How to steal focus from the omnibox in a Chrome extension on the new tab page?
Hello from my question you linked!
On your New Tab Page, include the following JavaScript:
chrome.tabs.create({ url: chrome.extension.getURL("foo.html") });window.close();This will create a "normal" tab, and then close the New Tab Page. You can then focus() your input box on the normal tab.
This is what I've done for my Fauxbar extension. It adds a slight delay when clicking Chrome's New Tab button (in terms of how long it takes for your input box to become focused), but I reckon it's better than having to press Tab.
You could also implement chrome.commands to create keyboard shortcuts that users can modify themselves under chrome://extensions > Keyboard shortcuts.