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It’s not just WebKit. Devs can’t extent WebKit very much. Orion is trying but they’ve barely gotten anything done on the iOS extension side. There are limitatio

It’s not just WebKit. Devs can’t extent WebKit very much. Orion is trying but they’ve barely gotten anything done on the iOS extension side. There are limitations on what you can do by linking into the iOS web browser API, it seems. I recently switched to Mac with great success. So I decided to try out the iPhone. I hadn’t used one for years and I was sick of Android. I’m still no great fan of Android. And so many little things are better on iOS. However, the SINGLE BIGGEST THING is absolutely broken. Browsing on iOS is unusable if you’re used to uBlock Origin. I can run that on Fennec/Firefox. I cannot do so on iOS. I was hoping the content blockers and extensions might come close. They do not in any way. I don’t even REALLY like FF and I don’t like Android but those are the options if I want browsing that doesn’t suck. Or maybe I’m missing something and someone can enlighten me before I return the iPhone.

tehnub 4y ago
I use Wipr on ios (and ublock origin everywhere else) and it works like 99% as well. Costs 2 bucks I think. Have you tried that?
neonsunset 4y ago
AdGuard extension for iOS Safari is really good and does the same job as uBlock Origin on desktop.
- dvzk 4y ago
  If you use uBlock's advanced mode to default-deny scripts or third-party resources then no other extension comes close. (Except for uMatrix, which is by the same developer.)
- redox99 4y ago
  It's doesn't do the same job, it's more like manifest v3. Which yes, with current ads that's enough for 99% of them. But especially once Chrome drops support for manifest v2, you'll start seeing a lot more antiadblocks and your rule based adblock won't be able to get around them.
threeseed 4y ago
I use AdGuard which is a native Safari extension and works fine. The issue with uBlock Origin is that it expects all URLs/content to pass through the plugin and they are not interested in any other model. AdGuard instead works by submitting rules to Safari which is significantly better for privacy and performance.
- novok 4y ago
  There are a lot of things that are missed by safari content blocker extensions, and it's been getting a lot worse recently. Many obvious ads are not blocked anymore. And I'm using adguard too. You need the power of a rules engine like uBlock Origin, which is able to do multiple types of filtering, pre and post rendering. There is a reason why uBlock origin insists on that model, because no other model really effectively works. Eventually although, if adblock becomes very universal, all ads are going to be served internally from the same url / server as the webpage itself, with line noise identifiers and your going to start needing ML content recognition to start blocking ads effectively again.
  - threeseed 4y ago
    I hate ads as much as the next person. But we've already had examples of ad-blocking companies doing deals with advertisers to whitelist URLs and I simply don't trust them not to on-sell my browser history. So you may criticise Apple for their position but I would rather have a 90% effective ad-blocker and a guarantee that my privacy is intact. With so much data reselling going on it's simply not worth the risk.
    - cowtools 4y ago
      >But we've already had examples of ad-blocking companies doing deals with advertisers to whitelist URLs and I simply don't trust them not to on-sell my browser history. Huh? uBlock Origin is a free/open source project.
      - threeseed 4y ago
planb 4y ago
1Blocker works great for me. Even hides YouTube ads.
- girvo 4y ago
  Seconding 1Blocker. Well worth it.
greggsy 4y ago
AdGuard does the job fine on iOS
busymom0 4y ago
I use AdBlock Pro and it works well on iOS. It's free too- https://apps.apple.com/us/app/adblock-pro-for-safari/id1018301773 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/adblock-pro-for-safari/id10183...
kmlx 4y ago
> Browsing on iOS is unusable if you’re used to uBlock Origin. I can run that on Fennec/Firefox. I cannot do so on iOS. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wipr/id1030595027 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wipr/id1030595027 this one works great on ios
viktorcode 4y ago
Yes, you do miss something. There is about a metric ton of various adblockers on mobile App Store.

tehnub 4y ago

I use Wipr on ios (and ublock origin everywhere else) and it works like 99% as well. Costs 2 bucks I think. Have you tried that?

neonsunset 4y ago

AdGuard extension for iOS Safari is really good and does the same job as uBlock Origin on desktop.

dvzk 4y ago
If you use uBlock's advanced mode to default-deny scripts or third-party resources then no other extension comes close. (Except for uMatrix, which is by the same developer.)
redox99 4y ago
It's doesn't do the same job, it's more like manifest v3. Which yes, with current ads that's enough for 99% of them. But especially once Chrome drops support for manifest v2, you'll start seeing a lot more antiadblocks and your rule based adblock won't be able to get around them.

threeseed 4y ago

I use AdGuard which is a native Safari extension and works fine. The issue with uBlock Origin is that it expects all URLs/content to pass through the plugin and they are not interested in any other model. AdGuard instead works by submitting rules to Safari which is significantly better for privacy and performance.

novok 4y ago
There are a lot of things that are missed by safari content blocker extensions, and it's been getting a lot worse recently. Many obvious ads are not blocked anymore. And I'm using adguard too. You need the power of a rules engine like uBlock Origin, which is able to do multiple types of filtering, pre and post rendering. There is a reason why uBlock origin insists on that model, because no other model really effectively works. Eventually although, if adblock becomes very universal, all ads are going to be served internally from the same url / server as the webpage itself, with line noise identifiers and your going to start needing ML content recognition to start blocking ads effectively again.
- threeseed 4y ago
  I hate ads as much as the next person. But we've already had examples of ad-blocking companies doing deals with advertisers to whitelist URLs and I simply don't trust them not to on-sell my browser history. So you may criticise Apple for their position but I would rather have a 90% effective ad-blocker and a guarantee that my privacy is intact. With so much data reselling going on it's simply not worth the risk.
  - cowtools 4y ago
    >But we've already had examples of ad-blocking companies doing deals with advertisers to whitelist URLs and I simply don't trust them not to on-sell my browser history. Huh? uBlock Origin is a free/open source project.
    - threeseed 4y ago

planb 4y ago

1Blocker works great for me. Even hides YouTube ads.

girvo 4y ago
Seconding 1Blocker. Well worth it.

greggsy 4y ago

AdGuard does the job fine on iOS

busymom0 4y ago

I use AdBlock Pro and it works well on iOS. It's free too- https://apps.apple.com/us/app/adblock-pro-for-safari/id1018301773 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/adblock-pro-for-safari/id10183...

kmlx 4y ago

> Browsing on iOS is unusable if you’re used to uBlock Origin. I can run that on Fennec/Firefox. I cannot do so on iOS. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wipr/id1030595027 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wipr/id1030595027 this one works great on ios

viktorcode 4y ago

Yes, you do miss something. There is about a metric ton of various adblockers on mobile App Store.