5 ms·

Yes but their API is very limited and by design doesn't allow a good ad blocker like ublock to be built.

scarface74 4y ago
The actual “extension” framework does. It’s used by 1Blocker. Not just the “we send you a JSON set of rules”. But on the other hand, if you care about your privacy, why would you trust a third party to intercept all of your web traffic?
- commoner 4y ago
  > But on the other hand, if you care about your privacy, why would you trust a third party to intercept all of your web traffic? uBlock Origin is free and open source, and its code is thoroughly reviewed by many contributors every release. I trust uBlock Origin over a filtering mechanism built into a closed source browser such as Safari.
  - scarface74 4y ago
    WebKit is also open source and you can see exactly how it works. But did you personally download the open source version review the code and install it?
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - spartanatreyu 4y ago
      The difference is, webkit doesn't have an army of angry weaponised nerds that will go out of their way to remove every single unwanted pop-up and ad imaginable the second they appear.
      - scarface74 4y ago
        Yes because people who care about unwanted advertising and tracking by a phone with an operating system built by an adTech company whose default browser doesn’t allow any type of ad blocking…
    - commoner 4y ago
      WebKit may be open source, but Safari is not. The interface to access Safari's content blocking settings and the platform on which Safari content blocking extensions are built are both closed source, so your FUD about "intercepting web traffic" would be more appropriately directed at Safari than at uBlock Origin. Yes, I have personally downloaded the uBlock Origin source code. I have also reviewed the code and suggested improvements. However, I don't even need to download the code to realize the benefits of uBlock Origin being free and open source. Even if I hadn't downloaded the code, there are many other users and contributors who have reviewed the code, and you can confirm this by taking a simple look at the activity in the GitHub repos. https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uBlock-issues/issues https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uBlock-issues/issues
      - scarface74 4y ago
        So you think there is sone great conspiracy and that Apple is secretly tracking your web browsing history. But it only happens when you install a third party extension that sends it a bunch of JSON rules and that it went through the trouble of having two content blocking implementations that work ‘em the same way - one in Safari and one in WebKit?
        commoner 4y ago
        > So you think there is sone great conspiracy and that Apple is secretly tracking your web browsing history. What are you talking about? You are the one who accused other developers of that. Let me quote you again: > But on the other hand, if you care about your privacy, why would you trust a third party to intercept all of your web traffic? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34699213 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34699213 My point is that because uBlock Origin is free and open source, anyone can see that it is not tracking users maliciously. On the other hand, Safari is closed source, so your FUD would be more applicable to Safari. There is no easy way for users to verify how a closed source browser such as Safari implements its content blocking. In terms of transparency, uBlock Origin is strictly superior to Safari.
    - oittaa 4y ago
      Please, link to the source code of the latest Safari build.
- saagarjha 4y ago
  The extension framework lets you provide a JSON set of rules. There’s nothing more than that.
  - scarface74 4y ago
    This is not true https://developer.apple.com/safari/extensions/ https://developer.apple.com/safari/extensions/ https://backstage.1blocker.com/how-to-block-youtube-ads-in-safari-with-1blocker-a9091cff160d https://backstage.1blocker.com/how-to-block-youtube-ads-in-s...
    - saagarjha 4y ago
      You are always welcome to run arbitrary JavaScript in the page. However, this does not mean the APIs other extensions use to block resource loads will work.
      - scarface74 4y ago
        So it went from “it only supports JSON” to “yeah it supports more. I just don’t know if it will actually work. Because I haven’t looked into it’s capabilities”
        saagarjha 4y ago
        …I have written Safari web extensions, I know what they can do :/
        scarface74 4y ago
        What ads aren’t being blocked by 1Blocker? I don’t see any ads day to day browsing.
        saagarjha 4y ago
        That's a different question than was being asked. The current API does not really allow for anything like uBlock to exist. I expect if Chrome moves to a similar interface sites will start serving ads that 1Blocker will not be able to stop.

The actual “extension” framework does. It’s used by 1Blocker. Not just the “we send you a JSON set of rules”. But on the other hand, if you care about your privacy, why would you trust a third party to intercept all of your web traffic?

commoner 4y ago
> But on the other hand, if you care about your privacy, why would you trust a third party to intercept all of your web traffic? uBlock Origin is free and open source, and its code is thoroughly reviewed by many contributors every release. I trust uBlock Origin over a filtering mechanism built into a closed source browser such as Safari.
- scarface74 4y ago
  WebKit is also open source and you can see exactly how it works. But did you personally download the open source version review the code and install it?
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - spartanatreyu 4y ago
    The difference is, webkit doesn't have an army of angry weaponised nerds that will go out of their way to remove every single unwanted pop-up and ad imaginable the second they appear.
    - scarface74 4y ago
      Yes because people who care about unwanted advertising and tracking by a phone with an operating system built by an adTech company whose default browser doesn’t allow any type of ad blocking…
  - commoner 4y ago
    WebKit may be open source, but Safari is not. The interface to access Safari's content blocking settings and the platform on which Safari content blocking extensions are built are both closed source, so your FUD about "intercepting web traffic" would be more appropriately directed at Safari than at uBlock Origin. Yes, I have personally downloaded the uBlock Origin source code. I have also reviewed the code and suggested improvements. However, I don't even need to download the code to realize the benefits of uBlock Origin being free and open source. Even if I hadn't downloaded the code, there are many other users and contributors who have reviewed the code, and you can confirm this by taking a simple look at the activity in the GitHub repos. https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uBlock-issues/issues https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uBlock-issues/issues
    - scarface74 4y ago
      So you think there is sone great conspiracy and that Apple is secretly tracking your web browsing history. But it only happens when you install a third party extension that sends it a bunch of JSON rules and that it went through the trouble of having two content blocking implementations that work ‘em the same way - one in Safari and one in WebKit?
      - commoner 4y ago
        > So you think there is sone great conspiracy and that Apple is secretly tracking your web browsing history. What are you talking about? You are the one who accused other developers of that. Let me quote you again: > But on the other hand, if you care about your privacy, why would you trust a third party to intercept all of your web traffic? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34699213 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34699213 My point is that because uBlock Origin is free and open source, anyone can see that it is not tracking users maliciously. On the other hand, Safari is closed source, so your FUD would be more applicable to Safari. There is no easy way for users to verify how a closed source browser such as Safari implements its content blocking. In terms of transparency, uBlock Origin is strictly superior to Safari.
  - oittaa 4y ago
    Please, link to the source code of the latest Safari build.
saagarjha 4y ago
The extension framework lets you provide a JSON set of rules. There’s nothing more than that.
- scarface74 4y ago
  This is not true https://developer.apple.com/safari/extensions/ https://developer.apple.com/safari/extensions/ https://backstage.1blocker.com/how-to-block-youtube-ads-in-safari-with-1blocker-a9091cff160d https://backstage.1blocker.com/how-to-block-youtube-ads-in-s...
  - saagarjha 4y ago
    You are always welcome to run arbitrary JavaScript in the page. However, this does not mean the APIs other extensions use to block resource loads will work.
    - scarface74 4y ago
      So it went from “it only supports JSON” to “yeah it supports more. I just don’t know if it will actually work. Because I haven’t looked into it’s capabilities”
      - saagarjha 4y ago
        …I have written Safari web extensions, I know what they can do :/
        scarface74 4y ago
        What ads aren’t being blocked by 1Blocker? I don’t see any ads day to day browsing.
        saagarjha 4y ago
        That's a different question than was being asked. The current API does not really allow for anything like uBlock to exist. I expect if Chrome moves to a similar interface sites will start serving ads that 1Blocker will not be able to stop.