Google ramps up its campaign against ad blockers on Chrome.
  • Google is transitioning Chrome’s extension support from the Manifest V2 framework to the V3.
  • This means users won’t be able to use uBlock Origin to block ads on Google Chrome.
  • However, there’s a new iteration of the app — uBlock Origin Lite, which is Manifest V3 compliant but doesn’t boast the original version’s comprehensive ad-blocking features.
  • vanderbilt@lemmy.world
    0·
    1 month ago

    Hopefully the DoJ case against Google includes getting bent over a barrel for abusing their position as a market maker to force their revenue model.

    • BobGnarley@lemm.ee
      0·
      1 month ago

      I always wondered about this and how all the ad blocking apps have complete access to every webpage you visit.

      • Hexbatch@lemmy.world
        0·
        1 month ago

        Yea, that is what gets me too, when I look at the blockers to use; Ad blockers have access to all keystrokes, forms and pages. They have access to my banking and other codes when I use them .

        While I am sure the more popular blockers do not abuse this, and the code most likely checked line by line. It’s still possible for a handful of mistakes to allow supply chain attacks or a dozen other things to happen.

        It worries me, so I don’t use them as extension and use security elsewhere

  • friend_of_satan@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    1 month ago

    I’d just like to reassure everybody that you can quit using Google Chrome. I switched to Firefox a year ago. You can switch to something else too. Give it a try.

    Wait, I don’t need to nudge anybody. After all the ads start invading their browsing experience I doubt anybody will need much prodding.

    • grue@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      1 month ago

      I’ve always used Firefox on every other device I own, but now I need to do something about my Chromebook.

          • Orbituary@lemmy.worldEnglish
            0·
            1 month ago

            Mull is a Firefox fork with even more privacy features. There are others that I’m sure people will chime in with.

          • Pennomi@lemmy.worldEnglish
            0·
            1 month ago

            Only on Firefox Android.

            As far as I know, Safari is the only browser with Adblock on iOS.

            • harsh3466@lemmy.ml
              0·
              1 month ago

              This is true, however, Firefox focus has a built in blocker that’s pretty good, and the Orion browser for iOS actually supports Firefox extensions (even though it’s built on top of safari), and is also pretty good. I run bothe Firefox focus and Orion with ublock on my iOS devices.

              • Eggyhead@fedia.io
                0·
                1 month ago

                I just installed Orion thanks to this post and I’m really impressed. I usually stick to safari, but I’m going to sit on this for a week and see how I feel about it.

                2 quick questions; Do you know if it’s possible to get YouTube videos to run in PiP on iOS/iPadOS? And is there a dark mode for the app’s interface?

                • harsh3466@lemmy.ml
                  0·
                  1 month ago

                  Yes, you can do pip, you need to first expand the video to full screen, then tap the screen to bring up the on screen controls, and you should see a pip button in the upper left of the video.

                  Orion doesn’t have a dark mode that I’m aware of, though it mostly respects iOS dark mode (with annoying exceptions). Though with firefox extensions, you can install dark reader, or you can install the dark reader iOS app, to get dark mode on all websites.

                  Edit: I’m not certain that dark reader iOS app will work with orion. I don’t use the app, I use the firefox extension with orion.

            • H4mi@lemm.ee
              0·
              1 month ago

              I use Firefox Focus on iOS. It blocks quite a bit without addons.

            • skuzz@discuss.tchncs.de
              0·
              1 month ago

              Also third party browsers on iOS are forced to use a janky slow WebKit WebView instead of the accelerated WebKit on Safari.

              In the EU, things are different and third-party rendering engines have been forced upon Apple, so people there may have more options.

            • maccentric@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              0·
              1 month ago

              The Orion browser has rudimentary support for Firefox extensions. UBlock origin seems to work for me. Best I’ve found for iOS

              • m-p{3}@lemmy.ca
                0·
                1 month ago

                From what I understand, it’s mostly because they’re forced to use WebKit, and building a compatibility layer to make the existing addons to work within iOS constraints on top of WebKit would need a significant amount of work.

                My guess is that Mozilla is waiting on the engine restrictions to be lifted, but so far that will only happen in the European market with their alt stores.

          • Maestro@fedia.io
            0·
            1 month ago

            Yes. You can install extensions on firefox mobile just like you can on the desktop version. IIRC it’s the only mobile browser that does this.

          • ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml
            0·
            1 month ago

            Hopefully it will break badly enough to move people past their inertia so then there can be a more serious competitor to Chrome, or maybe even multiple competitors to Chrome.

        • Mog_fanatic@lemmy.world
          0·
          1 month ago

          I tried but for some reason certain websites can’t play any videos on Firefox without buffering every like 5 or 10 seconds for a few seconds. It happens on 100% of videos on YouTube and like 50% of videos on any other website. It’s super annoying, so back to chrome I went and I guess I’ll stay until ublock bites the dust and I have to move.

          • Kallioapina@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
            0·
            1 month ago

            Thats Googles fault. Firefox has an user agent switcher -addon. Flip it there to appear as Chrome, and suddenly Youtube bufferring problems drastically lessen.

            Also if you are in EU, consider making a complaint about this assholish and anti-competetive behaviour to your country’s competition/trade authority. Also EU’s, if you feel like being an extra responsible EU citizen. These assholes at Google need to be fined to extinction.

        • Zahille7@lemmy.world
          0·
          1 month ago

          I personally enjoy Ecosia. They’re the ones who plant trees whenever you use their search engine, and while not the best, at least their mobile app has a built in ad-blocker that imo seems pretty decent.

        • arglebargle@lemm.eeEnglish
          0·
          1 month ago

          Or better still firefox focus. Ad blocking built in and it drops all the cookies as soon as you close it.

          I keep firefox on mobile for when I need to go to a trusted site, firefox focus for everything else.

          • PopShark@lemmy.world
            0·
            1 month ago

            I just wanted to drop in to say I do the same!! Especially on iOS where regular Firefox is kinda so-so (but better than Safari) Firefox Focus meanwhile is King

      • shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        1 month ago

        Easy to understand. People don’t like change.

        Despite 25 years in IT, and knowing better, I only recently switched back to Firefox. I expected a fair bit of hassle, and I won’t say the transition was seamless, but I was astounded.

        Those of us in the know aren’t doing any good circle jerking ourselves over our superior browser. We need to get our friends, coworkers and relatives engaged. And that should be easy if we contrast our ad-free experience with theirs.

        • Sir_Kevin@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          0·
          1 month ago

          On that note: Anyone wanting the same look and feel of Chrome without ads should try Brave. No add-ons or plugins necessary.

    • Jimmycakes@lemmy.world
      0·
      1 month ago

      Nobody that cares about seeing ads is still on chrome. I bet they don’t lose more than 8-10% market share in a year even that is probably super high

    • _bcron@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      1 month ago

      Firefox with NoScript is better than any adblocker I used. It blocks the ‘disable adblocker’ popups alongside ads and most sketchy shit in general

      • icosahedron@ttrpg.network
        0·
        1 month ago

        iirc some hardened firefox configs, including arkenfox, recommend using ublock ONLY. other privacy extensions like noscript aren’t worth using because ublock replicates all of their features plus more

        • Makeitstop@lemmy.world
          0·
          1 month ago

          It’s definitely more of a hassle than most people will want to deal with. But I still prefer to have it and selectively enable things as needed, because quite frankly I’d rather deal with predictable hassles of my own making than be bombarded with new bullshit every day due to ever worsening trends in enshittification.

          • webghost0101@sopuli.xyz
            0·
            1 month ago

            Tip: its not better if you know its to much hassle for most people. But dont let that stop you from posting your ideas. The more power to those that such is not a hassle.

            • Makeitstop@lemmy.world
              0·
              1 month ago

              People have different tolerances for these kinds of things. Some people never bother to even get an ad blocker. Some won’t touch settings no matter how simple. And some want to tweak and modify endlessly.

      • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        0·
        1 month ago

        You can basically use uBlock Origin as NoScript (or I think ScriptSafe? or did they change back?) if you put it into “hard mode.”

        I personally like “medium mode”. I guess I get why they hide it behind several obscure steps, but I feel like they should advertise it more. It’s a nice middle ground. Still breaks every website the first time you go there but meh. Small price to pay.

  • circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org
    0·
    1 month ago

    Firefox is a very nice experience. If you’re still hanging onto Chrome, I strongly suggest you at least try Firefox. I suspect most people have very little reason to stay with Google products.

  • echo@lemmings.world
    0·
    1 month ago

    uBlock Origin Lite, which is Manifest V3 compliant but doesn’t boast the original version’s comprehensive ad-blocking features.

    Then what is the purpose/value of it?

    • amorpheus@lemmy.world
      0·
      1 month ago

      It’s not as comprehensive, but it still blocks ads. Personally, I’ve not noticed a difference. If you are a power user with custom rules and third party lists then your experience will vary.

    • The Quuuuuill@slrpnk.netEnglish
      0·
      1 month ago

      Its able to block some ads. However, from a security perspective this basically means google chrome is no longer a web browser that should be used in a professional setting, let alone for your private and personal work

        • The Quuuuuill@slrpnk.netEnglish
          0·
          1 month ago

          100% don’t use it at home. I’m saying if you wouldn’t even use it at work (and you seriously shouldn’t anymore, its a total liability) you for sure shouldn’t use it at home

  • Kethal@lemmy.world
    0·
    1 month ago

    I used Firefox when it first came out. Google and Mozzila got into a hot race to make the best browser and they both did well. Somehow I ended up using Chrome a lot more even though I thought that by the time the race ended they were pretty even. Both were very fast and had great plugin libraries. Chrome looked nicer out of the box, but Firefox is highly customizable. Since the end of that race, Chrome has gotten worse and Firefox is about the same. I’ve switched back fully to Firefox, and the only thing I miss is the “Piss off publisher frames” plugin, that I haven’t found a replacement for. It’s a nice browser.

    • fine_sandy_bottom@lemmy.federate.cc
      0·
      1 month ago

      I switched to chrome for several years. Back then I was using Gmail and google docs et cetera. I naively thought Google were the good guys.

      At that time the chrome ui was better. As an example, Firefox still had a separate search bar and address bar, although you could search in the address bar if you wished.

      More recently I think the “nice ui” thing has tipped back towards Firefox. Chrome seems to have evolved some extra buttons.

      • zueski@lemm.ee
        0·
        1 month ago

        I have never understood the desire to combine the search and the address fields. I occasional search a url when I forget the rules for what it thinks is keyword. It just seems like a scheme to collect more data by bouncing your intended site to google and increase your reliance on them rather than being a real UI feature.

      • Billiam@lemmy.world
        0·
        1 month ago

        As an example, Firefox still had a separate search bar and address bar, although you could search in the address bar if you wished.

        The advantages of that was you could set the URL bar and search bar to different search engines. I would do a Google search with the URL bar while keeping the search bar set to Wikipedia. Eventually this feature was removed, and then the search bar itself (since there was no reason to search from the URL bar and a dedicated search bar.) It’s a feature I missed for a while, but I got over it.

        • feannag@sh.itjust.works
          0·
          1 month ago

          You know you can set up custom strings to use different searches, right? E.g. typing w: and then your search string to search Wikipedia.

          • Billiam@lemmy.world
            0·
            1 month ago

            I’m aware there are probably a hundred different ways to do what I want in Firefox, and that 99 of them are probably easier than the way I do them already. Now I just keep a Wiki tab open for when I want to search something.

      • Kethal@lemmy.world
        0·
        1 month ago

        Yeah, it’s ironic that one of Google’s selling points was that Chrome didn’t have a lot of clutter. It’s even where the name comes from. Now it looks messy. It’s no Microsoft product yet, but it’s definitely one of the ways it used to be better.

    • jay@mbin.zerojay.com
      0·
      1 month ago

      I would be on Firefox myself except that I need Webassembly that functions at a decent speed and It’s about 30-100 times slower on Firefox than it is on Chrome and hasn’t changed in yeeeeears.