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Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker

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Re: Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker

#61

Post by ronjouch »

armadyl wrote: post #54
internet2000 wrote: post #26

In case anyone here missed it, there's a native Ublock Origin for Safari. It works great → https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ublock-origin-lite/id674534269...

FYI uBlock Origin Lite on iOS is inferior to AdGuard and (I think) Wipr as it's just a WebExtension, so it'll only block ads within Safari itself. AdGuard and Wipr use both the Web Extension and Content Blocker APIs, so they'll block ads in all web views system wide on top of within Safari itself. However as far as trustworthiness goes, uBlock is (imo) #1.

uBOL bug report: https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uBOL-home/issues/438 , from discussion https://github.com/uBlockOrigin/uBOL-home/discussions/408#di...

    uBOL doesn't work in apps, it works only in Safari, it's a pure browser extension, the "app" part of uBOL is an Apple requirement just for the sake of installing the extension.

    Copied from #408:

    uBOL will stay a webextensions-based browser extension, I do not plan to go further than this, I do not have the time and motivation to take on more work than I already do.
    What people may ask though is that Apple maybe supports webextensions in WebApp, if that is possible at all.
I hope this changes, it’s what keeps me on AdGuard :-/

Re: Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker

#62

Post by dd8601fn »

Grombobulous wrote: post #22
wbl wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not all markets or manufacturers will have the same degree of vertical integration and that's ok.

It’s okay if you’re in a healthy market with many competitive choices. It’s not okay if you’re a duopoly where over 95% of people buy your product as a prerequisite to functioning in modern society.

Their approach yielded arguably the least exploitable general purpose computing devices that people ever actually wanted, without making people feel they were crippled, in a market where there are thousands of alternatives.

It's been wildly successful and, like nearly everyone, I'm fine it.

Re: Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker

#63

Post by Aboutplants »

Barbing wrote: post #59
armadyl wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI uBlock Origin Lite on iOS is inferior to AdGuard and (I think) Wipr as it's just a WebExtension, so it'll only block ads within Safari itself. AdGuard and Wipr use both the Web Extension and Content Blocker APIs, so they'll block ads in all web views system wide on top of within Safari itself. However as far as trustworthiness goes, uBlock is (imo) #1.

wBlock by an MIT student is open source and seems (just!) about as trustworthy as uBlock, though of course without the track record. Light & fast, especially to update. “wBlock runs entirely within Safari's content blocking API. There's no data collection, no tracking, and no system-level extensions that can monitor your browsing.“ https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wblock/id6746388723 / GH: https://github.com/0xCUB3/wBlo…

Thanks for the link, I like it so far

Re: Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker

#64

Post by user43928 »

close04 wrote: post #8
temp0826 wrote: post #4

What's the current excuse for not supporting extensions on iOS? Orion on iOS does and it's the reason I dropped FF ages ago.

Until recently Apple only allowed Webkit on iOS. In the EU and Japan now they allow proprietary engines. But this means Mozilla needs to put in all the extra effort to maintain yet another branch for iOS with all the features, for an even more limited user base in those regions alone.

While technically allowed, Apple's terms are extensive: https://developer.apple.com/support/alternative-browser-engi...

Re: Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker

#65

Post by lapcat »

Nextgrid wrote: post #43
internet2000 wrote: post #26

In case anyone here missed it, there's a native Ublock Origin for Safari. It works great → https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ublock-origin-lite/id674534269...

This is not a true uBlock Origin. It's a best effort attempt at converting UBO rules to Apple's declarative blocking framework, but is nowhere near as capable as actual UBO.

> It's a best effort attempt at converting UBO rules to Apple's declarative blocking framework

uBlock Origin Lite uses the cross-platform DeclarativeNetRequest extension API: https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Mozilla/Add-ons/WebExtens...

Google invented this API for Chrome, and the other web browsers are adopting it. uBlock Origin Lite does not use Apple's content blocker API.

Re: Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker

#67

Post by confusedbucket »

seba_dos1 wrote: post #39
confusedbucket wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where do I buy this device that does let me run any software I want? Most Android phones don't even let users unlock the bootloader anymore. And if you do unlock the bootloader, now Google Pay doesn't work, among other things. I don't really feel like being in control of what software I use when the software I actually want refuses to run. F-Droid homepage is also concerning. Linux phones barely handle the basic func…

[flagged]

Fair enough and good for you. My point was that currently your only options are either giving up a freedom to run the software you want, or losing utility. In neither case I feel like being in control. The war is over and the users lost.

Re: Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker

#68

Post by SoftTalker »

odo1242 wrote: post #53
internet2000 wrote: post #26

In case anyone here missed it, there's a native Ublock Origin for Safari. It works great → https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ublock-origin-lite/id674534269...

Also, if you use Orion Browser, they did implement the full Manifest v2 extension spec on top of WebKit, which lets you use full uBlock origin directly.

This is why I started using the Orion browser. It's not perfect, I've had a few freezes and occasional weird behavior but well within the "tolerable" range for me, and not noticably worse than the glitches that any ad blocker causes on some sites.

Re: Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker

#69

Post by HeadOfProbing »

VCFundedGenYer wrote: post #3

Technically, Firefox Focus (a separate browser for iOS) includes an adblocker feature that can be applied system wide via iOS's content blockers subsystem. This was released in the late 2010s. Firefox including it is likely just reducing the steps required.

Love Firefox. But I always thought it was terribly misguided product direction of them to ever release this as a separate iOS app.
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