Gnome 3 allow the user to install Extensions for several thing, from adding some widgets for easy access to desktop features to completely change ui and behavior. Here are some suggestions that I’ve using for a while, some of them I think indispensable.

Must have Extensions

• Alternate Tab switches the default Alt + Tab by a window (with screenshot) based switcher that can group windows by workspace.
• Audio Switcher is useful if you constantly need to change audio input/output devices.
• Clipboard Indicator manages the last n clipboard entries.
• Dropdown Terminal for fast access to terminal emulator.

UX improvements Extensions

• Pixel Saver hides app titlebar when maximized, saving vertical space.
• Disable Workspace Switcher Popup as the name says, removes the annoying popup when switching workspaces.
• Dynamic Top Bar makes topbar transparent when no window is maximized.

Install and configuration

To be able to use Gnome Shell Extensions you must first install Gnome Tweak Tool. For Arch Linux or Ubuntu, you just have to install the gnome-tweak-tool package.

Once installed, you can enable/disable or configure extensions in the Extensions tab.

New extensions can be obtained/installed from several ways:

• From Gnome Extensions (extensions.gnome.org) website.

  For this to work you must install the browser extension and desktop integration package as explained on the wiki

• From system packages

  Some extensions are packaged for your distro, officialy or not. For Arch Linux there are many Gnome Shell Extensions available on AUR

• From source repository

  GitHub or whatever, each extensions has it’s own install instructions. In most cases it’s just to clone the repository under ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions

There are a lot more extensions available at Gnome Extensions website for many needs. For example, there is a Bitcoin Markets extensions that I’ve been using to keep track of currently BTC Price.

I still haven’t find, however, a good latest news and Medium extension so I’m considering to create one myself. Tell me if you have any recommendations.