11 ms·

Apple, Firefox tools aim to thwart Facebook, Google tracking

188 points by octosphere 8y ago

bogomipz 8y ago
>"Apple and Mozilla are able to push the boundaries on privacy because neither depends on advertising. Google makes most of its money from selling ads." I am curious will Google at some point push back on Mozilla's efforts here? Isn't the placement of Google search as the default search engine in Firefox a significant source of funding?
- s_dev 8y ago
  Probably part of the reason why they built and maintain Chrome. Firefox will always have a dedicated user base -- if Google want to be the default search engine on that browser they will have to pay for it otherwise services like Bing will occupy that space.
  - Chabs 8y ago
    OP's point is the other way around. They are wondering if Mozilla can afford the financial hit of not getting that money from Google anymore. If Google leaves that space, then Bing won't have real competition here, and will pay substantially less.
    - bogomipz 8y ago
      Yeah this was my question. It seem like a slippery slope for Mozilla since their patronage comes form one of the biggest sources of the behavior they are endeavoring to guard against with these features.
  - JoshMnem 8y ago
    Google also built Chrome to send people to Google Search and click on ads on the way to their destinations. That's why auto-completion in Chrome is terrible. You will often end up on Google Search rather than the destination site. The ads are now disguised so well that most people probably click on them without realizing that they are ads. Unfortunately, Firefox is now making a mistake by copying Chrome and mixing search results with URLs in one box. You have to go into the settings to re-enable two boxes (ctrl-l for URLs, ctrl-k for search).
    - bogomipz 8y ago
      >"That's why auto-completion in Chrome is terrible. You will often end up on Google Search rather than the destination site." Interesting I have noticed this lately as well. Really bad one character a second latency. This is recent-ish phenomenon no? I don't remember this ever being an issue before. >"Unfortunately, Firefox is now making a mistake by copying Chrome and mixing search results with URLs in one box" I completely agree. I wonder if this is why Google removed the home icon by default in more recent version of Chrome? If you take away the search home button there is no delineation between search and typing a URL. Is this another dark pattern?
      - JoshMnem 8y ago
        It has been like that as long as I can remember. I couldn't understand why people were falling for the "Chrome is faster" line when it was wasting everyone's time by sending people to search results instead of URLs like Firefox. Google Chrome doesn't really let you set a home page other than a Google Search box. Even if you set your home page to a specific URL, opening a new tab doesn't start you on your home page -- you get a Google Search box. Google's attempt to remove subdomains and hide URLs from users also appears to be part of a plan to force users to become more dependent on search rather than being able to go directly to destinations. Chrome is full of manipulative patterns.
- sofon 8y ago
  Isn't there relationship already problematic? https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/20/firefox-google-yahoo-mozilla https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/20/firefox-g...
  - dblohm7 8y ago
    Old news. https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2017/11/14/firefox-features-google-as-default-search-provider-in-the-u-s-canada-hong-kong-and-taiwan/ https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2017/11/14/firefox-features-go...
- abdullahkhalids 8y ago
  I wonder if Mozilla has something to offer which will let Apple fund them. Because sooner or later Google is going to dump Mozilla. Clearly, Apple has the money and they could probably get some of the regular heat off themselves by moving some of their offshore money back into the US through mozilla.
curiousgal 8y ago
Why should anyone with an adblocker installed care about tracking? I mean isn't the end goal to just serve personalized ads?
- acura 8y ago
  I would say that is the least significant part of the problem with tracking.
- Deinos 8y ago
  For now, that might be the case; however, there are a large number of more insidious uses when that data is sold to/shared with third parties (e.g. insurance companies could use that data to increase your rates or deny insurance depending on your web traffic, employers could make inferences based on your data and deny employment, banks could use the data to deny loans or charge increased rates, etc.).
- dx87 8y ago
  People should care about tracking because even though Google and Facebook may only care about serving ads, they also have to provide information in response to requests from the government. Any tracking information available to a company is de facto available to the government where the company resides, the government just has to go through the extra step of requesting it.
- mrkstu 8y ago
  Chrome sends all the text entered into your 'omnibus' back to HQ. Adblocker isn't going to help in Google wants to track you, and it does.
  - kavalg 8y ago
    Isn't this the same in Firefox as well (safe browsing protection)?
    - yorwba 8y ago
      That uses a local list of hashes, so the URL doesn't need to be sent to Google. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-does-phishing-and-malware-protection-work?as=u&utm_source=inproduct#w_what-information-is-sent-to-mozilla-or-its-partners-when-phishing-and-malware-protection-are-enabled https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-does-phishing-and-m...
davedx 8y ago
OK so now I'm considering switching my primary work browser to Safari instead of Chrome (I use Firefox for a lot of my general/personal browsing already). The one thing holding me back is development tools. Which has better devtools, Firefox or Safari? (I've tried both several times but always ended up running back to Chrome...)
- omegadeep10 8y ago
  I personally use Firefox dev tools about 99% of the time. I prefer it to Chrome. It's different from Chrome, but the performance and features are comparable, if not better.
  - wetpaws 8y ago
    I found using Firefox console and debugger so frustrating that I had to switch back to chrome
- asdkhadsj 8y ago
  I don't have an answer to your question, but I would ask: Why not use what you find best for development tools? Ie, I've switched away from almost everything Google. My phones, my email, my life. Yet, I still have Chrome installed. It has useful features, like development tools, Hangouts (for random free calls), etc. Is it worth it to purge Chrome entirely? Are we worried about Google as if they're a virus? I'm asking honestly, do we need to be concerned with even having Chrome installed? If not, then I'd argue to keep it installed and use it for the features you need from it, like dev tools. The majority of your traffic will still be on Safari or Firefox, right?
  - giancarlostoro 8y ago
    This. I keep Chrome only to test and sometimes use their dev tools though I am also productive with the ones from Firefox. They both have different things to offer.
  - sirn 8y ago
    Chrome and other Google softwares, by default will install a system-wide auto updater (Google Keystone[1]) set to run every 5 hours. The Keystone Agent cannot easily be removed, and will reinstall itself on every updates. There has also been an exploit[2] of this auto updater service. If what you need is Chrome developer's tools, installing Chromium (or building your own, for the paranoid) seems like a much better choice to me. [1]: Note that it has nothing to do with the google/keystone project on GitHub [2]: https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=1486 https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=14...
vinayms 8y ago
The biggest draw to Chrome is the dev tools. The debugger especially is on par with Visual Studio, may be better, and smooth (too smooth actually, especially the scrolling) whereas Firefox chokes 90% of the time as if it were created by novices. For instance, the break point never works, and if it does, the variable values are undefined. I am using v60 but this has been happening for many versions now. I have never faced a hiccup with Chrome. That said, I use Chrome exclusively for debugging and do general development and browsing exclusively on FF. Only if FF could improve theirs and spare us running two memory hogging browsers simultaneously. -- As for the topic, I am not sure how much of this is out of genuine concern for the users and how much is opportunistic jabs at the competitor's revenue. Will the jabs lead to hooks and upper cuts and eventual KO? IDK but it seems like we have a nice match on.
- saagarjha 8y ago
  > Firefox chokes 90% of the time as if it were created by novices Hey now, don't be mean… > As for the topic, I am not sure how much of this is out of genuine concern for the users and how much is opportunistic jabs at the competitor's revenue. I wouldn't call it a jab at competitor's revenue, but it does make good business sense to extol privacy as a "feature" of your products.
  - gxs 8y ago
    We as a crowd, as technical peeps, are really hard to please. You simply can't get it right. Track your users to oblivion? Evil, shady company. Start integrating features in your products to limit invasive tracking..it's not genuine, it's a ploy to screw other companies' revenue. I like the skepticism, but taking a step back to reflect on this nowandthen is good IMO.
- frandroid 8y ago
  I use a bare chrome for dev, and Firefox for my other browsing needs. Does the work...
- brookhaven_dude 8y ago
  > I am not sure how much of this is out of genuine concern for the users... Does it matter as long as it benefits the user?
jamespo 8y ago
When I'm logged into google I get aggressive recaptchas on other sites I can't solve, so I've moved to the google container plugin https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/google-container/?src=recommended https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/google-contai...
- bogomipz 8y ago
  Interesting, I would have thought there would be less. Any guesses as to why that is? My perception is I encounter them more frequently when browsing a VPN. I would be curious if anyone else has experienced similar. I think the pervasiveness of the Google recaptcha is one of the biggest scourges of the modern web. I understand the importance of utility of course.
  - jamespo 8y ago
    You'd think there would be less, and this is not via VPN.
  - kart23 8y ago
    Yes, captchas are broken with vpns. Sometimes, I was not even able to complete the captcha, if you click on the audio option it says to try again later because it thinks you are sending automated requests.
moedersmooiste 8y ago
What I would like is a browser plugin/extension that jails every website in it's own cookie space. That way websites(and all trackers on that website) can only read their own cookies. Is there anything like that out there?
- taf2 8y ago
  Have you tried google profiles. It’s not every website but you can for example organize your browsing habits such as social, entertainment, and work into unique browser profiles at least you can do this in chrome
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - tome 8y ago
    It seems highly unlikely that Google developed a technology that allows you to stop them tracking you.
- hrktb 8y ago
  Firefox has. It screws third party logins and integration (mainly google/facebook logins) and Google’s captchas, which will be way harder than when cookies are shared.
  - RaleyField 8y ago
    > It screws third party logins and integration Sounds like a feature to me.
  - bogomipz 8y ago
    >"It screws third party logins and integration (mainly google/facebook logins) and Google’s captchas, which will be way harder than when cookies are shared." Could you elaborate on this? Whats the connection between shared cookies and Google's captcha intenstity? Thanks.
    - 8y ago
mattferderer 8y ago
I suggest trying Brave for browsing. It already handles this very well. It lacks the great developer environment that Chrome or Firefox has. Though if you're developing, you should probably have multiple browsers open part of the time anyways...
- 1ark 8y ago
  The new development builds are built with Chromium now, so can use all the nice things that is available for Chrome.
ultimoo 8y ago
> To get the protections, you’ll have to break your habit of using Google’s Chrome browser, which by some estimates has more than half of the worldwide browser usage. Safari and Firefox have less than 20 percent combined. This point is key here. I switched to FF about 6 months ago and every time I'm showing something to co-workers they will usually remark how unusual it is that I'm not using Chrome. Chrome is the de facto engineer's browser and for good reasons to boot. Here's hoping FF catches up and becomes that some day.
- tvanantwerp 8y ago
  I switched back to FF with Quantum. It was faster and the devtools weren't noticeably different--in fact, devtools was better because of CSS grid support. I'm still disappointed by the comparably small add on ecosystem, but I haven't been tempted to switch back.
  - 43920 8y ago
    I'm not sure if you've seen this already, but if you install the "Chrome Store Foxified" addon, you can install any Chrome extension in Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/chrome-store-foxified/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/chrome-store-...
    - bogomipz 8y ago
      Interesting. Thanks for the link. How well does this addon work? Have you found the behavior and performance be pretty seamless between the two?
      - 43920 8y ago
        I've never had to use this myself (all the addons I want are already in addons.mozilla.org), but I've heard that it works pretty well in the past. (Interestingly, there are a bunch of reviews claiming the auto-download feature doesn't work anymore, so you might have to use something like http://crxextractor.com/first http://crxextractor.com/first).
wenbert 8y ago
I tried to switch to Firefox. But the biggest roadblock for me were Profiles. My Google Chrome profiles are so old and useful that I feel handicapped when on Firefox. Also, does Firefox can I have multiple profiles on Firefox now?
- JoshMnem 8y ago
  You can run multiple tab containers[1] in Firefox as well as multiple Firefox profiles[2] at the same time. On Linux, I use: alias ff='firefox -ProfileManager -no-remote &' [1] https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/containers https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/containers [2] https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Firefox/Multiple_profiles https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Firefox/Mul...
auslander 8y ago
Private Browsing windows and tabs is quite effective too, you can set to use it by default in preferences, my 2c
badrabbit 8y ago
The level of tracking they do is downright criminal. If someone makes a clear effort to avoid tracking and you track them anyways then you're a stalker. I've tried it all and I never use chrome unless I have no other choice. They track you anyways based on behavioral analysis across sites. The answer is simple: criminalize their behavior. If you think that measure is extreme then you must not be aware of how dire the situation is. You shouldn't have to go through all these hoops and even when you do it's all futile. A DNT request header should be treated as a digital court ordered restraining order,where violators get prison time(CEOs of the site). This will solve sooo many problems without eliminating targeted advertising alltogether. A balance in favor of the people needs to be established.
greendestiny_re 8y ago
These efforts are commendable but the UI developed around them, particularly the "don't allow/allow", is atrocious and a pale memory of Firefox philosophy of placing control into user's hands. Where is the additional information? Where are the choices? How is the user being tracked? Will the user have to constantly dismiss these dialog boxes? I started using FF in 2005 exactly because I felt it gave me a way to peek under the hood and customize my browsing experience. For the first time ever the software I was using was truly mine and it empowered me. I even got interested in programming because I was, for example, learning how to write and edit Adblock filters to nix that one persistent page element or using developer tools to sift through page code and extract Instagram images of bikini models. This would never have happened had my curiosity not been piqued by the notion of software made to serve _me_. Is this how Firefox is going to be from now on? Incessant dialog boxes?
- fukuwata 8y ago
  > using developer tools to sift through page code and extract Instagram images of bikini models why were you doing such a sexist thing?

188 points by octosphere 8y ago

>"Apple and Mozilla are able to push the boundaries on privacy because neither depends on advertising. Google makes most of its money from selling ads." I am curious will Google at some point push back on Mozilla's efforts here? Isn't the placement of Google search as the default search engine in Firefox a significant source of funding?

s_dev 8y ago
Probably part of the reason why they built and maintain Chrome. Firefox will always have a dedicated user base -- if Google want to be the default search engine on that browser they will have to pay for it otherwise services like Bing will occupy that space.
- Chabs 8y ago
  OP's point is the other way around. They are wondering if Mozilla can afford the financial hit of not getting that money from Google anymore. If Google leaves that space, then Bing won't have real competition here, and will pay substantially less.
  - bogomipz 8y ago
    Yeah this was my question. It seem like a slippery slope for Mozilla since their patronage comes form one of the biggest sources of the behavior they are endeavoring to guard against with these features.
- JoshMnem 8y ago
  Google also built Chrome to send people to Google Search and click on ads on the way to their destinations. That's why auto-completion in Chrome is terrible. You will often end up on Google Search rather than the destination site. The ads are now disguised so well that most people probably click on them without realizing that they are ads. Unfortunately, Firefox is now making a mistake by copying Chrome and mixing search results with URLs in one box. You have to go into the settings to re-enable two boxes (ctrl-l for URLs, ctrl-k for search).
  - bogomipz 8y ago
    >"That's why auto-completion in Chrome is terrible. You will often end up on Google Search rather than the destination site." Interesting I have noticed this lately as well. Really bad one character a second latency. This is recent-ish phenomenon no? I don't remember this ever being an issue before. >"Unfortunately, Firefox is now making a mistake by copying Chrome and mixing search results with URLs in one box" I completely agree. I wonder if this is why Google removed the home icon by default in more recent version of Chrome? If you take away the search home button there is no delineation between search and typing a URL. Is this another dark pattern?
    - JoshMnem 8y ago
      It has been like that as long as I can remember. I couldn't understand why people were falling for the "Chrome is faster" line when it was wasting everyone's time by sending people to search results instead of URLs like Firefox. Google Chrome doesn't really let you set a home page other than a Google Search box. Even if you set your home page to a specific URL, opening a new tab doesn't start you on your home page -- you get a Google Search box. Google's attempt to remove subdomains and hide URLs from users also appears to be part of a plan to force users to become more dependent on search rather than being able to go directly to destinations. Chrome is full of manipulative patterns.
sofon 8y ago
Isn't there relationship already problematic? https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/20/firefox-google-yahoo-mozilla https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/20/firefox-g...
- dblohm7 8y ago
  Old news. https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2017/11/14/firefox-features-google-as-default-search-provider-in-the-u-s-canada-hong-kong-and-taiwan/ https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2017/11/14/firefox-features-go...
abdullahkhalids 8y ago
I wonder if Mozilla has something to offer which will let Apple fund them. Because sooner or later Google is going to dump Mozilla. Clearly, Apple has the money and they could probably get some of the regular heat off themselves by moving some of their offshore money back into the US through mozilla.

curiousgal 8y ago

Why should anyone with an adblocker installed care about tracking? I mean isn't the end goal to just serve personalized ads?

acura 8y ago
I would say that is the least significant part of the problem with tracking.
Deinos 8y ago
For now, that might be the case; however, there are a large number of more insidious uses when that data is sold to/shared with third parties (e.g. insurance companies could use that data to increase your rates or deny insurance depending on your web traffic, employers could make inferences based on your data and deny employment, banks could use the data to deny loans or charge increased rates, etc.).
dx87 8y ago
People should care about tracking because even though Google and Facebook may only care about serving ads, they also have to provide information in response to requests from the government. Any tracking information available to a company is de facto available to the government where the company resides, the government just has to go through the extra step of requesting it.
mrkstu 8y ago
Chrome sends all the text entered into your 'omnibus' back to HQ. Adblocker isn't going to help in Google wants to track you, and it does.
- kavalg 8y ago
  Isn't this the same in Firefox as well (safe browsing protection)?
  - yorwba 8y ago
    That uses a local list of hashes, so the URL doesn't need to be sent to Google. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-does-phishing-and-malware-protection-work?as=u&utm_source=inproduct#w_what-information-is-sent-to-mozilla-or-its-partners-when-phishing-and-malware-protection-are-enabled https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-does-phishing-and-m...

davedx 8y ago

OK so now I'm considering switching my primary work browser to Safari instead of Chrome (I use Firefox for a lot of my general/personal browsing already). The one thing holding me back is development tools. Which has better devtools, Firefox or Safari? (I've tried both several times but always ended up running back to Chrome...)

omegadeep10 8y ago
I personally use Firefox dev tools about 99% of the time. I prefer it to Chrome. It's different from Chrome, but the performance and features are comparable, if not better.
- wetpaws 8y ago
  I found using Firefox console and debugger so frustrating that I had to switch back to chrome
asdkhadsj 8y ago
I don't have an answer to your question, but I would ask: Why not use what you find best for development tools? Ie, I've switched away from almost everything Google. My phones, my email, my life. Yet, I still have Chrome installed. It has useful features, like development tools, Hangouts (for random free calls), etc. Is it worth it to purge Chrome entirely? Are we worried about Google as if they're a virus? I'm asking honestly, do we need to be concerned with even having Chrome installed? If not, then I'd argue to keep it installed and use it for the features you need from it, like dev tools. The majority of your traffic will still be on Safari or Firefox, right?
- giancarlostoro 8y ago
  This. I keep Chrome only to test and sometimes use their dev tools though I am also productive with the ones from Firefox. They both have different things to offer.
- sirn 8y ago
  Chrome and other Google softwares, by default will install a system-wide auto updater (Google Keystone[1]) set to run every 5 hours. The Keystone Agent cannot easily be removed, and will reinstall itself on every updates. There has also been an exploit[2] of this auto updater service. If what you need is Chrome developer's tools, installing Chromium (or building your own, for the paranoid) seems like a much better choice to me. [1]: Note that it has nothing to do with the google/keystone project on GitHub [2]: https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=1486 https://bugs.chromium.org/p/project-zero/issues/detail?id=14...

vinayms 8y ago

The biggest draw to Chrome is the dev tools. The debugger especially is on par with Visual Studio, may be better, and smooth (too smooth actually, especially the scrolling) whereas Firefox chokes 90% of the time as if it were created by novices. For instance, the break point never works, and if it does, the variable values are undefined. I am using v60 but this has been happening for many versions now. I have never faced a hiccup with Chrome. That said, I use Chrome exclusively for debugging and do general development and browsing exclusively on FF. Only if FF could improve theirs and spare us running two memory hogging browsers simultaneously. -- As for the topic, I am not sure how much of this is out of genuine concern for the users and how much is opportunistic jabs at the competitor's revenue. Will the jabs lead to hooks and upper cuts and eventual KO? IDK but it seems like we have a nice match on.

saagarjha 8y ago
> Firefox chokes 90% of the time as if it were created by novices Hey now, don't be mean… > As for the topic, I am not sure how much of this is out of genuine concern for the users and how much is opportunistic jabs at the competitor's revenue. I wouldn't call it a jab at competitor's revenue, but it does make good business sense to extol privacy as a "feature" of your products.
- gxs 8y ago
  We as a crowd, as technical peeps, are really hard to please. You simply can't get it right. Track your users to oblivion? Evil, shady company. Start integrating features in your products to limit invasive tracking..it's not genuine, it's a ploy to screw other companies' revenue. I like the skepticism, but taking a step back to reflect on this nowandthen is good IMO.
frandroid 8y ago
I use a bare chrome for dev, and Firefox for my other browsing needs. Does the work...
brookhaven_dude 8y ago
> I am not sure how much of this is out of genuine concern for the users... Does it matter as long as it benefits the user?

jamespo 8y ago

When I'm logged into google I get aggressive recaptchas on other sites I can't solve, so I've moved to the google container plugin https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/google-container/?src=recommended https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/google-contai...

bogomipz 8y ago
Interesting, I would have thought there would be less. Any guesses as to why that is? My perception is I encounter them more frequently when browsing a VPN. I would be curious if anyone else has experienced similar. I think the pervasiveness of the Google recaptcha is one of the biggest scourges of the modern web. I understand the importance of utility of course.
- jamespo 8y ago
  You'd think there would be less, and this is not via VPN.
- kart23 8y ago
  Yes, captchas are broken with vpns. Sometimes, I was not even able to complete the captcha, if you click on the audio option it says to try again later because it thinks you are sending automated requests.

moedersmooiste 8y ago

What I would like is a browser plugin/extension that jails every website in it's own cookie space. That way websites(and all trackers on that website) can only read their own cookies. Is there anything like that out there?

taf2 8y ago
Have you tried google profiles. It’s not every website but you can for example organize your browsing habits such as social, entertainment, and work into unique browser profiles at least you can do this in chrome
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- tome 8y ago
  It seems highly unlikely that Google developed a technology that allows you to stop them tracking you.
hrktb 8y ago
Firefox has. It screws third party logins and integration (mainly google/facebook logins) and Google’s captchas, which will be way harder than when cookies are shared.
- RaleyField 8y ago
  > It screws third party logins and integration Sounds like a feature to me.
- bogomipz 8y ago
  >"It screws third party logins and integration (mainly google/facebook logins) and Google’s captchas, which will be way harder than when cookies are shared." Could you elaborate on this? Whats the connection between shared cookies and Google's captcha intenstity? Thanks.
  - 8y ago

mattferderer 8y ago

I suggest trying Brave for browsing. It already handles this very well. It lacks the great developer environment that Chrome or Firefox has. Though if you're developing, you should probably have multiple browsers open part of the time anyways...

1ark 8y ago
The new development builds are built with Chromium now, so can use all the nice things that is available for Chrome.

ultimoo 8y ago

> To get the protections, you’ll have to break your habit of using Google’s Chrome browser, which by some estimates has more than half of the worldwide browser usage. Safari and Firefox have less than 20 percent combined. This point is key here. I switched to FF about 6 months ago and every time I'm showing something to co-workers they will usually remark how unusual it is that I'm not using Chrome. Chrome is the de facto engineer's browser and for good reasons to boot. Here's hoping FF catches up and becomes that some day.

tvanantwerp 8y ago
I switched back to FF with Quantum. It was faster and the devtools weren't noticeably different--in fact, devtools was better because of CSS grid support. I'm still disappointed by the comparably small add on ecosystem, but I haven't been tempted to switch back.
- 43920 8y ago
  I'm not sure if you've seen this already, but if you install the "Chrome Store Foxified" addon, you can install any Chrome extension in Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/chrome-store-foxified/ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/chrome-store-...
  - bogomipz 8y ago
    Interesting. Thanks for the link. How well does this addon work? Have you found the behavior and performance be pretty seamless between the two?
    - 43920 8y ago
      I've never had to use this myself (all the addons I want are already in addons.mozilla.org), but I've heard that it works pretty well in the past. (Interestingly, there are a bunch of reviews claiming the auto-download feature doesn't work anymore, so you might have to use something like http://crxextractor.com/first http://crxextractor.com/first).

wenbert 8y ago

I tried to switch to Firefox. But the biggest roadblock for me were Profiles. My Google Chrome profiles are so old and useful that I feel handicapped when on Firefox. Also, does Firefox can I have multiple profiles on Firefox now?

JoshMnem 8y ago
You can run multiple tab containers[1] in Firefox as well as multiple Firefox profiles[2] at the same time. On Linux, I use: alias ff='firefox -ProfileManager -no-remote &' [1] https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/containers https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/containers [2] https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Firefox/Multiple_profiles https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Firefox/Mul...

auslander 8y ago

Private Browsing windows and tabs is quite effective too, you can set to use it by default in preferences, my 2c

badrabbit 8y ago

The level of tracking they do is downright criminal. If someone makes a clear effort to avoid tracking and you track them anyways then you're a stalker. I've tried it all and I never use chrome unless I have no other choice. They track you anyways based on behavioral analysis across sites. The answer is simple: criminalize their behavior. If you think that measure is extreme then you must not be aware of how dire the situation is. You shouldn't have to go through all these hoops and even when you do it's all futile. A DNT request header should be treated as a digital court ordered restraining order,where violators get prison time(CEOs of the site). This will solve sooo many problems without eliminating targeted advertising alltogether. A balance in favor of the people needs to be established.

greendestiny_re 8y ago

These efforts are commendable but the UI developed around them, particularly the "don't allow/allow", is atrocious and a pale memory of Firefox philosophy of placing control into user's hands. Where is the additional information? Where are the choices? How is the user being tracked? Will the user have to constantly dismiss these dialog boxes? I started using FF in 2005 exactly because I felt it gave me a way to peek under the hood and customize my browsing experience. For the first time ever the software I was using was truly mine and it empowered me. I even got interested in programming because I was, for example, learning how to write and edit Adblock filters to nix that one persistent page element or using developer tools to sift through page code and extract Instagram images of bikini models. This would never have happened had my curiosity not been piqued by the notion of software made to serve _me_. Is this how Firefox is going to be from now on? Incessant dialog boxes?

fukuwata 8y ago
> using developer tools to sift through page code and extract Instagram images of bikini models why were you doing such a sexist thing?