I tried uBlock Origin Lite for a very short time. Then I realized that in Lite, the user can’t add custom rules[0]. That’s when I had enough. So now I’m using Firefox instead, where I can use uBlock Origin.
I simply cannot give up the option of zapping distractions off of my screen. I really cannot understand how people can use Youtube or even a Youtube embedded video without zapping away the distractions. There is no way I'm coming back to Chrome if they don't support manifest V2. It's Firefox for me.
They mention "other browsers" in addition to Firefox that will continue to support Manifest v2, but I can't find a list. Does anyone know off-hand the additional browser options for Manifest V2 and multiple-OS support?
However I do not rely on extensions/add-ons as I believe extensions/add-ons are not the right solution. Unless the computer user is compiling the browser herself, extensions/add-ons can be crippled/disabled/etc. by whomever is distributing binaries. When the distributor is supported by online advertising as is the case for both Chrome and Firefox, and all the other so-called "modern" graphical browsers, this possibility cannot be ignored.
Many years ago I switched to chrome because ff felt sluggish. That’s all fixed since a long time. Not sure why so many seems to be choosing chrome today.
Chrome with Ublock origin works through June 2025, via "browsers using the ExtensionManifestV2Availability policy will be exempt from any browser changes until June 2025". Discussion on how to enable: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41812638
I see people reporting that the extension has already been forcefully removed (or disabled in some cases) from their Chrome. This hasn't happened to me (v133 on MacOS).
I have primarily been using Chrome up until this point as I was under the impression that performance (and therefore battery life) is bad with FF on MacOS. Recent results seem to indicate that Chrome is in fact the worst offender [1].
Yesterday I uninstalled Arc as they have all but abandoned their browser to work on some AI crap browser (after saying they planned to support manifest v2 for the forseeable future).
Today I installed Orion Browser [2]. It's using webkit under the hood and seems to be far lighter on battery life than Chrome, Arc (Blink) and Firefox. They fully support FF and Chrome extensions and therefore UBO seems to be working (on the whole) very well.
It is a shame that Orion is Mac and iOS only. I found this statement[1] in response to a request for it on other platforms
> We are getting a lot of repeat questions about windows/linux/android version and sometimes it appears that users think that the team is choosing not to work on these platforms. The situation is quite different and simpler - we do not have the resources to hire a new team to do any of these platforms yet.
> And since Orion is funded by its users only, it is entirely up to the number of subscribers and Orion+ sales we have that will enable funding a new team to make Orion for any new platform. And building a browser is not cheap, especially one on top of WebKit.
> Ways you can help accelerate this is:
> Contribute to Orion development with your time
> Help spread the word about Orion to attract more users
> Get Orion+ and financially support developmet
This is a tricky situation to be in. A lack of resources to support multiple platforms, but the solution being more subscribers. But the incentive structure is perplexing. Those supporting development going to be those already using Orion. And those not on Mac/iOS are unlikely to financially support a browser they can't use in the hopes it might one day come to a platform I use.
Orion looks pretty interesting, it's not like any of the other alternative browsers (opera, vivaldi, brave, arc etc) which just wrap Chromium in more junk. It uses WebKit which is optimised for Apple platforms, giving more battery life, while also integrating uBlock Origin.
Do they really remove it? Because I've had several extensions get disabled and was only able to re-enable them after enabling developer mode (toggle at top-right).
I believe that most say "remove" because they get removed from the plugin-bar when disabled.
I'll ditch Chrome without a second thought if they really remove it. They'll lose access to my browsing history, so I don't see what they have to gain with it. What about the ads which are blocked at network level via PiHole?
Have they even considered that PiHole might then catch on and start blocking ads on mobile devices in households which would otherwise not use it?
After 17 years of using Android, with building my own kernel and ROMs in the early days, I finally gave up on it and finished my de-Google journey and reluctantly switched to iPhone.
The fact that Orion on iOS existed was a major reason I was able to this. On Android I was a Firefox user since Firefox was the only browser with the ability to run proper uBo.
Orion is not without its bugs, but it does support a lot of Firefox and Chrome extensions. But you don’t even need to install uBo as an extension,it’s got built in ad blocker with the ability to add or remove filter lists. Even without installing uBo, in terms of ad blocking, it instantly matched Firefox on Android. That I can install things such as Tapermonkey or Bypass Paywall Clean as extensions is a huge bonus.
It’s amazing how Google is pushing its early adopters and cheerleaders away by one anti user move after another.
I still wish Apple would remove some of the restrictions on iOS, allow other browser engines etc. Installing unknown software from unsigned developers on macOS is really difficult these days but still doable if you know where to look. If only iOS was the same. The potential lost revenue from loss of control would be more than made up by new people who would be brought on to the platform.
This is a clear example of conflict of interest Google has.
It makes money almost exclusively from ads, and people want to block ads. No matter how they try to portray decisions like this - it is obvious they are moving in direction where people are unable to do what they want.
I am sure if Google from today would launch a browser, it would fail to gain traction knowing all the state of their core business and negative sentiment users have.
Let's hope Mozilla doesn't go the same route, but it seems they are also not under good leadership and are slowly loosing the trust of users.
Kind of? There's absolutely a justifiable reason for v3, that is not "because we want to kill ad blockers". It is likely that some higher ups pushed for v3 for ad reasons, just as devs pushed for v3 for technical reasons.
I couldn't find a good timeline of all the developments in the extension space. I started first installing extensions on Firefox with their super powerful but dangerous XUL system, then they watered it down and many extensions died, then Chrome took over the internet, then extensions could just block the ads and nothing more interesting, then suddenly for Chrome, they even can't do that? I remember Google also trying to ship some tamper protection (like DRM) for web sites... I wonder how this all will end up. I also wonder why people keep installing Chrome but not Firefox, but I digress. I really think the web needs a detailed documentary on how Google played Microsoft's EEE scheme on the whole web.
Chrome took over long before Firefox dumped XUL. It was sticking to XUL with all the performance issues that let Chrome take over. Losing all the extensibility of XUL, and it being too late to take a thoughtful approach to design something that maintained that extensibility with performance and security, helped solidify Chrome's lead. A lot of people didn't see a point in using Firefox without extensibility beyond what Chrome allowed.
regardless of what people complain of, firefox is still an awesome daily driver. nobody likes the direction the MF is taking the browser to but at least we can influence it, unlike google.
The main issue is going to be around the corner. As more and more people use CNAME cloaking to do server-side tracking using GTM (etc.), it will be a cat and mouse game to block it (and other networks). uBlock Lite cannot uncloak these CNAMES and you're going to see a pretty bad experience in due course.
Anyone looking for a new browser on the desktop, also give Floorp a look.
It’s a fork of Firefox by some young developers from Japan who seem to have good values and ideals. It’s been my daily driver for 6 months now (on Mac, Windows and Linux).
I originally found it because I wanted to easily have vertical tabs in Firefox (without the horizontal tab bar being left over) and got tired of manually editing Firefox’s chrome.css file (which acts differently on different platforms). Floorp allowed me to do this out of the box with no dramas.
I then discovered its many other cool features and Mozilla’s telemetry and their other sneaky advertising are also disabled by default. As a Firefox fork, it of course supports all Firefox extensions including proper uBlock origin.
So the time had come to finally move from Chrome. I already have Firefox as my secondary browser, but I'm thinking of using this opportunity to take a look at LibreWolf as well. Also going to have a conversation with my non-tech-savvy family members to do the same. Once you get used to having clean websites without ads and pop-ups, its hard to go back.
What is the best way to migrate retaining as much as possible to a fork, like Brave or Iridium, or whatever is probably the best privacy based one with an emphasis on retaining Manifest V2/ ublock support?
Already migrated my Firefox to Librewolf, just need to find something for Chrome, as I don't really follow the scene close.
If only Firefox would implement /some/ sort of Adblocker on iOS. I know they can because Edge does so. And yes, I'm aware that it is merely a skin on top of Safari's WebView, but any adblocker is better than none.
I wonder if Google asks them not to implement one because of the search engine deal?
I already had Manifest v2 extensions, specifically uBlock removed from Chrome. There are solutions to extend this to mid-year, and I can report that they work (search for ExtensionManifestV2Availability)
[+] [-] cpach|1 year ago|reply
[0] See https://old.reddit.com/r/uBlockOrigin/comments/1in2ls4/ubloc...
[+] [-] yuvalr1|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] brylie|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] muixoozie|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] xattt|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] 1vuio0pswjnm7|1 year ago|reply
However I do not rely on extensions/add-ons as I believe extensions/add-ons are not the right solution. Unless the computer user is compiling the browser herself, extensions/add-ons can be crippled/disabled/etc. by whomever is distributing binaries. When the distributor is supported by online advertising as is the case for both Chrome and Firefox, and all the other so-called "modern" graphical browsers, this possibility cannot be ignored.
[+] [-] klabb3|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] QuantumGood|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] deanc|1 year ago|reply
I have primarily been using Chrome up until this point as I was under the impression that performance (and therefore battery life) is bad with FF on MacOS. Recent results seem to indicate that Chrome is in fact the worst offender [1].
Yesterday I uninstalled Arc as they have all but abandoned their browser to work on some AI crap browser (after saying they planned to support manifest v2 for the forseeable future).
Today I installed Orion Browser [2]. It's using webkit under the hood and seems to be far lighter on battery life than Chrome, Arc (Blink) and Firefox. They fully support FF and Chrome extensions and therefore UBO seems to be working (on the whole) very well.
[1] https://birchtree.me/blog/everyone-says-chrome-devastates-ma...
[2] https://kagi.com/orion/
[+] [-] AndrewDavis|1 year ago|reply
> We are getting a lot of repeat questions about windows/linux/android version and sometimes it appears that users think that the team is choosing not to work on these platforms. The situation is quite different and simpler - we do not have the resources to hire a new team to do any of these platforms yet.
> And since Orion is funded by its users only, it is entirely up to the number of subscribers and Orion+ sales we have that will enable funding a new team to make Orion for any new platform. And building a browser is not cheap, especially one on top of WebKit.
> Ways you can help accelerate this is: > Contribute to Orion development with your time > Help spread the word about Orion to attract more users > Get Orion+ and financially support developmet
This is a tricky situation to be in. A lack of resources to support multiple platforms, but the solution being more subscribers. But the incentive structure is perplexing. Those supporting development going to be those already using Orion. And those not on Mac/iOS are unlikely to financially support a browser they can't use in the hopes it might one day come to a platform I use.
[1] https://orionfeedback.org/d/2321-orion-for-windows-android-l...
[+] [-] nicce|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] jamesy0ung|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] qwertox|1 year ago|reply
I believe that most say "remove" because they get removed from the plugin-bar when disabled.
I'll ditch Chrome without a second thought if they really remove it. They'll lose access to my browsing history, so I don't see what they have to gain with it. What about the ads which are blocked at network level via PiHole?
Have they even considered that PiHole might then catch on and start blocking ads on mobile devices in households which would otherwise not use it?
[+] [-] gman83|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] aryonoco|1 year ago|reply
The fact that Orion on iOS existed was a major reason I was able to this. On Android I was a Firefox user since Firefox was the only browser with the ability to run proper uBo.
Orion is not without its bugs, but it does support a lot of Firefox and Chrome extensions. But you don’t even need to install uBo as an extension,it’s got built in ad blocker with the ability to add or remove filter lists. Even without installing uBo, in terms of ad blocking, it instantly matched Firefox on Android. That I can install things such as Tapermonkey or Bypass Paywall Clean as extensions is a huge bonus.
It’s amazing how Google is pushing its early adopters and cheerleaders away by one anti user move after another.
I still wish Apple would remove some of the restrictions on iOS, allow other browser engines etc. Installing unknown software from unsigned developers on macOS is really difficult these days but still doable if you know where to look. If only iOS was the same. The potential lost revenue from loss of control would be more than made up by new people who would be brought on to the platform.
[+] [-] mk17b|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] Angostura|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] elAhmo|1 year ago|reply
It makes money almost exclusively from ads, and people want to block ads. No matter how they try to portray decisions like this - it is obvious they are moving in direction where people are unable to do what they want.
I am sure if Google from today would launch a browser, it would fail to gain traction knowing all the state of their core business and negative sentiment users have.
Let's hope Mozilla doesn't go the same route, but it seems they are also not under good leadership and are slowly loosing the trust of users.
[+] [-] Ferret7446|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] patates|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] Kye|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] forvelin|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] m4r1k|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] postepowanieadm|1 year ago|reply
LLMs are much better in searching for information than advertisement-exposure optimized google.
People are paying for LLMs, consumers are no longer a commodity.
Internet will change, maybe creators will be paid for their content? But what will happen with advertisers?
[+] [-] Traubenfuchs|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] haunter|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] zb3|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] a1371|1 year ago|reply
Funnily enough, it made me review the block lists of the extension and I realized that I could select more of them. Too early to jump to conclusions.
[+] [-] deanc|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] orphea|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] aryonoco|1 year ago|reply
It’s a fork of Firefox by some young developers from Japan who seem to have good values and ideals. It’s been my daily driver for 6 months now (on Mac, Windows and Linux).
I originally found it because I wanted to easily have vertical tabs in Firefox (without the horizontal tab bar being left over) and got tired of manually editing Firefox’s chrome.css file (which acts differently on different platforms). Floorp allowed me to do this out of the box with no dramas.
I then discovered its many other cool features and Mozilla’s telemetry and their other sneaky advertising are also disabled by default. As a Firefox fork, it of course supports all Firefox extensions including proper uBlock origin.
[+] [-] HelloUsername|1 year ago|reply
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41140185
[+] [-] unknown|1 year ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] zerof1l|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] sam_goody|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] molticrystal|1 year ago|reply
Already migrated my Firefox to Librewolf, just need to find something for Chrome, as I don't really follow the scene close.
[+] [-] OptionOfT|1 year ago|reply
I wonder if Google asks them not to implement one because of the search engine deal?
[+] [-] absqueued|1 year ago|reply
These will die if Firefox dies as well. Its a dire situation!
[+] [-] precommunicator|1 year ago|reply