Synthwave
a neon grid rolling into a striped sunset

What you see on every new tab

Synthwave is one of the three free Ambient New Tab themes. It replaces the blank New Tab page with the 1980s retrowave scene: neon grid floor, striped sun, mountains and stars, all drawn live rather than looped from a video.

• An endless grid: the floor rolls toward the camera forever and never visibly repeats.
• The striped sun: a big banded sunset sun that sits just above the mountain rim.
• Stars: a quiet field of pinpricks that sparkle when music sync is on.

Nothing is a video. The scene is generated live on your graphics card with WebGL, so it never loops and never looks the same twice.

What it reacts to

• Mouse: the sun and mountains shift with the cursor for parallax, and on the floor the cursor becomes a cool pool of light that brightens the grid cells under it.
• Music (Pro): bass swells the sun and speeds the grid, a kick sends a bright wave down the floor, mids lift the mountain rim, treble sparkles the stars.
• Night: darkens after dusk, following the sun at your location.

Free or Pro?Free

Synthwave is one of the three free themes, with Constellation, Marble and Synthwave, and it stays free. The clock, date and search box are free too. Pro is a one-time $19 purchase, no subscription, that adds every Pro theme, music sync, and every future theme.

How to get it

1. Add Ambient New Tab to Chrome (or Edge, Brave, Arc, Vivaldi, Opera).
2. Open a new tab and click the Themes pill in the bottom-right corner.
3. Pick Synthwave. Done.

Questions

Is Synthwave free?

Yes. Synthwave, Constellation and Marble are free forever. No account, no time limit.

Does it work on an older laptop?

Yes. It is a single shader with no heavy simulation, so it runs on WebGL1 and on integrated graphics.

Can it move to my music?

Yes, with Pro. Play music in any tab, click the Ambient icon on that tab, and the grid, sun and stars follow the beat.

Does it work on my phone?

No. It's a desktop browser extension for Chrome and Edge on Windows, macOS, Linux and ChromeOS. If you're reading this on a phone, send yourself the link.

More themes

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