6 ms·

I wish gorhill would make a Safari content-blocker version of ublock. None of the existing blockers (who mostly just package existing block lists and charge mon

by tpush 8y ago

I wish gorhill would make a Safari content-blocker version of ublock. None of the existing blockers (who mostly just package existing block lists and charge money for it..) work as well as uBlock IME.

radicaldreamer 8y ago
There's a fantastic fork/port available: https://safari-extensions.apple.com/details/?id=com.el1t.uBlock-3NU33NW2M3 https://safari-extensions.apple.com/details/?id=com.el1t.uBl... It's not a content-blocker version, but it's a port of Chrome version.
- bangonkeyboard 8y ago
  This point release is broken [0], the maintainer has disappeared [1], and Safari will kill it shortly [2]. [0]: https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/issues/122 https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/issues/122 [1]: https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/issues/130 https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/issues/130 [2]: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariextensions https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariextensions
grawlinson 8y ago
Unfortunately, all Safari releases going forward (12 onwards) are removing APIs that allow uBlock Origin to do what it does. Apple are basically neutering _all_ blockers, unfortunately. I don't know if they're planning on filling the void though.
- happybuy 8y ago
  The reason these APIs are being removed are to improve the privacy of users. Apple recommends all adblock extensions now use the content blocking API which is superior from a user privacy perspective. When using the content blocker apis, the extension cannot view or read which web pages are visited. Prior extension APIs had full access to browsing history (which obviously can be easily abused). The content blocker API is different but does allow full featured and sophisticated adblockers. I know because I create one which is very efficient, effective and free - Magic Lasso Adblock (https://www.magiclasso.co/ https://www.magiclasso.co/)
  - kkarakk 8y ago
    as usual apple doing weird things that only people deeply invested in their platform will bother learning.
    - saagarjha 8y ago
      While Apple has been guilty of this, but I think in this case this has actually improved their platform. I’d really like for the API they are proposing become a web standard, but unfortunately I doubt it would ever do so…
  - Karunamon 8y ago
    Except that API kills one of the main use cases - live blocking annoying stuff that's already on the page. Apple's gimped API, as far as I can tell, offers no way with the user to interact with the plugin. Meaning that if the blocker misses something (and it will), I have no way to deal with it. This "privacy" canard is just Apple being Apple and punishing users in the name of full control. The #1 and #2 most used adblockers by everyone have no legitimate privacy concerns.
    - snaky 8y ago
      That's Apple's model - users cannot make their own decisions.
- Hoasi 8y ago
  > Unfortunately, all Safari releases going forward (12 onwards) are removing APIs that allow uBlock Origin to do what it does. This is extremely disappointing. There are "Apple-approved" blockers on the App Store but none is as efficient as uBlock Origin, they also lack transparency.
  - happybuy 8y ago
    App Store blockers can be and in some cases are as efficient as uBlock Origin. Many are likely more efficient as the blocking is implemented directly by Safari using optimised content blocking rules that are executed by native code (as opposed to Javascript execution as per UBlock Origin). When compiling the content blocking rules, Safari also ensures the rules fit within reasonable execution limits to ensure there is absolutely no speed decrease due to blocking. If the rules are excessive, they are rejected by Safari. In terms of effectiveness, yes there is variability between different blockers. We are the creators of one blocker for iOS and Mac and have found that it is extremely effective and in tests we've done provides a 2x speed-up on web page loading and rendering speed (for the top news and media sites we tested) https://www.magiclasso.co/insights/difference-adblocking/ https://www.magiclasso.co/insights/difference-adblocking/
    - iagooar 8y ago
      Big fan of 1blocker! It works just perfectly. I think that Apple has created a really nice concept for adblocking. They leverage native performance with enough flexibility for 3rd parties. Plus, the privacy aspect is great.
    - zwaps 8y ago
      HN is full of advertising posts now... Buddy, your product is not fully featured. In ublock, you can click and block individual elements or domains, in your product,the feature to whitelist any site is even a beta feature... And your app costs money, because the free version doesnt offer all blocking lists. It also seems like i can not use my own lists, or language specific lists. Btw, where can we download your content lists to make sure you do not just resell free, community driven lists? So thanks for promoting Safaris terrible adblocker framework with a paid product that is lightyears inferior to the free Ublock we are discussing here.
- saagarjha 8y ago
  This is not quite true; what Apple has done is deprecate the old extension API (which has not been removed yet! You can still install these extensions from the Safari Extension Gallery in Safari 12, and will be able to do so until some unspecified point in the future which is extremely likely to be next year), which is what uBlock Origin was written using. Apple would like extensions to move to an app extension based model, which while lacking some API is not actually missing anything that uBlock Origin needs to function to my knowledge, which is to say that an enterprising individual is free to port uBlock Origin almost unchanged to this new model. However, as of iOS 9, Apple has provided a new model for blocking ads: the content blocking API, which relies on lists of filters that the browser applies automatically. This is meant to replace an extension running JavaScript on your page to do the same thing, which means that blocking is faster and doesn't mean you have to trust the extension author to make sure they're not doing anything malicious.
arbol 8y ago
Use a different browser?
slowmotiony 8y ago
Do you mean on iOS? I find that AdGuard works pretty good and uses pretty much the same lists as uBlock anyway.

by tpush 8y ago

radicaldreamer 8y ago

There's a fantastic fork/port available: https://safari-extensions.apple.com/details/?id=com.el1t.uBlock-3NU33NW2M3 https://safari-extensions.apple.com/details/?id=com.el1t.uBl... It's not a content-blocker version, but it's a port of Chrome version.

bangonkeyboard 8y ago
This point release is broken [0], the maintainer has disappeared [1], and Safari will kill it shortly [2]. [0]: https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/issues/122 https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/issues/122 [1]: https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/issues/130 https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/issues/130 [2]: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariextensions https://developer.apple.com/documentation/safariextensions

grawlinson 8y ago

Unfortunately, all Safari releases going forward (12 onwards) are removing APIs that allow uBlock Origin to do what it does. Apple are basically neutering _all_ blockers, unfortunately. I don't know if they're planning on filling the void though.

happybuy 8y ago
The reason these APIs are being removed are to improve the privacy of users. Apple recommends all adblock extensions now use the content blocking API which is superior from a user privacy perspective. When using the content blocker apis, the extension cannot view or read which web pages are visited. Prior extension APIs had full access to browsing history (which obviously can be easily abused). The content blocker API is different but does allow full featured and sophisticated adblockers. I know because I create one which is very efficient, effective and free - Magic Lasso Adblock (https://www.magiclasso.co/ https://www.magiclasso.co/)
- kkarakk 8y ago
  as usual apple doing weird things that only people deeply invested in their platform will bother learning.
  - saagarjha 8y ago
    While Apple has been guilty of this, but I think in this case this has actually improved their platform. I’d really like for the API they are proposing become a web standard, but unfortunately I doubt it would ever do so…
- Karunamon 8y ago
  Except that API kills one of the main use cases - live blocking annoying stuff that's already on the page. Apple's gimped API, as far as I can tell, offers no way with the user to interact with the plugin. Meaning that if the blocker misses something (and it will), I have no way to deal with it. This "privacy" canard is just Apple being Apple and punishing users in the name of full control. The #1 and #2 most used adblockers by everyone have no legitimate privacy concerns.
  - snaky 8y ago
    That's Apple's model - users cannot make their own decisions.
Hoasi 8y ago
> Unfortunately, all Safari releases going forward (12 onwards) are removing APIs that allow uBlock Origin to do what it does. This is extremely disappointing. There are "Apple-approved" blockers on the App Store but none is as efficient as uBlock Origin, they also lack transparency.
- happybuy 8y ago
  App Store blockers can be and in some cases are as efficient as uBlock Origin. Many are likely more efficient as the blocking is implemented directly by Safari using optimised content blocking rules that are executed by native code (as opposed to Javascript execution as per UBlock Origin). When compiling the content blocking rules, Safari also ensures the rules fit within reasonable execution limits to ensure there is absolutely no speed decrease due to blocking. If the rules are excessive, they are rejected by Safari. In terms of effectiveness, yes there is variability between different blockers. We are the creators of one blocker for iOS and Mac and have found that it is extremely effective and in tests we've done provides a 2x speed-up on web page loading and rendering speed (for the top news and media sites we tested) https://www.magiclasso.co/insights/difference-adblocking/ https://www.magiclasso.co/insights/difference-adblocking/
  - iagooar 8y ago
    Big fan of 1blocker! It works just perfectly. I think that Apple has created a really nice concept for adblocking. They leverage native performance with enough flexibility for 3rd parties. Plus, the privacy aspect is great.
  - zwaps 8y ago
    HN is full of advertising posts now... Buddy, your product is not fully featured. In ublock, you can click and block individual elements or domains, in your product,the feature to whitelist any site is even a beta feature... And your app costs money, because the free version doesnt offer all blocking lists. It also seems like i can not use my own lists, or language specific lists. Btw, where can we download your content lists to make sure you do not just resell free, community driven lists? So thanks for promoting Safaris terrible adblocker framework with a paid product that is lightyears inferior to the free Ublock we are discussing here.
saagarjha 8y ago
This is not quite true; what Apple has done is deprecate the old extension API (which has not been removed yet! You can still install these extensions from the Safari Extension Gallery in Safari 12, and will be able to do so until some unspecified point in the future which is extremely likely to be next year), which is what uBlock Origin was written using. Apple would like extensions to move to an app extension based model, which while lacking some API is not actually missing anything that uBlock Origin needs to function to my knowledge, which is to say that an enterprising individual is free to port uBlock Origin almost unchanged to this new model. However, as of iOS 9, Apple has provided a new model for blocking ads: the content blocking API, which relies on lists of filters that the browser applies automatically. This is meant to replace an extension running JavaScript on your page to do the same thing, which means that blocking is faster and doesn't mean you have to trust the extension author to make sure they're not doing anything malicious.

arbol 8y ago

Use a different browser?

slowmotiony 8y ago

Do you mean on iOS? I find that AdGuard works pretty good and uses pretty much the same lists as uBlock anyway.