Change your browser cursor in Chrome

Published by Vlasta about 15 hours ago.

There is a new way to use custom cursors from the library: a Chrome extension that lets you change cursors directly in your browser.

I've updated the cursor set and individual cursor pages with a new Apply cursor / Apply scheme section. If you don't have the extension installed, you'll find a link to the Chrome Web Store there. If you do have it installed, the link will be replaced with a button that applies the cursor or scheme directly.

The extension is available now, although this is the first version and there are still a few details to fine-tune. It currently supports the three main cursor roles: arrow, hand, and text I-beam.

There is one limitation worth mentioning. The extension cannot always determine which cursor role the browser would normally use at a particular position. For example, when hovering over a heading, the browser might display the regular arrow over the heading's bounding box but switch to the text cursor when hovering over the actual letters. This kind of special handling is impossible to reproduce with custom cursors, so don't be surprised if the wrong cursor occasionally appears.

I'll keep working on these details, and if you install the extension now, you'll receive updates automatically as improvements become available.

You may also notice that the Apply scheme section is missing from some cursor set pages. A set needs to contain all three required roles for the extension to apply it as a complete scheme. If any of those roles are missing, you can still apply individual cursors from their respective pages.

A Firefox extension with similar functionality is also planned for the foreseeable future.

Give it a try and let me know if you run into problems or have suggestions for improvements.

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