8 ms·

UBlock Origin for Safari

243 points by bijection 10y ago

raybb 10y ago
If that was a response to the comment someone recently posted asking for it to be ported to Safari than bravo for the quick response!
kfdhskafjs 10y ago
But is it better than using extensions like Wipr that used the built-in ad-blocking system?
- arm 10y ago
  Well, this is what the developer of the JS Blocker extension for Safari has to say about it¹: “Safari has a new feature called "Content Blockers" that allows for extremely efficient resource blocking on both the desktop and iOS version of Safari. As much as I'd like to incorporate this into JS Blocker, it is not feasible to do so. Using a content blocker will prevent JS Blocker from showing you exactly what's going on on a website (i.e. you won't see what's allowed or blocked.) It'll also break all of JS Blocker's "other" features, such as showing alerts within the webpage and canvas fingerprinting protection. Besides the loss of features, content blockers are limited to 50,000 rules. While this seems like a high number, it isn't enough for efficient protection and a lot of rules would need to be cut out to even run a content blocker. Until Apple eases the restrictions (or at least raises the number of rules that can be in a content blocker), JS Blocker will not be using this API.” ―――――― ¹ — http://jsblocker.toggleable.com/ http://jsblocker.toggleable.com/
  - LeoPanthera 10y ago
    The whole point of the content blocking API is to protect the users privacy. Without it, the plugin gets to see every single web page you visit, and its contents, and could do anything with that information. I've been using 1Blocker which, while not free, uses the API and seems to work very well. (And can sync your block settings with the iOS.)
    - fredsir 10y ago
      It works very well indeed!
    - stephenr 10y ago
      Agreed. Content blockers are also not executing js code for every resource the page tries to load: it's just the defined blocking rules that get processed. I'm also using 1blocker. Lacking an existing site (or time to build one myself) for sharing 1blocker packages, I've started storing them here: https://bitbucket.org/stephenreay/1blocker-packages https://bitbucket.org/stephenreay/1blocker-packages
  - Animats 10y ago
    If you're doing this with a huge number of manually maintained rules which depend on the specifics of the ad code, you're doomed to endlessly updating signatures. That's labor-intensive. It's more effective to blacklist the ad domains and then try to infer the boundaries of the ad by looking at the DOM. That's how I did it in Ad Limiter, which filters Google search results. Google changes their ad code all the time, but Ad Limiter seldom needs to be changed.
kobayashi 10y ago
Yes! Been waiting for a uBlock Origin for Safari for a while. I looked into Ellis Tsung, the listed dev, but can't find much about him. The LinkedIn profile most likely (IMO) to be his only has 35 contacts and I've never heard of his other projects listed on his personal webpage. Throwing this out here in case somebody as something to add. The most important aspect one should look for in an app (/extension) before installation is whether or not the dev is sufficiently trustworthy. Not yet sure about this individual. Also, if we're making wish lists, somebody please look into uMatrix for Safari!
- chris_wot 10y ago
  I dunno. If the source is available and has enough eyeballs, then trust in the author is still important but less so than someone providing binaries based on closed sources. As I feel Microsoft has taken a long time to learn.
  - cryptarch 10y ago
    What does Microsoft have to do with anything?
    - na85 10y ago
      Well, they created an unauditable mess of an operating system with numerous security vulnerabilities while using their monopolistic hold on the PC market to hold back better solutions. I disagree with GP's point about "enough eyeballs". Heartbleed et al showed us that bugs can lie in plain sight for years.
  - throwanem 10y ago
    No, not really. Once I install the extension, unless I do something unusual, I've signed up to automatically download and run whatever code is signed with the right key and put in the update channel. If the dev isn't trustworthy, I'm almost certainly going to be hosed before I know I have a problem. Being able to see exactly how I got hosed, after the fact, is somewhat cold comfort.
Archio 10y ago
This is fantastic news, especially if this fork is well maintained and/or gets merged upstream. Safari has the lightest battery usage and fastest speed by far of any browser on my Macbook, but it sucks that the best extensions aren't always available.
- BipolarElsa 10y ago
  >or gets merged upstream I don't understand what that means. Do you mean that it will be updated automatically on your Safari once you download it initially?
  - enzanki_ars 10y ago
    By merging it upstream, I would be updated by the creator of uBlock Origin, instead of updates coming from someone else.
  - devy 10y ago
    This repo is a fork of gorhill/uBlock. Merging it upstream means merging the changes in this fork back to gorhill/uBlock so that majority of the UO community can enjoy the Safari compatibility of UO and this fork's user base can enjoy bugfixes from the gorhill/uBlock. And as users of ad blockers, we don't end up with 2 similar but slightly different softwares. Ideally, this fork should be merged back as a PR to the original repo instead of advertising it as-is.
- rogual 10y ago
  There's a [dead] comment replying to this that seems like a perfectly reasonable, non-inflammatory question. What's going on?
  - grzm 10y ago
    Likely a banned account. If you think it's worthwhile, you can click "vouch" to reanimate it, as it were. Yup: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12869685 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12869685
- 10y ago
esturk 10y ago
Very nice. Just tried it on (www.bbcamerica.com) and it works as oppose to the regular ublock that removes google analytics and don't know how to handle getting stuck. Will definitely test it out more and report any bugs.
- wtallis 10y ago
  > and it works as oppose to the regular ublock that removes google analytics and don't know how to handle getting stuck. Is this a matter of something changed in the extension itself, or is it a difference in what filters they subscribe to by default? Far too much discussion of adblockers ignores that the third-party filters are not the same as the browser extension. Filter subscriptions are mostly interchangeable between the various AdBlock derivatives and replacements, and it's also quite possible to use them with only filters you create yourself. Also, it sounds like the Google Analytics problem you're referring to is what NoScript's surrogate scripts feature is for.
  - gorhill 10y ago
    > Is this a matter of something changed in the extension itself Probably related to the `redirect` filter option, introduced in uBO 1.4.0[1]. [1] https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases/tag/1.4.0 https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases/tag/1.4.0
dzhiurgis 10y ago
Is there content blocker for iOS that supports custom filters?
- navs 10y ago
  Quite a few. 1Blocker is one of them: https://1blocker.com https://1blocker.com
  - canuckintime 10y ago
    And you'll need custom lists for 1Blocker because it exempts some ad networks by default.
    - lmedinas 10y ago
      Which one do you recommend then ? Is Firefox Focus better ?
      - cynix 10y ago
        Firefox Focus only blocks tracking, not ads.
    - pvg 10y ago
      It exempts them on purpose or just happens not to include them? Which networks?
      - Sachse 10y ago
        The Deck isn't blocked by default, but the author provides a package you can easily download to block them as well.
        navs 10y ago
        They, being 1Blocker, have posted about this before. It's felt that The Deck is non-intrusive and therefore not something that needs blocking.
alfanick 10y ago
I've been using uBlock on Safari for quite a while now (I've got 0.9.5.2 version installed atm). I cannot find any info what is the difference between uBlock and the uBlock Origin, can anyone elaborate on this? Is the difference like between Adblock and Adblock Plus?
- madeofpalk 10y ago
  Long story short - uBlock Origin is a fork by the original developer who worked on uBlock.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - hrrsn 10y ago
    In addition, the uBlock Safari port has been dead for some time.
    - bangonkeyboard 10y ago
      Not that that's stopped the ex-maintainer from soliciting donations for it.
- delhanty 10y ago
  In addition to what madeofpalk writes, the uBlock Origin manifesto gives some context: https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/blob/safari/MANIFESTO.md https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/blob/safari/MANIFESTO.... >The uBlock project does not support Adblock Plus' "Acceptable Ads Manifesto", because the "Acceptable Ads" marketing campaign is really the business plan of a for-profit entity.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
blue_box 10y ago
It doesn't block youtube ads.
- draw_down 10y ago
  Hmm, what does?
  - mitchty 10y ago
    Ironically enough, the original ublock does on safari.
4ad 10y ago
My understanding is that this doesn't use the newish Safari content block API, am I right? What's the best ad blocker that uses the Safari content block API? I use Adguard, and it's ok, but I'd want something else. Paying money is no problem.
- simoalx 10y ago
  1Blocker is pretty well regarded right now, that's what I use.
  - 4ad 10y ago
    Thanks. I tried it, but it doesn't block youtube banners on the bottom of the videos. Adguard does. It also blocks all comments, including Hacker News comments by default??!?
    - Terretta 10y ago
      Comments are a toggle as a class, or a toggle per CSS markup; or whitelist HN.
      - 4ad 10y ago
        I'm complaining about a bizarre default (also blocks porn by default), not that I don't know how to fix it. That being said, the lack of blocking youtube in-video banner advertisements make it unusable to me, which is a pity because the UI is pretty good.
      - stephenr 10y ago
        HN comments were specifically mentioned as a fix for the latest beta via TestFlight.
    - stephenr 10y ago
      The 1Blocker beta (via TestFlight) mentions blocking YouTube banner ads now. I haven't tested it yet for that.
- 10y ago
jariz 10y ago
Is this a unofficial fork? Why is it not included with the main uBlock project?
- kencausey 10y ago
  Short version: Author of uBlock Origin is original author of uBlock and decided to hand it off. Drama ensued and original author decided to fork what had previously been his own project and continue. See https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/issues/38 https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/issues/38
isaac_is_goat 10y ago
Microsoft Edge next please?
- staticelf 10y ago
  I started looking for how to develop plugins for Edge to port it, but could not find any resources from Microsoft which is pretty strange. They simply state "Microsoft Edge supports a new HTML, JavaScript and CSS based extension model. This new model is Chrome-compatible which means that existing Chrome extension developers will be able to migrate their extensions to Microsoft Edge with minimal changes." but not how to actually add the extension or anything to get going.
  - vxNsr 10y ago
    Yeah, it looks like four now they're only doing joint official extensions. Basically you gotta work with someone at Microsoft to have your extension added to the store. Otherwise you can create a regular chrome extension and side load it, and it works like 75% of the time.
- joecool1029 10y ago
  https://github.com/nikrolls/uBlock-Edge/releases https://github.com/nikrolls/uBlock-Edge/releases Been using this for a few months. Seems to work well aside from having to turn it on manually every time I restart Edge
theWatcher37 10y ago
Great! Will this come to iOS soon?
- JustSomeNobody 10y ago
  I'm going to HN[0] you and say just use AdBlock on iOS. Works great! [0] When someone ask for one thing and someone tells you to use another without addressing the actual question.

243 points by bijection 10y ago

raybb 10y ago

If that was a response to the comment someone recently posted asking for it to be ported to Safari than bravo for the quick response!

kfdhskafjs 10y ago

But is it better than using extensions like Wipr that used the built-in ad-blocking system?

arm 10y ago
Well, this is what the developer of the JS Blocker extension for Safari has to say about it¹: “Safari has a new feature called "Content Blockers" that allows for extremely efficient resource blocking on both the desktop and iOS version of Safari. As much as I'd like to incorporate this into JS Blocker, it is not feasible to do so. Using a content blocker will prevent JS Blocker from showing you exactly what's going on on a website (i.e. you won't see what's allowed or blocked.) It'll also break all of JS Blocker's "other" features, such as showing alerts within the webpage and canvas fingerprinting protection. Besides the loss of features, content blockers are limited to 50,000 rules. While this seems like a high number, it isn't enough for efficient protection and a lot of rules would need to be cut out to even run a content blocker. Until Apple eases the restrictions (or at least raises the number of rules that can be in a content blocker), JS Blocker will not be using this API.” ―――――― ¹ — http://jsblocker.toggleable.com/ http://jsblocker.toggleable.com/
- LeoPanthera 10y ago
  The whole point of the content blocking API is to protect the users privacy. Without it, the plugin gets to see every single web page you visit, and its contents, and could do anything with that information. I've been using 1Blocker which, while not free, uses the API and seems to work very well. (And can sync your block settings with the iOS.)
  - fredsir 10y ago
    It works very well indeed!
  - stephenr 10y ago
    Agreed. Content blockers are also not executing js code for every resource the page tries to load: it's just the defined blocking rules that get processed. I'm also using 1blocker. Lacking an existing site (or time to build one myself) for sharing 1blocker packages, I've started storing them here: https://bitbucket.org/stephenreay/1blocker-packages https://bitbucket.org/stephenreay/1blocker-packages
- Animats 10y ago
  If you're doing this with a huge number of manually maintained rules which depend on the specifics of the ad code, you're doomed to endlessly updating signatures. That's labor-intensive. It's more effective to blacklist the ad domains and then try to infer the boundaries of the ad by looking at the DOM. That's how I did it in Ad Limiter, which filters Google search results. Google changes their ad code all the time, but Ad Limiter seldom needs to be changed.

kobayashi 10y ago

Yes! Been waiting for a uBlock Origin for Safari for a while. I looked into Ellis Tsung, the listed dev, but can't find much about him. The LinkedIn profile most likely (IMO) to be his only has 35 contacts and I've never heard of his other projects listed on his personal webpage. Throwing this out here in case somebody as something to add. The most important aspect one should look for in an app (/extension) before installation is whether or not the dev is sufficiently trustworthy. Not yet sure about this individual. Also, if we're making wish lists, somebody please look into uMatrix for Safari!

chris_wot 10y ago
I dunno. If the source is available and has enough eyeballs, then trust in the author is still important but less so than someone providing binaries based on closed sources. As I feel Microsoft has taken a long time to learn.
- cryptarch 10y ago
  What does Microsoft have to do with anything?
  - na85 10y ago
    Well, they created an unauditable mess of an operating system with numerous security vulnerabilities while using their monopolistic hold on the PC market to hold back better solutions. I disagree with GP's point about "enough eyeballs". Heartbleed et al showed us that bugs can lie in plain sight for years.
- throwanem 10y ago
  No, not really. Once I install the extension, unless I do something unusual, I've signed up to automatically download and run whatever code is signed with the right key and put in the update channel. If the dev isn't trustworthy, I'm almost certainly going to be hosed before I know I have a problem. Being able to see exactly how I got hosed, after the fact, is somewhat cold comfort.

Archio 10y ago

This is fantastic news, especially if this fork is well maintained and/or gets merged upstream. Safari has the lightest battery usage and fastest speed by far of any browser on my Macbook, but it sucks that the best extensions aren't always available.

BipolarElsa 10y ago
>or gets merged upstream I don't understand what that means. Do you mean that it will be updated automatically on your Safari once you download it initially?
- enzanki_ars 10y ago
  By merging it upstream, I would be updated by the creator of uBlock Origin, instead of updates coming from someone else.
- devy 10y ago
  This repo is a fork of gorhill/uBlock. Merging it upstream means merging the changes in this fork back to gorhill/uBlock so that majority of the UO community can enjoy the Safari compatibility of UO and this fork's user base can enjoy bugfixes from the gorhill/uBlock. And as users of ad blockers, we don't end up with 2 similar but slightly different softwares. Ideally, this fork should be merged back as a PR to the original repo instead of advertising it as-is.
rogual 10y ago
There's a [dead] comment replying to this that seems like a perfectly reasonable, non-inflammatory question. What's going on?
- grzm 10y ago
  Likely a banned account. If you think it's worthwhile, you can click "vouch" to reanimate it, as it were. Yup: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12869685 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12869685
10y ago

esturk 10y ago

Very nice. Just tried it on (www.bbcamerica.com) and it works as oppose to the regular ublock that removes google analytics and don't know how to handle getting stuck. Will definitely test it out more and report any bugs.

wtallis 10y ago
> and it works as oppose to the regular ublock that removes google analytics and don't know how to handle getting stuck. Is this a matter of something changed in the extension itself, or is it a difference in what filters they subscribe to by default? Far too much discussion of adblockers ignores that the third-party filters are not the same as the browser extension. Filter subscriptions are mostly interchangeable between the various AdBlock derivatives and replacements, and it's also quite possible to use them with only filters you create yourself. Also, it sounds like the Google Analytics problem you're referring to is what NoScript's surrogate scripts feature is for.
- gorhill 10y ago
  > Is this a matter of something changed in the extension itself Probably related to the `redirect` filter option, introduced in uBO 1.4.0[1]. [1] https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases/tag/1.4.0 https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases/tag/1.4.0

dzhiurgis 10y ago

Is there content blocker for iOS that supports custom filters?

navs 10y ago
Quite a few. 1Blocker is one of them: https://1blocker.com https://1blocker.com
- canuckintime 10y ago
  And you'll need custom lists for 1Blocker because it exempts some ad networks by default.
  - lmedinas 10y ago
    Which one do you recommend then ? Is Firefox Focus better ?
    - cynix 10y ago
      Firefox Focus only blocks tracking, not ads.
  - pvg 10y ago
    It exempts them on purpose or just happens not to include them? Which networks?
    - Sachse 10y ago
      The Deck isn't blocked by default, but the author provides a package you can easily download to block them as well.
      - navs 10y ago
        They, being 1Blocker, have posted about this before. It's felt that The Deck is non-intrusive and therefore not something that needs blocking.

alfanick 10y ago

I've been using uBlock on Safari for quite a while now (I've got 0.9.5.2 version installed atm). I cannot find any info what is the difference between uBlock and the uBlock Origin, can anyone elaborate on this? Is the difference like between Adblock and Adblock Plus?

madeofpalk 10y ago
Long story short - uBlock Origin is a fork by the original developer who worked on uBlock.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- hrrsn 10y ago
  In addition, the uBlock Safari port has been dead for some time.
  - bangonkeyboard 10y ago
    Not that that's stopped the ex-maintainer from soliciting donations for it.
delhanty 10y ago
In addition to what madeofpalk writes, the uBlock Origin manifesto gives some context: https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/blob/safari/MANIFESTO.md https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/blob/safari/MANIFESTO.... >The uBlock project does not support Adblock Plus' "Acceptable Ads Manifesto", because the "Acceptable Ads" marketing campaign is really the business plan of a for-profit entity.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

blue_box 10y ago

It doesn't block youtube ads.

draw_down 10y ago
Hmm, what does?
- mitchty 10y ago
  Ironically enough, the original ublock does on safari.

4ad 10y ago

My understanding is that this doesn't use the newish Safari content block API, am I right? What's the best ad blocker that uses the Safari content block API? I use Adguard, and it's ok, but I'd want something else. Paying money is no problem.

simoalx 10y ago
1Blocker is pretty well regarded right now, that's what I use.
- 4ad 10y ago
  Thanks. I tried it, but it doesn't block youtube banners on the bottom of the videos. Adguard does. It also blocks all comments, including Hacker News comments by default??!?
  - Terretta 10y ago
    Comments are a toggle as a class, or a toggle per CSS markup; or whitelist HN.
    - 4ad 10y ago
      I'm complaining about a bizarre default (also blocks porn by default), not that I don't know how to fix it. That being said, the lack of blocking youtube in-video banner advertisements make it unusable to me, which is a pity because the UI is pretty good.
    - stephenr 10y ago
      HN comments were specifically mentioned as a fix for the latest beta via TestFlight.
  - stephenr 10y ago
    The 1Blocker beta (via TestFlight) mentions blocking YouTube banner ads now. I haven't tested it yet for that.
10y ago

jariz 10y ago

Is this a unofficial fork? Why is it not included with the main uBlock project?

kencausey 10y ago
Short version: Author of uBlock Origin is original author of uBlock and decided to hand it off. Drama ensued and original author decided to fork what had previously been his own project and continue. See https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/issues/38 https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/issues/38

isaac_is_goat 10y ago

Microsoft Edge next please?

staticelf 10y ago
I started looking for how to develop plugins for Edge to port it, but could not find any resources from Microsoft which is pretty strange. They simply state "Microsoft Edge supports a new HTML, JavaScript and CSS based extension model. This new model is Chrome-compatible which means that existing Chrome extension developers will be able to migrate their extensions to Microsoft Edge with minimal changes." but not how to actually add the extension or anything to get going.
- vxNsr 10y ago
  Yeah, it looks like four now they're only doing joint official extensions. Basically you gotta work with someone at Microsoft to have your extension added to the store. Otherwise you can create a regular chrome extension and side load it, and it works like 75% of the time.
joecool1029 10y ago
https://github.com/nikrolls/uBlock-Edge/releases https://github.com/nikrolls/uBlock-Edge/releases Been using this for a few months. Seems to work well aside from having to turn it on manually every time I restart Edge

theWatcher37 10y ago

Great! Will this come to iOS soon?

JustSomeNobody 10y ago
I'm going to HN[0] you and say just use AdBlock on iOS. Works great! [0] When someone ask for one thing and someone tells you to use another without addressing the actual question.