted something that helps with:
Reading long-form content hands-free
Following tutorials while taking notes
Reducing repetitive scrolling during research
Most tools I tried were either overloaded with options or clunky to control. I wanted minimal and reliable.
What It Does
The extension currently supports:
Toggle auto-scroll on any page
Speed control from the popup
Smooth behavior that works across most websites
It’s intentionally small and focused on one thing: better reading flow.
Tech Stack
Built with:
TypeScript
Chrome Extension APIs
Simple popup UI + background/content scripts
I kept the structure clean so it’s easy to maintain and iterate.
What I Learned
A few practical lessons from building this:
Extension popups need defensive UI handling (DOM elements can fail silently if assumptions are wrong)
Storage data should always be treated as untrusted shape and normalized on read
Small UX details like speed defaults make a huge difference in usability
What’s Next
Planned improvements:
Per-site speed preferences
Better/more Keyboard shortcuts
Better pause/resume behavior when switching tabs
Optional smoothness presets (reading, browsing, rapid)
Feedback Welcome
If you’ve built Chrome extensions before, I’d love your feedback:
What UX patterns work best for productivity extensions?
Which feature would you prioritize first?
Any pitfalls I should watch for in content-script behavior across sites?
I'm also looking for guidance from experienced web devs who are self taught like me
there are 3 ways to grab and use my extension if you so choose:
github repo: https://github.com/codebunny20/Auto-scroll
Github release: https://github.com/codebunny20/Auto-scroll/releases/tag/v1.0.0
Chrome extensions store:-> I will add the store link once it has been reviewed and allowed to be published, I'm not entirely sure how long it will take but ill update this post when it is.
THANKS FOR READING IF YOU DID😊
