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> Built-in ad blocking — a precompiled WKContentRuleList blocks 14 major ad networks (DoubleClick, Google Syndication, Criteo, Taboola, Outbrain, Amazon ads, et

> Built-in ad blocking — a precompiled WKContentRuleList blocks 14 major ad networks (DoubleClick, Google Syndication, Criteo, Taboola, Outbrain, Amazon ads, etc.) right in the WebKit layer. No extensions needed. Toggleable in settings This is a good start, but I think a better approach would be to piggyback off of ublock origin's lists. Hopefully less maintenance that way too.

IronsideXXVI 8mo ago
Sweet, I will have a look. Thank you.
- soulofmischief 8mo ago
  I love the idea but what keeps me in the browser is things like uBlock Origin + uMatrix + a bunch of other extensions that I know keep me safer. On top of that, Firefox has anti-fingerprinting. I don't necessarily have a ready solution to offer, but these are the obstacles preventing someone like me from being able to use apps like this comfortably and safely, especially knowing we are entering a transitional period where new apps are being vibe-coded every day and formal verification has not yet caught up. Even if a given app has had every line of code reviewed by a human, or has well-defined interfaces that allow for sloppier internal code, how do I know that without cracking it open myself or asking an agent to help me audit it?
  - pbronez 8mo ago
    Well, I suppose the app could offer a proxy service. Funnel everything through a VPS, apply ad and tracker blocking there. That opens the door to lots of additional features… Cache responses so you can still read stuff when it gets the HN hug of death. Do a full-text index and offer a secondary search capability over article contents. Maybe build an API for all that so you can have AI Agents ground themselves on articles that got strong quality signals on HN. Maybe sign agreements with publishers like LWN, The Information, or whoever else shows up on HN behind a paywall frequently. Obviously that would need to be a paid feature.
    - soulofmischief 8mo ago
      These are possible solutions, but offering a VPS/VPN won't convince anyone who is already on the fence over privacy or security issues. They probably have their own already and don't want their browsing data running through someone's servers. HN clients should interact directly with HN as another normal client, and not proxy incoming traffic. Even if it enables lots of other features, that's not why I come to Hacker News and such a feature would be an immediate pass. Maybe others feel differently, but the fact that HN's design and featureset have not followed other trends over the years is part of why many of us still come here. Maybe there is a market for what you're thinking, but I'd continue to do more market research to make sure you understand your user demographics before making the wrong move early on.
Someone 8mo ago
> I think a better approach would be to piggyback off of ublock origin's lists That won’t work. uBlock origin is licensed GPLv3 (https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock), this code is MIT licensed (https://github.com/IronsideXXVI/Hacker-News https://github.com/IronsideXXVI/Hacker-News).
- Octoth0rpe 8mo ago
  Great point, thanks! @IronsideXXVI, are you open to changing to gpl v3? Otherwise, there is probably a decent set of filter lists with an MIT license somewhere. The goal is for you to NOT become a filter list maintainer, and by piggybacking off an already respected set of lists, you'd build user trust in your adblocking.
  - agg23 8mo ago
    I would recommend that changing to GPL just to gain better ad blocking, which is far from being a primary feature, is probably not the greatest idea if you care about licensing.
    - Octoth0rpe 8mo ago
      > which is far from being a primary feature, I don't know that I agree. If the adblocking functionality has gaps, then I will likely not use it for reading stories, and if I'm already opening up HN in my browser w/ ublock origin, then I might as well stay there and comment. Reading the article may not be the 'primary feature', but strong adblocking does seem like table stakes.

IronsideXXVI 8mo ago

Sweet, I will have a look. Thank you.

soulofmischief 8mo ago
I love the idea but what keeps me in the browser is things like uBlock Origin + uMatrix + a bunch of other extensions that I know keep me safer. On top of that, Firefox has anti-fingerprinting. I don't necessarily have a ready solution to offer, but these are the obstacles preventing someone like me from being able to use apps like this comfortably and safely, especially knowing we are entering a transitional period where new apps are being vibe-coded every day and formal verification has not yet caught up. Even if a given app has had every line of code reviewed by a human, or has well-defined interfaces that allow for sloppier internal code, how do I know that without cracking it open myself or asking an agent to help me audit it?
- pbronez 8mo ago
  Well, I suppose the app could offer a proxy service. Funnel everything through a VPS, apply ad and tracker blocking there. That opens the door to lots of additional features… Cache responses so you can still read stuff when it gets the HN hug of death. Do a full-text index and offer a secondary search capability over article contents. Maybe build an API for all that so you can have AI Agents ground themselves on articles that got strong quality signals on HN. Maybe sign agreements with publishers like LWN, The Information, or whoever else shows up on HN behind a paywall frequently. Obviously that would need to be a paid feature.
  - soulofmischief 8mo ago
    These are possible solutions, but offering a VPS/VPN won't convince anyone who is already on the fence over privacy or security issues. They probably have their own already and don't want their browsing data running through someone's servers. HN clients should interact directly with HN as another normal client, and not proxy incoming traffic. Even if it enables lots of other features, that's not why I come to Hacker News and such a feature would be an immediate pass. Maybe others feel differently, but the fact that HN's design and featureset have not followed other trends over the years is part of why many of us still come here. Maybe there is a market for what you're thinking, but I'd continue to do more market research to make sure you understand your user demographics before making the wrong move early on.

Someone 8mo ago

> I think a better approach would be to piggyback off of ublock origin's lists That won’t work. uBlock origin is licensed GPLv3 (https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock), this code is MIT licensed (https://github.com/IronsideXXVI/Hacker-News https://github.com/IronsideXXVI/Hacker-News).

Octoth0rpe 8mo ago
Great point, thanks! @IronsideXXVI, are you open to changing to gpl v3? Otherwise, there is probably a decent set of filter lists with an MIT license somewhere. The goal is for you to NOT become a filter list maintainer, and by piggybacking off an already respected set of lists, you'd build user trust in your adblocking.
- agg23 8mo ago
  I would recommend that changing to GPL just to gain better ad blocking, which is far from being a primary feature, is probably not the greatest idea if you care about licensing.
  - Octoth0rpe 8mo ago
    > which is far from being a primary feature, I don't know that I agree. If the adblocking functionality has gaps, then I will likely not use it for reading stories, and if I'm already opening up HN in my browser w/ ublock origin, then I might as well stay there and comment. Reading the article may not be the 'primary feature', but strong adblocking does seem like table stakes.