18 ms·

uBlock Origin 1.41

540 points by favourable 5y ago

rasz 5y ago
>By default, at browser launch uBO waits for all filter lists to be loaded before unsuspending network activity so as to ensure web pages are properly filtered at launch. Fun Fact: uBO might wait, but Chrome DGAF and will load pages without waiting for all extensions to properly load.
mikece 5y ago
This is always the first addon/extension I add to a browse; installing uBlock is like "sudo apt update && sudo apt update -y" on a freshly installed system -- you're asking for trouble if you don't secure things as soon as possible.
- favourable 5y ago
  Indeed. I'm no stranger to creating new browser profiles for different things, and the first thing I do when setting up a new profile (in Firefox) is to install uBo. I have it turned off in one profile for sites that break when using it. For some reason, some e-commerce stores don't work with it, because of KYC BS and having them flagging you as suspicious because you're using an AD-blocker. That I can tolerate though (it's finance right?). But for the bulk of my browsing, uBo is essential.
  - ziml77 5y ago
    I turn it off when I'm buying from a site because I've had cases where the blocking interferes with the checkout. In one case recently, when I forgot to disable it, the transaction half went through. I was charged but the order was stuck pending payment and it required me contacting their support team to manually override that.
    - favourable 5y ago
      Yeah the reason I have a dedicated profile for e-commerce (with uBo not installed) is that e-commerce sometimes use an array of different domains during the checkout process, and you have to whitelist each domain which is bothersome. Best just not using uBo entirely during the process.
      - ziml77 5y ago
        I keep a Chrome install for when disabling uBlock for the main site doesn't work. Moving over to that also has the benefit of removing Firefox as a reason the checkout might not be working (I tend to assume that the only browser people test for is Chrome). I have had a few cases where even that didn't work and instead I had to switch to my phone and disconnect from my wifi to ensure that the DNS block list I use isn't the problem.
- gggfvvff 5y ago
  The worst thing is that Firefox removes all add-ons if it was not used for a while. One can disable this by setting disableResetPrompt to true, but it's annoying e.g. when you set up an ad blocker on your mom's laptop only to find it being removed a few months later.
  - harph 5y ago
    First time I heard about this - I set up uBlock on my mom's Firefox years ago, and it's still there...
  - neoglow 5y ago
    Don't get me wrong, but that implies she is not using Firefox as her daily driver. Changing the icon to, shudder, the edge icon might help and call it "Internet" and maybe she will use it. Most people do not really know, or care, that their browser is. I do this with very un - techsavvy people and install uBo and they have a fairly safe time online.
- rightbyte 5y ago
  I was setting up a workplace computer last week. It was shocking to see all the scams circulating in the adds. Especially the download scams on download pages. Next time I will change the order and install uBlock the first thing after the browser.
NotAWorkNick 5y ago
From the release notes - New - Dark mode Support for dark mode added to the Settings pane, under the (new) Appearance section: Thanks Raymond!
- favourable 5y ago
  I'm excited for this too: > A new setting in "Filter lists" pane to control whether uBO should wait for all filter lists to be loaded before unsuspending network activity.
JimWestergren 5y ago
This is uBlock Origin (the good one) and not uBlock. Info https://www.reddit.com/r/ublock/comments/32mos6/ublock_vs_ublock_origin/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ublock/comments/32mos6/ublock_vs_ub...
- favourable 5y ago
  Amended. The Github repo is named `uBlock`[0] so there will be confusion for people about which is the 'best' version (Hint: it's uBo) [0] https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock
matheusmoreira 5y ago
Thanks for your work. This is always the first extension I install on every browser I come across.
shantara 5y ago
>uBO works best on Firefox Not a fan of the recent Firefox changes, but alone makes me keep it as the default browser
- ravenstine 5y ago
  Same. I'm sad to say that Mozilla really lost its way, but Firefox is still the most libre browser I know of, thus I will continue to use it until it becomes otherwise.
  - sleepless 5y ago
    ”Lost its way“ is non-actionable and unsubstantiated criticism that reflects poorly on the person making such statement. What specifically do you disagree with? I actually feel the opposite way. Finally after years of ignoring macOS Firefox feels more at home and the UI changes make it much more pleasant to use.
    - PopAlongKid 5y ago
      "reflects poorly on the person making such statement" is non-actionable and unsubstantiated criticism.
      - unethical_ban 5y ago
        No, it isn't. The implication is "To hold oneself to a better standard, make actionable and/or substantiated statements, especially when making critical statements." People seem to shit on Mozilla/Firefox often, and often without any evidence or useful data to work with. And they often say they use Chrome instead, run by an organization that those same people would probably say is user-hostile. It's like seeing people criticize corruption in Western democratic governments and declaring they're avoiding that mess by moving to Moscow.
        ohyeshedid 5y ago
        > The implication is "To hold oneself to a better standard, make actionable and/or substantiated statements, especially when making critical statements." Ok, but defining the implications of 1st party statements to 3rd parties is tricksy business. > People seem to shit on Mozilla/Firefox often, and often without any evidence or useful data to work with. And they often say they use Chrome instead, run by an organization that those same people would probably say is user-hostile. Except ravenstine didn't do any of that, so you're applying your issues with other people to the wrong conversation. They responded with depth before you posted this. > It's like seeing people criticize corruption in Western democratic governments and declaring they're avoiding that mess by moving to Moscow. You sure you're in the same conversation as everyone else?
geoffeg 5y ago
Does anyone know of a way to run uBlock Origin as an HTTP(s) proxy? I'd really like to be able to provide uBlock Origin style functionality to mobile and other browsers on my network that can't easily run uBlock. Historically privoxy could do some of what uBlock does, but development on privoxy seems to have declined...
- imglorp 5y ago
  Pihole? I think they share some block lists.
  - freedrock87 5y ago
    Only does DNS blocking
- nix0n 5y ago
  If you have Android, the easiest way to run uBlock Origin is to install it for mobile Firefox.
  - vanilla_nut 5y ago
    Precisely. On iOS, I've recently been enjoying Hyperweb, which you can add some of uBlock Origin's blocklists to. My experience so far has been great, though I'm aware that their blocking is probably based on Safari's neutered "content blocker" API so it isn't quite as fast or efficient.
    - ASalazarMX 5y ago
      I've been very happy with the free tier of Lockdown Privacy, which blocks ads in every app, not only Safari. It creates a dummy VPN which can filter. Not as powerful as uBlock Origin, but it blocks in-app ads too.
      - vanilla_nut 5y ago
        Ah, not an option for me since I already use a VPN to access services on my home network like my pi hole. I tried Lockdown a while back, and I do remember it worked pretty darn well. But my pi hole works great, too, as far as DNS-level blocking is concerned. And it's nice to know that my network traffic is safe from my mobile provider :)
haunter 5y ago
uBlock Origin + ungoogled-chromium [1] is what I use daily. And I don't how to appreciate people who are working on these projects 1, https://github.com/Eloston/ungoogled-chromium https://github.com/Eloston/ungoogled-chromium
- computronus 5y ago
  From https://ublockorigin.com/ https://ublockorigin.com/ itself: "The uBlock Origin project still specifically refuses donations at this time, and instead advises all of its clients, users and supporters to donate to block list maintainers." As an example, I donate to https://patreon.com/blocklist https://patreon.com/blocklist . Amazingly, right now, there are only 43 patrons.
  - ents 5y ago
    I donate to oisd.nl -- the wife approved Pi-Hole DNS list that can also work with uBo.
    - tylerfontaine 5y ago
      Unfortunately, the list doesn't seem to be compatible with piHole (at least >5.0), and in searching around there's some beef between pi-hole folks and the oisd maintainer. I won't perpetuate it by posting links, but it's sad to see for sure.
      - sjhgvr 5y ago
        dbl.oisd.nl (and hosts.oisd.nl for that matter) are Pi-Hole compatible.
        tylerfontaine 5y ago
        Oh, great! Thank you :)
- pritambaral 5y ago
vanilla_nut 5y ago
Does anybody know if there's a way to donate to gorhill/uBO development? I looked through the entire README and I don't think there's any link to send $ (just a "contribute to translation" link -- what a brilliant crowdsourcing solution!). Does gorhill just do this for free because he's an amazing human being, or am I missing where I can buy him a coffee? Been trying to make a more conscious effort to donate to meaningful causes this year, and I have to say uBO is one of the strongest forces for good on the internet I know.
- favourable 5y ago
  Yeah they really need a Ko-Fi[0] or Patreon[1] link in the README IMHO. But that said, looks like they don't want donations[2] > I don't want the administrative workload coming with donations. I don't want the project to become in need of funding in any way: no dedicated home page + no forum = no cost = no need for funding. I want to be free to move onto something else if ever I get tired working on these projects (no donations = no expectations). > Have a thought for the maintainers of the various lists. These lists are everything. This can't be emphasized enough. [0] https://ko-fi.com/ https://ko-fi.com/ [1] https://www.patreon.com/ https://www.patreon.com/ [2] https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Why-don't-you-accept-donations%3F/_history https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Why-don't-you-accept-...
  - ihuman 5y ago
    The README also says they don't want donations > Free. Open source. For users by users. No donations sought.
  - josefx 5y ago
    > Yeah they really need a Ko-Fi[0] or Patreon[1] link in the README IMHO. I am quite sure that kind of nonsense lead to the Origin fork. As far as I understand the old uBlock project was taken over by a contributor who offered to manage user requests but immediately started to look for ways to monetize it and things only went downhill from there.
    - 5y ago
tiffanyh 5y ago
iOS availaiblity. Is there a reason why it's not available on iOS?
- jhickok 5y ago
  Apple is the reason. https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/issues/158 https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/issues/158
  - tiffanyh 5y ago
    So what's the best adblocker on iOS these days? Because in your link above, the alternative recommendations have now either become "un-recommended" or have massive reported performance issues.
    - ASalazarMX 5y ago
      Performance and battery life were my worries when I tried ad blocking apps on iOS. So far I've been very happy with Lockdown Privacy, which when active, consumes 5% of the battery. In exchange, I barely see ads even inside apps. If only it had as much filter lists as uBlock Origin.
    - arepublicadoceu 5y ago
      Safari + Adguard OR 1blocker OR wipr (it's not even close to ublock origin but it's the best you're gonna get on this damned walled garden) For ioswide adblock: nextdns dns profile is the best you're gonna get as well. With no battery usage as it's just a dns profile.
      - tiffanyh 5y ago
        Ironically, uBO author recommends AGAIST what you listed. See the parent link.
        arepublicadoceu 5y ago
NelsonMinar 5y ago
What a wacky industry we are in. 90% of the websites people like us build are primarily there to show us ads. And then there's this one addon maintained by one guy (and an army of helpers) for free that removes those ads and makes the web more usable again.
- schleck8 5y ago
  The addon itsself, sure, but it relies on filterlists that are moderated by a lot of people.
- progx 5y ago
  The problem are not ads. The problem is the huge amount of ads, bigger bigger bigger, animated, with sound, tracking and and and... Nobody has a problem with small decent ads without tracking, but that was not enough for big companies.
  - TuringNYC 5y ago
    For me the problem is also that you get ads even if you did pay. I pay for WSJ and Bloomberg and still get presented with ads. Whats the point?
    - wintermutestwin 5y ago
      What's worse is you get tracked even if you are paying.
  - rawoke083600 5y ago
    I HATE the 'modern-web' it is x10 worse on mobile. You usually have to wait for the trackers, ads, popups, accept-popups,newsletters signups etc. I basically cant view 60% of the webpages google recommends for me ony android mobile. The other 40% is usually just super thin seo content :/ I just finished reading the Gemini Protocol specs. I really hope something like this takes off and there will be a second 'silo/community' running alongside the modern web.
shmerl 5y ago
I guess Mozilla add-ons repo is a bit behind? It still shows 1.40.8.
- yborg 5y ago
  Firefox: Review pending Should update presently.
- dartharva 5y ago
  The update has been rejected by the Mozilla team.
  - shmerl 5y ago
    What was the issue?
    - dankwizard 5y ago
      Click the article, it's one of the first lines. But to save you the click it was due to a Chess match he played against Mozilla in '18, they are still bitter about losing
lazlee 5y ago
I find it funny that when HN loaded for me, the post below this one was "How I changed my mind about advertising." Not here - ads begone. Wuthout UblockO the net is ugly and insufferable.
- lazlee 5y ago
  Now if only somebody made a decent ad blocker for phones. I haven't been able to find one (android) that works decently.
  - gpm 5y ago
    Firefox + UBlock works great on android. DNS66 works ok for apps that aren't browsers.
  - elcomet 5y ago
    I use brave browser for the fone, it works very well. And for youtube, I use the youtube vanced app which blocks ads by default.
    - Shared404 5y ago
      For youtube on android, also see Newpipe. Only downside for my usecase is that it doesn't support chromecast, but that only comes up once in a blue moon.
      - lazlee 5y ago
        Thanks everyone. I'll check those out.
  - hoppyhoppy2 5y ago
    I use Firefox + uBlock Origin, but to block ads in other apps I also use the NextDNS app (you can set up a custom set of blocklists, including adblock lists, in your NextDNS account).
  - xigoi 5y ago
sherr 5y ago
Thank you Raymond and all others involved with uBlock Origin. It makes the internet bearable for me and other family members. Every time I use the "YouTube" app on my elderly relatives TV and see how often it is interrupted with adverts I count my blessings that this add-on exists.
- npteljes 5y ago
  I mean, YouTube at least offers a subscription that makes the ads go away. Which is not the case with the cesspool that's the rest of the internet basically. It's such a privilege that a software like this exists, and is offered for free with no strings attached.
  - kmlx 5y ago
    yes, this. but this practice is less common than i would have assumed at first. there are websites out there that even after paying their subscription they still put up ads.
    - redwall_hp 5y ago
      Hulu charges money and still interrupts shows with ads. Cable television ended up that way eventually too, despite one of the original selling points being the lack of ads. They always keep trying to take more.
    - NoPicklez 5y ago
      Youtube still put up sponsored ads unfortunately, even if premium
  - avgDev 5y ago
    The problem is YouTubers still get sponsored and advertise within the video. I would not want to pay for YouTube Premium and still get exposed to those ads.
    - post_break 5y ago
AlwaysRock 5y ago
uBlock Origin is great. If you don't have it, you should get it. I don't understand how people use the web without it.
ck2 5y ago
The minimum browser bump is important to note because of the security in versions before 1.39 https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases/tag/1.39.0 https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases/tag/1.39.0
sdze 5y ago
It is a pity that Apple decides to castrate Safari's API in such a way that uBlock Origin won't function. It is the best AdBlock out there in my opinion. Works especially well for certain dirty pages with nasty ads.
- AnonHP 5y ago
  Apple introduced content blocking in Safari in iOS 9 with privacy in mind. Essentially, content blockers started off as filter lists that Safari would use. Even with the more recent support for WebExtensions, this wouldn’t allow uBlock Origin because uBO gets to see every network request made, intercept it, match the requests with the blocking rules and prevent or allow them. Granted that uBO is trustworthy and has never siphoned off browsing behavior to other systems. But that risk exists with almost every extension of this kind on other browsers. I use Firefox with uBO, and am not supportive of Apple’s position on not allowing uBO. But I see the value in controlling what information browser extensions can see, capture and possibly exfiltrate.
_x5tx 5y ago
Ever since I heard about AdGuard Home I never looked back. I have a raspberry pi 4 serving all dns requests from every electronic at my house for 215 days of uptime now without any issues. Browsing the web seems faster and cleaner ever since.
- CamJN 5y ago
  Well, all dns except that over ipv6, DOH, DOT, software using a separate resolver hard-coded to a specific ip... The amount of work to force dns to your dns server these days is nuts. I use a pi-hole and these days I have to: - block dns advertisement of my ISP's dns server for ipv6 (which, there's no UI for that on my router so i have to edit the config by hand) - maintain a list of dns over https ips and block them in my firewall (since mitming this traffic is a huge pain) - force all traffic to port 853 to my pi and setup a masquerade for that traffic so the client doesn't know - force all traffic to port 53 to my pi and setup a masquerade for that traffic so the client doesn't know
moedersmooiste 5y ago
The first thing I install on every fresh desktop OS...
kazinator 5y ago
Block Element is a quite a useful feature of uBlock Origin. You can right click on individual things in a website's UI and make them go away using the "Block element ..." context menu command added by uBlock. This is useful for not only getting rid of ads, but anything that distracts you or tricks you into clicking on it. For instance, in Reddit, if you find yourself accidentally clicking on switching to New Reddit (which annoyingly updates your profile to make that choice stick), you can just block that button.
- arrosenberg 5y ago
  FYI, all of the things you block wind up in a text list within the settings of the app, so it's super easy to copy/paste/edit/add elements that way if you need to.
- ohyeshedid 5y ago
  Block Element is the goto where reader view fails. For a great many sites, I remove headers, footers, sidebars, etc.
- SamuelAdams 5y ago
  Yep I use this to block the stack exchange top block thing on the desktop site. I get sick of dismissing it all the time.
  - kazinator 5y ago
    Sorry, what exactly is this "top block thing", on which StackExchange site? I didn't manually block anything from these sites, but don't see any annoying block near the top. Well, the main "stackexchange.com" has a dialog-box-like element titled "StackExchange Q&A Communities are Different. Here's how:", with a bunch of content, and a [Learn More] button. You can close this with the X in the top right corner. Is this it? I guess it doesn't bother me because I've never found that site useful to begin with. The dismissible block is not actually at the top; it's below the "search all sites" toolbar, and below that block there isn't any particularly useful content, just "hot questions" and a sidebar of "featured sites". Basically nothing other than that toolbar is useful, and that toolbar could just be a tiny browser extension or something. So if I dismiss that box, no useful content moves up to occupy that space. It could bother me a bit if I were interested in browsing the hot questions, rather than search. Maybe DuckDuckGo has a shortcut for it? Hey, yes it does: !se If you use DDG, you have no need to visit stackexchange.com just to search all the SE sites; just !se in front of your search terms.
mrguyorama 5y ago
This person is aggressively against being rewarded for their selfless desire to make the internet functional, nicer, quieter, and more about the users. How many of you here instead spend your 40 hours a week making 6 digit salaries at a company that wants nothing more than to own the attention of everyone who connects to a network? How many of you have actively worked to create systems and technology to invade the screens and speakers of users who wanted nothing of the sort? How many of you have sat in meetings about "attribution" or "analytics" and lied to yourself about what you were building and what it would do to millions of people?
- cptskippy 5y ago
  > This person is aggressively against being rewarded Back when uB was transferred to a different maintainer and uBO came about, I recall reading something about this. It isn't so much that they don't want reward or recognition but rather the do not want the obligation that comes with it. Back when I maintained a couple Add-ons for Firefox there was a constant external pressure from users to fix/improve/maintain/develop the Add-on. In addition to that, the user base wants to engage and feel part of a community and interact with you. In a way it's stifling and why I eventually abandoned the Add-ons. When you start accepting recognition or donations for work you share, there's obligation tied to it. Some people don't want the obligation, it has nothing to do with virtue.
  - mrguyorama 5y ago
    The reason for their desire to not be rewarded is orthogonal to their virtue in spending their limited time and effort and resources in making the internet a better place, which IMO is virtuous. That's what I was trying to get at. What legacy are you leaving this world? Are you truly leaving it a better place than you were given?
  - WheatM 5y ago
lostgame 5y ago
Someone posted a comment I’d replied to in another thread here about iOS sideloading. They’d asked ‘why do you even need sideloading, what apps would you even need?’ I’d said ‘emulators’, but uBlock is definitely another thing I wish I could sideload onto my iPhone.
kerneloftruth 5y ago
The ublock origin creators deserve a Nobel peace prize. No kidding or hyperbole.
SkySkimmer 5y ago
I've blocked so many fixed position headers with this thing. Although tbh I should learn the filter syntax to make them position: absolute instead.
2-718-281-828 5y ago
At the risk of comming off as pathetic but it just struck my mind that Raymond probably deserves something like a Time's Person of the Year (if not Decade) award. I mean - this is the only piece of software (not exaggerating - I'm actually just realizing it now) which I consistently install everywhere and anywhere me or somebody who means something to me is accessing the internet from. We reached a point where for me and probably each one of you guys the Internet is unusable / unbearable without it! It's an integral part of the Internet now to just make it and keep it useful.
baxuz 5y ago
I absolutely love uBlock Origin. I have recently switched to AdGuard as a system-wide blocker on all my devices since uBlock will be unusable on Chromium browsers due to them blocking MV2 extensions in 2023. While still a good product, the UI is nowhere near the quality of uBlock Origin, nor are the options which are available to the user.

540 points by favourable 5y ago

rasz 5y ago

>By default, at browser launch uBO waits for all filter lists to be loaded before unsuspending network activity so as to ensure web pages are properly filtered at launch. Fun Fact: uBO might wait, but Chrome DGAF and will load pages without waiting for all extensions to properly load.

mikece 5y ago

This is always the first addon/extension I add to a browse; installing uBlock is like "sudo apt update && sudo apt update -y" on a freshly installed system -- you're asking for trouble if you don't secure things as soon as possible.

favourable 5y ago
Indeed. I'm no stranger to creating new browser profiles for different things, and the first thing I do when setting up a new profile (in Firefox) is to install uBo. I have it turned off in one profile for sites that break when using it. For some reason, some e-commerce stores don't work with it, because of KYC BS and having them flagging you as suspicious because you're using an AD-blocker. That I can tolerate though (it's finance right?). But for the bulk of my browsing, uBo is essential.
- ziml77 5y ago
  I turn it off when I'm buying from a site because I've had cases where the blocking interferes with the checkout. In one case recently, when I forgot to disable it, the transaction half went through. I was charged but the order was stuck pending payment and it required me contacting their support team to manually override that.
  - favourable 5y ago
    Yeah the reason I have a dedicated profile for e-commerce (with uBo not installed) is that e-commerce sometimes use an array of different domains during the checkout process, and you have to whitelist each domain which is bothersome. Best just not using uBo entirely during the process.
    - ziml77 5y ago
      I keep a Chrome install for when disabling uBlock for the main site doesn't work. Moving over to that also has the benefit of removing Firefox as a reason the checkout might not be working (I tend to assume that the only browser people test for is Chrome). I have had a few cases where even that didn't work and instead I had to switch to my phone and disconnect from my wifi to ensure that the DNS block list I use isn't the problem.
gggfvvff 5y ago
The worst thing is that Firefox removes all add-ons if it was not used for a while. One can disable this by setting disableResetPrompt to true, but it's annoying e.g. when you set up an ad blocker on your mom's laptop only to find it being removed a few months later.
- harph 5y ago
  First time I heard about this - I set up uBlock on my mom's Firefox years ago, and it's still there...
- neoglow 5y ago
  Don't get me wrong, but that implies she is not using Firefox as her daily driver. Changing the icon to, shudder, the edge icon might help and call it "Internet" and maybe she will use it. Most people do not really know, or care, that their browser is. I do this with very un - techsavvy people and install uBo and they have a fairly safe time online.
rightbyte 5y ago
I was setting up a workplace computer last week. It was shocking to see all the scams circulating in the adds. Especially the download scams on download pages. Next time I will change the order and install uBlock the first thing after the browser.

NotAWorkNick 5y ago

From the release notes - New - Dark mode Support for dark mode added to the Settings pane, under the (new) Appearance section: Thanks Raymond!

favourable 5y ago
I'm excited for this too: > A new setting in "Filter lists" pane to control whether uBO should wait for all filter lists to be loaded before unsuspending network activity.

JimWestergren 5y ago

This is uBlock Origin (the good one) and not uBlock. Info https://www.reddit.com/r/ublock/comments/32mos6/ublock_vs_ublock_origin/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ublock/comments/32mos6/ublock_vs_ub...

favourable 5y ago
Amended. The Github repo is named `uBlock`[0] so there will be confusion for people about which is the 'best' version (Hint: it's uBo) [0] https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock

matheusmoreira 5y ago

Thanks for your work. This is always the first extension I install on every browser I come across.

shantara 5y ago

>uBO works best on Firefox Not a fan of the recent Firefox changes, but alone makes me keep it as the default browser

ravenstine 5y ago
Same. I'm sad to say that Mozilla really lost its way, but Firefox is still the most libre browser I know of, thus I will continue to use it until it becomes otherwise.
- sleepless 5y ago
  ”Lost its way“ is non-actionable and unsubstantiated criticism that reflects poorly on the person making such statement. What specifically do you disagree with? I actually feel the opposite way. Finally after years of ignoring macOS Firefox feels more at home and the UI changes make it much more pleasant to use.
  - PopAlongKid 5y ago
    "reflects poorly on the person making such statement" is non-actionable and unsubstantiated criticism.
    - unethical_ban 5y ago
      No, it isn't. The implication is "To hold oneself to a better standard, make actionable and/or substantiated statements, especially when making critical statements." People seem to shit on Mozilla/Firefox often, and often without any evidence or useful data to work with. And they often say they use Chrome instead, run by an organization that those same people would probably say is user-hostile. It's like seeing people criticize corruption in Western democratic governments and declaring they're avoiding that mess by moving to Moscow.
      - ohyeshedid 5y ago
        > The implication is "To hold oneself to a better standard, make actionable and/or substantiated statements, especially when making critical statements." Ok, but defining the implications of 1st party statements to 3rd parties is tricksy business. > People seem to shit on Mozilla/Firefox often, and often without any evidence or useful data to work with. And they often say they use Chrome instead, run by an organization that those same people would probably say is user-hostile. Except ravenstine didn't do any of that, so you're applying your issues with other people to the wrong conversation. They responded with depth before you posted this. > It's like seeing people criticize corruption in Western democratic governments and declaring they're avoiding that mess by moving to Moscow. You sure you're in the same conversation as everyone else?

geoffeg 5y ago

Does anyone know of a way to run uBlock Origin as an HTTP(s) proxy? I'd really like to be able to provide uBlock Origin style functionality to mobile and other browsers on my network that can't easily run uBlock. Historically privoxy could do some of what uBlock does, but development on privoxy seems to have declined...

imglorp 5y ago
Pihole? I think they share some block lists.
- freedrock87 5y ago
  Only does DNS blocking
nix0n 5y ago
If you have Android, the easiest way to run uBlock Origin is to install it for mobile Firefox.
- vanilla_nut 5y ago
  Precisely. On iOS, I've recently been enjoying Hyperweb, which you can add some of uBlock Origin's blocklists to. My experience so far has been great, though I'm aware that their blocking is probably based on Safari's neutered "content blocker" API so it isn't quite as fast or efficient.
  - ASalazarMX 5y ago
    I've been very happy with the free tier of Lockdown Privacy, which blocks ads in every app, not only Safari. It creates a dummy VPN which can filter. Not as powerful as uBlock Origin, but it blocks in-app ads too.
    - vanilla_nut 5y ago
      Ah, not an option for me since I already use a VPN to access services on my home network like my pi hole. I tried Lockdown a while back, and I do remember it worked pretty darn well. But my pi hole works great, too, as far as DNS-level blocking is concerned. And it's nice to know that my network traffic is safe from my mobile provider :)

haunter 5y ago

uBlock Origin + ungoogled-chromium [1] is what I use daily. And I don't how to appreciate people who are working on these projects 1, https://github.com/Eloston/ungoogled-chromium https://github.com/Eloston/ungoogled-chromium

computronus 5y ago
From https://ublockorigin.com/ https://ublockorigin.com/ itself: "The uBlock Origin project still specifically refuses donations at this time, and instead advises all of its clients, users and supporters to donate to block list maintainers." As an example, I donate to https://patreon.com/blocklist https://patreon.com/blocklist . Amazingly, right now, there are only 43 patrons.
- ents 5y ago
  I donate to oisd.nl -- the wife approved Pi-Hole DNS list that can also work with uBo.
  - tylerfontaine 5y ago
    Unfortunately, the list doesn't seem to be compatible with piHole (at least >5.0), and in searching around there's some beef between pi-hole folks and the oisd maintainer. I won't perpetuate it by posting links, but it's sad to see for sure.
    - sjhgvr 5y ago
      dbl.oisd.nl (and hosts.oisd.nl for that matter) are Pi-Hole compatible.
      - tylerfontaine 5y ago
        Oh, great! Thank you :)
pritambaral 5y ago

vanilla_nut 5y ago

Does anybody know if there's a way to donate to gorhill/uBO development? I looked through the entire README and I don't think there's any link to send $ (just a "contribute to translation" link -- what a brilliant crowdsourcing solution!). Does gorhill just do this for free because he's an amazing human being, or am I missing where I can buy him a coffee? Been trying to make a more conscious effort to donate to meaningful causes this year, and I have to say uBO is one of the strongest forces for good on the internet I know.

favourable 5y ago
Yeah they really need a Ko-Fi[0] or Patreon[1] link in the README IMHO. But that said, looks like they don't want donations[2] > I don't want the administrative workload coming with donations. I don't want the project to become in need of funding in any way: no dedicated home page + no forum = no cost = no need for funding. I want to be free to move onto something else if ever I get tired working on these projects (no donations = no expectations). > Have a thought for the maintainers of the various lists. These lists are everything. This can't be emphasized enough. [0] https://ko-fi.com/ https://ko-fi.com/ [1] https://www.patreon.com/ https://www.patreon.com/ [2] https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Why-don't-you-accept-donations%3F/_history https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Why-don't-you-accept-...
- ihuman 5y ago
  The README also says they don't want donations > Free. Open source. For users by users. No donations sought.
- josefx 5y ago
  > Yeah they really need a Ko-Fi[0] or Patreon[1] link in the README IMHO. I am quite sure that kind of nonsense lead to the Origin fork. As far as I understand the old uBlock project was taken over by a contributor who offered to manage user requests but immediately started to look for ways to monetize it and things only went downhill from there.
  - 5y ago

tiffanyh 5y ago

iOS availaiblity. Is there a reason why it's not available on iOS?

jhickok 5y ago
Apple is the reason. https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/issues/158 https://github.com/el1t/uBlock-Safari/issues/158
- tiffanyh 5y ago
  So what's the best adblocker on iOS these days? Because in your link above, the alternative recommendations have now either become "un-recommended" or have massive reported performance issues.
  - ASalazarMX 5y ago
    Performance and battery life were my worries when I tried ad blocking apps on iOS. So far I've been very happy with Lockdown Privacy, which when active, consumes 5% of the battery. In exchange, I barely see ads even inside apps. If only it had as much filter lists as uBlock Origin.
  - arepublicadoceu 5y ago
    Safari + Adguard OR 1blocker OR wipr (it's not even close to ublock origin but it's the best you're gonna get on this damned walled garden) For ioswide adblock: nextdns dns profile is the best you're gonna get as well. With no battery usage as it's just a dns profile.
    - tiffanyh 5y ago
      Ironically, uBO author recommends AGAIST what you listed. See the parent link.
      - arepublicadoceu 5y ago

NelsonMinar 5y ago

What a wacky industry we are in. 90% of the websites people like us build are primarily there to show us ads. And then there's this one addon maintained by one guy (and an army of helpers) for free that removes those ads and makes the web more usable again.

schleck8 5y ago
The addon itsself, sure, but it relies on filterlists that are moderated by a lot of people.
progx 5y ago
The problem are not ads. The problem is the huge amount of ads, bigger bigger bigger, animated, with sound, tracking and and and... Nobody has a problem with small decent ads without tracking, but that was not enough for big companies.
- TuringNYC 5y ago
  For me the problem is also that you get ads even if you did pay. I pay for WSJ and Bloomberg and still get presented with ads. Whats the point?
  - wintermutestwin 5y ago
    What's worse is you get tracked even if you are paying.
- rawoke083600 5y ago
  I HATE the 'modern-web' it is x10 worse on mobile. You usually have to wait for the trackers, ads, popups, accept-popups,newsletters signups etc. I basically cant view 60% of the webpages google recommends for me ony android mobile. The other 40% is usually just super thin seo content :/ I just finished reading the Gemini Protocol specs. I really hope something like this takes off and there will be a second 'silo/community' running alongside the modern web.

shmerl 5y ago

I guess Mozilla add-ons repo is a bit behind? It still shows 1.40.8.

yborg 5y ago
Firefox: Review pending Should update presently.
dartharva 5y ago
The update has been rejected by the Mozilla team.
- shmerl 5y ago
  What was the issue?
  - dankwizard 5y ago
    Click the article, it's one of the first lines. But to save you the click it was due to a Chess match he played against Mozilla in '18, they are still bitter about losing

lazlee 5y ago

I find it funny that when HN loaded for me, the post below this one was "How I changed my mind about advertising." Not here - ads begone. Wuthout UblockO the net is ugly and insufferable.

lazlee 5y ago
Now if only somebody made a decent ad blocker for phones. I haven't been able to find one (android) that works decently.
- gpm 5y ago
  Firefox + UBlock works great on android. DNS66 works ok for apps that aren't browsers.
- elcomet 5y ago
  I use brave browser for the fone, it works very well. And for youtube, I use the youtube vanced app which blocks ads by default.
  - Shared404 5y ago
    For youtube on android, also see Newpipe. Only downside for my usecase is that it doesn't support chromecast, but that only comes up once in a blue moon.
    - lazlee 5y ago
      Thanks everyone. I'll check those out.
- hoppyhoppy2 5y ago
  I use Firefox + uBlock Origin, but to block ads in other apps I also use the NextDNS app (you can set up a custom set of blocklists, including adblock lists, in your NextDNS account).
- xigoi 5y ago

sherr 5y ago

Thank you Raymond and all others involved with uBlock Origin. It makes the internet bearable for me and other family members. Every time I use the "YouTube" app on my elderly relatives TV and see how often it is interrupted with adverts I count my blessings that this add-on exists.

npteljes 5y ago
I mean, YouTube at least offers a subscription that makes the ads go away. Which is not the case with the cesspool that's the rest of the internet basically. It's such a privilege that a software like this exists, and is offered for free with no strings attached.
- kmlx 5y ago
  yes, this. but this practice is less common than i would have assumed at first. there are websites out there that even after paying their subscription they still put up ads.
  - redwall_hp 5y ago
    Hulu charges money and still interrupts shows with ads. Cable television ended up that way eventually too, despite one of the original selling points being the lack of ads. They always keep trying to take more.
  - NoPicklez 5y ago
    Youtube still put up sponsored ads unfortunately, even if premium
- avgDev 5y ago
  The problem is YouTubers still get sponsored and advertise within the video. I would not want to pay for YouTube Premium and still get exposed to those ads.
  - post_break 5y ago

AlwaysRock 5y ago

uBlock Origin is great. If you don't have it, you should get it. I don't understand how people use the web without it.

ck2 5y ago

The minimum browser bump is important to note because of the security in versions before 1.39 https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases/tag/1.39.0 https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases/tag/1.39.0

sdze 5y ago

It is a pity that Apple decides to castrate Safari's API in such a way that uBlock Origin won't function. It is the best AdBlock out there in my opinion. Works especially well for certain dirty pages with nasty ads.

AnonHP 5y ago
Apple introduced content blocking in Safari in iOS 9 with privacy in mind. Essentially, content blockers started off as filter lists that Safari would use. Even with the more recent support for WebExtensions, this wouldn’t allow uBlock Origin because uBO gets to see every network request made, intercept it, match the requests with the blocking rules and prevent or allow them. Granted that uBO is trustworthy and has never siphoned off browsing behavior to other systems. But that risk exists with almost every extension of this kind on other browsers. I use Firefox with uBO, and am not supportive of Apple’s position on not allowing uBO. But I see the value in controlling what information browser extensions can see, capture and possibly exfiltrate.

_x5tx 5y ago

Ever since I heard about AdGuard Home I never looked back. I have a raspberry pi 4 serving all dns requests from every electronic at my house for 215 days of uptime now without any issues. Browsing the web seems faster and cleaner ever since.

CamJN 5y ago
Well, all dns except that over ipv6, DOH, DOT, software using a separate resolver hard-coded to a specific ip... The amount of work to force dns to your dns server these days is nuts. I use a pi-hole and these days I have to: - block dns advertisement of my ISP's dns server for ipv6 (which, there's no UI for that on my router so i have to edit the config by hand) - maintain a list of dns over https ips and block them in my firewall (since mitming this traffic is a huge pain) - force all traffic to port 853 to my pi and setup a masquerade for that traffic so the client doesn't know - force all traffic to port 53 to my pi and setup a masquerade for that traffic so the client doesn't know

moedersmooiste 5y ago

The first thing I install on every fresh desktop OS...

kazinator 5y ago

Block Element is a quite a useful feature of uBlock Origin. You can right click on individual things in a website's UI and make them go away using the "Block element ..." context menu command added by uBlock. This is useful for not only getting rid of ads, but anything that distracts you or tricks you into clicking on it. For instance, in Reddit, if you find yourself accidentally clicking on switching to New Reddit (which annoyingly updates your profile to make that choice stick), you can just block that button.

arrosenberg 5y ago
FYI, all of the things you block wind up in a text list within the settings of the app, so it's super easy to copy/paste/edit/add elements that way if you need to.
ohyeshedid 5y ago
Block Element is the goto where reader view fails. For a great many sites, I remove headers, footers, sidebars, etc.
SamuelAdams 5y ago
Yep I use this to block the stack exchange top block thing on the desktop site. I get sick of dismissing it all the time.
- kazinator 5y ago
  Sorry, what exactly is this "top block thing", on which StackExchange site? I didn't manually block anything from these sites, but don't see any annoying block near the top. Well, the main "stackexchange.com" has a dialog-box-like element titled "StackExchange Q&A Communities are Different. Here's how:", with a bunch of content, and a [Learn More] button. You can close this with the X in the top right corner. Is this it? I guess it doesn't bother me because I've never found that site useful to begin with. The dismissible block is not actually at the top; it's below the "search all sites" toolbar, and below that block there isn't any particularly useful content, just "hot questions" and a sidebar of "featured sites". Basically nothing other than that toolbar is useful, and that toolbar could just be a tiny browser extension or something. So if I dismiss that box, no useful content moves up to occupy that space. It could bother me a bit if I were interested in browsing the hot questions, rather than search. Maybe DuckDuckGo has a shortcut for it? Hey, yes it does: !se If you use DDG, you have no need to visit stackexchange.com just to search all the SE sites; just !se in front of your search terms.

mrguyorama 5y ago

This person is aggressively against being rewarded for their selfless desire to make the internet functional, nicer, quieter, and more about the users. How many of you here instead spend your 40 hours a week making 6 digit salaries at a company that wants nothing more than to own the attention of everyone who connects to a network? How many of you have actively worked to create systems and technology to invade the screens and speakers of users who wanted nothing of the sort? How many of you have sat in meetings about "attribution" or "analytics" and lied to yourself about what you were building and what it would do to millions of people?

cptskippy 5y ago
> This person is aggressively against being rewarded Back when uB was transferred to a different maintainer and uBO came about, I recall reading something about this. It isn't so much that they don't want reward or recognition but rather the do not want the obligation that comes with it. Back when I maintained a couple Add-ons for Firefox there was a constant external pressure from users to fix/improve/maintain/develop the Add-on. In addition to that, the user base wants to engage and feel part of a community and interact with you. In a way it's stifling and why I eventually abandoned the Add-ons. When you start accepting recognition or donations for work you share, there's obligation tied to it. Some people don't want the obligation, it has nothing to do with virtue.
- mrguyorama 5y ago
  The reason for their desire to not be rewarded is orthogonal to their virtue in spending their limited time and effort and resources in making the internet a better place, which IMO is virtuous. That's what I was trying to get at. What legacy are you leaving this world? Are you truly leaving it a better place than you were given?
- WheatM 5y ago

lostgame 5y ago

Someone posted a comment I’d replied to in another thread here about iOS sideloading. They’d asked ‘why do you even need sideloading, what apps would you even need?’ I’d said ‘emulators’, but uBlock is definitely another thing I wish I could sideload onto my iPhone.

kerneloftruth 5y ago

The ublock origin creators deserve a Nobel peace prize. No kidding or hyperbole.

SkySkimmer 5y ago

I've blocked so many fixed position headers with this thing. Although tbh I should learn the filter syntax to make them position: absolute instead.

2-718-281-828 5y ago

At the risk of comming off as pathetic but it just struck my mind that Raymond probably deserves something like a Time's Person of the Year (if not Decade) award. I mean - this is the only piece of software (not exaggerating - I'm actually just realizing it now) which I consistently install everywhere and anywhere me or somebody who means something to me is accessing the internet from. We reached a point where for me and probably each one of you guys the Internet is unusable / unbearable without it! It's an integral part of the Internet now to just make it and keep it useful.

baxuz 5y ago

I absolutely love uBlock Origin. I have recently switched to AdGuard as a system-wide blocker on all my devices since uBlock will be unusable on Chromium browsers due to them blocking MV2 extensions in 2023. While still a good product, the UI is nowhere near the quality of uBlock Origin, nor are the options which are available to the user.