Live data from Hacker News

Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker

support.mozilla.org

171–180 of 290 posts

Re: Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker

#171
post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a combination of Stockholm syndrome, having an expensive phone as a status symbol, and corporate worshiping. It also makes me “:(“ when I think of an alternate reality of where phones were as customizable and open as a plain old desktop. Open boot loader, manu supported open drivers (no blobs). Makes me seriously consider Ubuntu touch / graphene or something else and a $200 low end / 2nd hand locked-down phone f…

>It’s a combination of Stockholm syndrome, having an expensive phone as a status symbol, and corporate worshiping. Can any amount of pain cure stupid? I am still so baffled that AAPL is as market successful as they are, that I am forced to hate-long their stock while never buying their products (and telling others to not buy them either, which is going about as you would expect).

The warden is making the prison just nice enough to not cause riots, to put it vividly.

Most people won’t care or understand about this openness. Their needs are satisfied with the limitations. Similar to other freedoms we have (at least in the US), like speech, assembly.

I think it will take very brazen acts on Apple’s part (or other gatekeepers) to get the everyday Joe/Jane to care about things enough to learn more or look for alternatives.

Things like blocking certain websites, removing super popular apps for not following monopolistic rules

Re: Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker

#172

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.

If you search the App Store and don’t find it, it’s called Firefox Klar in some markets

Firefox Focus is called Klar (“clear” in German) in Germany because the Focus trademark is owned by a German news magazine.

Re: Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker

#173
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple themselves do not allow using anything other than WebKit unless you move to the EU or Japan: https://developer.apple.com/support/alternative-browser-engi... Firefox addons target gecko, not webkit. What Orion's doing is horribly hacky and prone to cause issues with a multitude of addons, and of course Mozilla shouldn't bow to Apple's incredibly anti-competitive behavior. You pay apple for a phone that can act m…

> unless you move to the EU or Japan Not only that, but the "entitlement" (Apple lingo for code-signature flag that grants capabilities) needed to publish a browser effectively requires to be an established company, ensuring hobbyists can't really get there with an open-source project even though the sources of Firefox are available and could technically be ported.

Is this a new rule? I had my own browser published on the App Store about a year ago (as a solo dev).

Re: Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker

#174
post #134
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

No offense to the author, but I don't trust a college kid the same way I trust the team behind uBlock. The latter have a well-established track record with substantial external eyes (including Firefox directly.)

Age of author shouldn’t be of relevance. Experience and/or team size should.

A kid reading up on security from age 6 through college could have a decade of experience, for example.

Re: Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker

#175
post #59
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…

Never heard of this but looks good to me. Nice to have another tool for the arsenal.

Re: Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker

#176

If you haven't been using Firefox, what are you even doing with your life?

Using Brave on desktop and Vanadium on my phone. They are more secure and private which is why I like them.

In what ways is Brave more secure or private than Firefox?

Re: Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker

#177

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.

Wait, it can be used system wide? I copy paste link into Firefox Focus when ads makes a page too unreadable.

Re: Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker

#180
post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a combination of Stockholm syndrome, having an expensive phone as a status symbol, and corporate worshiping. It also makes me “:(“ when I think of an alternate reality of where phones were as customizable and open as a plain old desktop. Open boot loader, manu supported open drivers (no blobs). Makes me seriously consider Ubuntu touch / graphene or something else and a $200 low end / 2nd hand locked-down phone f…

Both Ubuntu and GrapheneOS don't allow you to fully control you phone like Linux desktop does. However Librem 5/Pinephone can run PureOS/postmarketOS that do.

Sure, but even when (or if) it these issues get fixed, it will all be academic unless the devices can run the apps that normies want (or "need"). Up to and including the OS-level wallet app that unbricks the NFC chip, and all the banking and similar "high-security" apps that increasingly require some kind of device attestation to run at all. The trend is all in one direction.

It's easy to say, "Just don't use that stuff". But if everyone wants ("needs") it and we don't have it, then we're left with a <1% user base of activists and eccentrics. And at that point we've lost all influence on the ongoing slide towards surveillance dystopia. It's dispiriting. I'm just hoping that somehow I've got something wrong in this pessimistic analysis.

Post reply on HN